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WHO  WAS  JESOS  ? 


BY 


EEY.  CHAELES  F.  DEEMS,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

PASTOU  OF  THE  CiaRCH  OF  THE  STRANGERS,  NEW  YORK. 


AUXnOR  OF 


THE  HOME  ALTAR,"    "WEIGHTS  AND  WINGS,"  ETC. 


NEW  YORK : 

J.  HOWARD  BROWN,  21  Park  Place. 
London:  R.  D.  DICKINSON. 


Copyright,  1880,  by  C.  F.  Deems. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  NEW  EDITION. 


Test  years  ago  a  publishing  house  in  New  York  issued  a  book  with 
the  simple  title,  "Jesus."  It  was  a  volume  prepared  expressly  at  the 
publisher's  request.  I  had  spent  three  years  in  the  writing  of  the  book, 
and  had  done  the  work  conscientiously.  No  hope  of  gain  held  my  heart 
one  minute  in  the  whole  course  of  its  preparation.  It  was  not  expected 
nor  desired  that  it  should  make  "a  sensation."  It  was  designed  by  its 
author  to  be  as  near  the  truth  in  all  points  as  he  was  able  to  make  it, 
and,  he  will  candidly  confess  that  he  expected  the  book  to  live.  In  this 
expectation  he  has  not  been  disappointed.  Very  slowly,  but  very  surely 
it  has  gained  its  way  without  any  special  effort  upon  the  part  of  the 
author  or  the  publisher  to  push  it.  It  has  been  republished  in  England 
under  the  title,  "Who  Was  Jesus  V  "  This  title  is  now  assumed  for  the 
American  edition.  It  has  gained  the  approval  of  a  large  number  of 
the  most  learned  and  competent  critics,  the  verdict  of  any  one  of  whom 
is  more  satisfactory  than  any  ephemeral  applause  that  arises  from  uned- 
ucated minds  excited  by  some  picturesqueness  of  style.  It  has  been  a 
gratification  to  learn  that  the  book  has  had  its  influence  on  pulpits  in 
England  and  America,  and  on  some  writings  concerning  its  great  (Sub- 
ject, since  it  was  published.  But  now  the  work  appears  to  be  attracting 
increased  attention— so  much  so  that  its  present  publisher  informs  me 
that  he  is  about  to  put  a  large  edition  to  press,  and  desires  a  new 
preface. 

I  have  nothing  to  say  which  can  modify  the  statements  made  in  the 

original  preface ;  but  it  was  my  good  fortune  last  year  to  visit  almost 

every  point  mentioned  in  the  history  of  Jesus.    So  careful  had  been  my 

study  in  the  preparation  of  the  book  that  I  found  little  in  Palestine  to 

compel  me  to  make  corrections  in  the  text  as  originally  published.    Some 

slight  changes  I  have  introduced,  especially  into  what  had  been  written 

in  regard  to  the  illustrations  in  the  volume.    There  is,  however,  one 

point  upon  which  I  would  speak  in  this  new  preface  :  it  is  in  regard  to 

the  site  of  Golgotha. 

(ill) 


17  PREFACE. 

"Whilp  I  was  in  Jorusalcm  nothing  interested  me  so  much  asthisqnes- 
tion.  I  liail  given  it  very  careful  study  from  l>ooks,  but  was  quite  ready 
to  have  my  couchisions  overtlirown  and  re-write  that  portiuii  of  tlie  vol- 
ume if  a  new  edition  were  ever  demanded. 

The  second  day  after  my  arrival  at  the  Holy  City  I  supposed  that  I 
should  have  this  to  do.  As  soon  as  I  was  able  to  walk,  after  a  tempo- 
rary lameness,  not  stopping  to  consult  authorities  and  remind  myself  of 
the  changes  of  names,  I  went  down  the  Via  Dolorosa  and  out  at  tlie 
St.  Stephen's  gate.  When  I  looked  around  me  I  felt  lost  and,  I  must 
say,  most  sadly  disappointed.  The  modern  St.  Stephen's  gate  is  in  the 
east  wall  and  looks  over  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  up  tlie  slopes  of  Olivet. 
Continuing  my  walk  around  the  north-east  angle  of  the  wall,  the  moment 
I  turned  it  1  s;iw  what  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  place  which  should  be 
Calvary.  It  grew  upon  me  so  that  I  spent  several  hours  examining  tlic 
spot  and  re-entered  tlie  city  by  the  Damascus  gate.  Upon  consulting  a 
copy  of  my  book,  now  in  possession  of  the  Right  Rev. the  Anglican 
liisliop  of  Jerusalem,  I  found  that  this  spot  which  I  liad  discovered  in 
the  morning  was  precisely  the  spot  which  I  had  described  in  my  volume 
ten  years  ago.  The  gates  have  changed  their  names.  The  old  St.  Ste- 
l)iien's  gate  is  now  the  Damascus  gate,  and  the  new  St.  Stephen's  gate 
is  .sometimes  also  called  the  Gate  of  Lions. 

There  was  no  day  of  my  stay  in  Jerusalem  of  which  I  did  not  give  a 
portion  to  the  study  of  localities  connected  with  this  question.  If  tliere 
be  anything  which,  it  seems  to  me,  approaches  certainty  in  topography, 
it  is  this :  that  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  so  called,  is  not  on 
the  site  of  Golgotha.  The  locality  fixed  in  this  book  may  not  be  correct, 
b»it  every  argument  that  can  be  brought  against  it  does,  a  fortiori,  dis- 
credit  the  claim  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre;  whereas,  the 
theory  which  selects  the  hill  over  the  Grotto  of  Jeremiah,  whatever  dilli- 
ctdties  it  has,  does  more  than  any  otlier  to  meet  all  the  requirements  in 
the  case.  If  no  one  had  ever  read  the  passage  in  the  New  Testament 
describing  it,  and  were  to  come  up  suddenly  round  the  north-east  angle 
of  the  wall,  it  seems  to  me  he  would  be  struck  with  the  resemblance  of 
the  iiill  to  the  shaiM»  of  a  huge  skull.  The  Evangelist  says  it  was  a  place 
called  ''skull."  The  north  wall  of  the  city  here  is  very  high;  but  this 
Iiill  is  not  more  than  a  foot  lower  than  the  top  of  the  wall,  which  is  hero 
built  upon  natural  r«iek,  which  rises  higlier  than  at  any  other  place 
between  St.  Stephen's  gate  and  the  Dama.scus  gate.  The  top  of  the  hill 
over  the  Grotto  of  Jeremiah  can  be  seiii  from  all  the  houses  In  the  north- 
west i>ortion  of  the  city,  and  perhaps  from  the  whole  city,  as  the  walla 


PREFACE. 


were  in  the  clays  of  Christ.  From  the  top  of  my  hotel,  which  was 
near  the  Pool  of  Hezekiah,  the  entire  hill  was  visible.  The  roads  from 
the  north  and  east  pass  it,  and  must  have  passed  it  in  the  days  of  Christ 
to  reach  any  gate  known  to  history.  It  looks  down  on  the  eminences 
that  look  down  on  the  Clinrch  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  An  execution  at 
the  latter  place  probably  would  not  have  been  very  public,  but  from  the 
hill  over  the  so-called  Grotto  of  Jeremiah  it  could  have  been  seen  from 
all  quarters.  The  surroundings  of  this  spot  contain  remains  such  as  we 
should  expect  to  find  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  spot  mentioned  by  the 
Evangelists  ;  and  this  is  not  an  insignificant  fact. 

I  confess  to  a  gtatification  in  having  a  reasonable  conviction  that  the 
place  where  Jesus  died  is  not  covered  by  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre, now  a  most  degraded  spot,  in  which  foolish  rites  are  performed  by 
filthy  monks,  whose  fanaticism  is  restrained  from  deeds  of  open  violence 
by  the  presence  of  INIohammedan  soldiers,  who  are  much  more  respecta- 
ble persons  than  the  wretched  Greek  and  Latin  representatives  of 'the 
name  and  teachings  of  Jesus. 

CHARLES  F.  DEEMS. 

"  Church  of  the  Strangers," 

New  York,  February  12,  1881. 


A   PREFACE 

IMPORTANT  TO  BE  READ  BEFORE  GOING  FORWARD. 

The  author  of  this  book  has  not  been  deterred  from  his  "work  by  the 
flippant  remarks  occasionally  made  in  regard  to  writing  a  Life  of  Jesus, 
as  if  it  were  a  senii-profane  attempt  to  improve  upon  the  Evangelists. 
Those  who  make  such  suggestions  ought  neither  to  preach  sermons 
nor  wi'ite  pastoral  letters,  lest  they  be  suspected  of  an  ambition  to 
"  improve  "  upon  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  or  the  Epistles  of  Paul. 

The  law  which  an  author  sets  to  himself  in  the  composition  of  a  book 
must  be  known  before  proper  criticism  can  begin.  If  this  volume,  or 
any  portion  of  it,  be  jiidged  as  if  I  had  attempted  a  Life  of  Christy  the 
most  gi'ievous  misapprehension  of  the  volume  and  its  author  may  be 
made.  It  is  no  more  such  a  book  than  it  is  a  volume  of  sermons  or 
of  poems.  It  carefidly  abstains  from  being  a  Life  of  Christ.  A  Life 
of  Christ  necessarily  starts  with  the  assumption  that  Jesus  was  Christ. 
It  must  be  dogmatic,  and  can  be  useful  mainly  to  Christians.  I  have 
assumed  no  sucli  thing.  Nor  have  I  assumed  in  this  book  that  the 
original  biographers,  the  four  Evangelists  and  Paul,  were  inspired.  I 
simply  assume  that  their  books  are  as  trustworthy  as  those  of  Herodo- 
tus and  Xenophon,  of  Tacitiis  and  Caesar.  They  write  about  the  man 
Jesus,  who  was  the  son  of  IVIary.  They  preserve  Meviorahilia  of  his 
acts  and  words.  I  deal  with  these  evangelic  biographers  as  I  would 
with  those  classic  authors.  I  strive  to  make  a  harmonious  narrative 
from  their  records,  and  to  ascertain  what  was  the  consciousness  of  Jesus 
as  he  performed  each  act  and  spoke  each  word,  according  to  the  laws 
of  thought  so  far  as  they  are  known  to  me.  This  book  must  not  be 
judged  from  any  theologic  stand-point.  If  my  views  of  theology  are  of 
any  importance,  they  must  be  sought  in  my  Sermons,  not  here. 

vii 


Vm  PREFACE. 

There  will  be  foxmd  in  this  book  a  new  translation  of  the  sayings  of 
Jesus.  The  ordinary  rule  in  such  cases  is,  not  to  make  a  literal  render- 
ing of  each  word  by  its  synonym  in  the  tongue  into  which  it  is  trans 
ferred,  but,  to  represent  the  idioms  of  one  language  by  those  of  another. 
I  have  departed  from  that  canon,  because  all  who  read  this  book  will 
have  in  their  hands  the  Common  Version,  wliich,  generally,  does  that 
work  for  them.  The  translations  here  furnished  differ  from  those  in  tlie 
Common  Version,  in  beiiig  usually  almost  strictly  literal,  and  they  have 
been  purposely  made  so,  that  such  of  my  readers  as  ai-e  unacquainted 
with  the  original  may  liave  an  opportunity  to  comi>are  a  literal  with 
an  idiomatic  version.  My  renderings  from  the  Greek  must  be  judged 
by  scholars  in  the  light  of  this  statement. 

The  language  emjiloyed  by  Jesus  was  what  is  called  the  Palestinian 
Aramaic,  which  is  also  called  Hebrew  by  early  ecclesiastical  writers,  ac- 
cording to  Pajtias,  Ireuajus,  Origen,  Eusebius,  and  Jerome.  Matthew's 
Gosjiel  was  written  in  that  language.  Matthew  may  have  written  also 
the  Greek  version  of  his  own  Gospel.  The  books  of  Mark,  and 
Luke,  and  John  were  wiitten  in  Greek,  a  language  which  it  is  prob- 
able Jesus  sometimes  employed.  The  autographs  of  these  four  books 
ore  supposed  to  have  perished,  and  so  probably  have  all  the  copies 
made  in  the  first  throe  centuries.  In  addition  to  the  usual  causes 
for  the  di.sai)pearance  of  books,  we  may  mention  in  this  case  the  tho- 
rough manner  in  which  were  executed  the  decrees  of  Diocletian  in  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  century  (February,  a.d.  303)  for  the  destruction 
of  all  the  sacred  books  of  the  Christians,  for  the  purpose  of  extii'imting 
"  the  superstition,"  as  he  called  it.  Notwithstanding  the  severe  penal- 
ties which  impelled  every  magistrate  to  execute  those  decrees,  some 
cofyes  escaped  the  flames. 

The  Diocletian  pei-secution  closed  a.d.  313.  Constantine,  the  first 
Chri.stian  Emperor,  ascended  the  throne  a.d.  324.  In  a.d.  328  he  re- 
called Eusebius,  who  liad  been  banished,  and,  in  a  lettci*  which  Eusebius 
quotes  in  his  Life  of  Constantine,  the  Emperor  directed  him  to  cause 
**  fifty  copies  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  to  be  written  on  prepared  parch- 
ment, in  a  legible  manner,  and  in  a  commodious  and  poi-table  form,  by 
transcribers  thoroughly  jtractised  in  the  art."  The  completion  of  this 
work  Constantine  acknowledged  in  a  subsequent  letter  to  Eusebius. 


PREFACE.  IX 

One  of  those  copies,  or  perliaps  the  oklest  copy  of  one  of  them,  is  tho 
property  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia.  It  is  called  the  Codex  Simdticiis, 
because  foujid  in  a  convent  on  Mount  Sinai,  by  Tischendovf,  a  leaiiud 
German.  That  copy,  being  the  oldest  extant,  is  tho  basis  of  my  tiuubla- 
tion.  "Whenever,  therefore,  the  reader  finds  any  of  the  -words  of  Jt-svin 
in  this  book  different  from  those  in  the  common  version,  he  will  uudci- 
stand  that  he  is  carried  nearer  to  the  fountain-head  of  the  Jesus-literatiux-. 

The  difference  in  the  characteristics  of  the  four  authors,  coimuonly 
called  The  Evangelists,  is  worthy  of  note.  Matthew  was  a  practical 
man  of  business ;  Mark  was  an  aesthetic  obsei'ver ;  Luke  had  a  scieutiiio 
bias,  and  Jghn  was  devoutly  metaphysical.  We  are  permitted  to  sue 
Jesus  as  he  presented  himself  to  four  such  students  of  liis  acts  and  char- 
acter. Our  skill  is  to  be  exercised  in  combining  their  imjn-essions.  1 1 
is  a  gi-eat  advantage  to  have  a  subject  placed  in  so  many  different  lights 

Jesus  was  the  Founder  of  a  Faith.  He  Kved  centuries  ago.  The 
most  diverse  claims  have  been  made  for  his  person  and  his  teachings. 
Almost  every  saying  of  his  has  become  the  basis  of  a  dogma.  It  will 
not  be  wonderful,  then,  that  historians  couie  upon  actions  and  utterances 
af  his  which  involve  difficulties.  Some  of  these  are  still  difficulties  to 
me.  In  such  cases  I  have  frankly  said,  "  I  do  not  understand  this." 
So  would  it  be,  I  think,  -with  any  other  honest  student  and  fail-  writer. 
By  tliis  candor  I  cannot  lose  the  esteem  of  tliose  whose  esteem  is  worth 
having.  But,  I  have  not  avoided  the  hard  places.  Tinnd  readeis  may 
wish  I  had.  AVherever  there  seemed  to  me  to  be  an  explanation,  I  havu 
given  it.  It  may  satisfy  some.  It  may  lead  others  to  discover  what  is 
more  satisfactory  to  themselves.  In  no  case,  I  believe,  will  unlearned 
readex'S  of  good  sense  be  perjjlexed,  and  in  no  case,  I  trust,  will  scliulars 
be  scandalized. 

There  has  been  no  ambition  to  appear  learned.  To  those  who  are  not 
acquainted  mth  the  languages  in  which  the  Evangelists  wrote,  or  the 
languages  in  which  learned  men  have  conuuented  on  these  works,  I  li;i\e 
endeavored  to  make  the  way  plain  by  all  needed  heli)S.  Nor  luus  theie 
been  an  ambition  of  originality.  AMieiuver  I  have  used  the  labors  of 
others  I  have  given  credit,  so  far  as  1  rt-cullect.  If  any  fdlure  on  tliis 
point  has  occurred,  it  has  been  througli  inadvertence.  To  re])aii-  that, 
and  to  send  students  to  the  sources  of  my  own  stream  of  information, 


X  PREFACJE. 

I  have  supi)lied  a  list  of  the  books  used  iii  the  preparation  of  this  vol- 
ume.    I  have  read  up  in  the  literature  of  the  subject  as  well  as  I  could* 

All  writers  on  this  subject  have  difficulty  with  the  chronology.  In 
til  is  book  the  terminal  points  of  birth  and  death,  I  think,  are  trustwor- 
tliy,  especially  the  latter ;  but  many  of  the  incidents  in  the  life  have  been 
arranged  in  an  order  which  I  have  seen  reason  to  change  several  times. 
The  result  of  my  investigation  is  the  conviction  that  it  is  not  now  in 
the  jiower  of  human  skill  to  arrange  a  harmony  of  the  facts  in  tliia 
biogi-aphy,  which  should  be  positively  asserted  to  be  the  precise  order  in 
which  tliey  occurred.  Here  and  there  are  some  that  we  know  preceded 
one  the  other.  There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  order  of  the  Baptism, 
the  Temjitation,  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  Transfiguration,  etc.,  but 
minor  incidents  puzzle  every  chronologer.  The  gi-oupings  in  this  book, 
as  it  goes  to  the  ])rinter,  are  the  last  result  of  my  most  careful  study, 
and  have  been  adopted  in  no  instance  simply  for  picturesque  effect. 

In  the  preparation  of  these  pages  I  am  sure  that  there  has  been  no  am- 
bition of  novelty  ;  but  I  have  not  been  afraid  of  new  things,  nor  has  any 
opinion  commended  itself  to  me  because  it  was  old.  On  the  other  hand, 
novelty  has  been  no  recommendation  and  antiquity  no  disparagement. 
I  have  sought  to  know  the  truth.  When  I  believed  I  had  found  it,  I 
\\Tote  it,  and  now  jiublish  it  without  stopping  to  inquire  whether  these 
honest  opinions  will  please  or  displease,  or  whether  they  put  Jesus  at  an 
advantage  or  a  disadvantage.  In  this  I  have  sought  to  imitate  the  spirit 
Rnd  style  of  the  Evangelists.  A  man  would  be  sadly  stupid  who  should 
spend  some  years  on  a  subject  which,  more  than  any  other,  has  engi'ossed 
the  study  of  thoughtful  men,  without  improving  the  opinions  he  formed 
in  earlier  lifi;  on  Kss  invt-stigation.  The  jivepanition  of  this  book  haa 
l»o<Mi.  (o  mo,  its  own  "  t'.\c('i'(ling  great  reward." 

As  far  as  practicable,  I  have  laid  aside  all  dogmatic  prepossessions, 
i'.iit  in  writing  this  book  I  have  been  preparing  a  Memoir  of  my  Dear- 
est Friend,  urul  if,  for  tlmt  Friend's  sake,  and  in  tlio  spirit  of  that 
I'liend,  I  have  dealt  witli  all  the  records  juost  honestly,  it  is  also  fair  to 
state  that  I  have  treated  them  with  the  reverence  of  manly  love;  and, 
whatever  may  bo  the  final  «lecision  of  my  readers,  I  conclude  this  work 
with  a  love  for  Jesus  deeper  luid  better  than  that  which  1  feel  for  any 
otlicr  man  dead  or  livinj'. 


PEEFACE.  xi 

I  have  a  final  request.  When  my  readers  shall  have  read  the  whole 
book,  and  have  attempted  to  answer  the  closing  question  on  the  710th 
page,  they  will  do  themselves  and  me  a  favor  if  they  will  i-eturn  to  this 
page  and  answer  this  question  : — 

If  such  a  case  can  be  made  out  by  a  rational  examination  of  the 
Four  Evangelists,  on  the  ground  that  their  memoirs  are  merely 

HUMAN   IN  ALL   RESPECTS,  WHO    IS   JeSUS,  ON   THE   FURTHER  SUPPOSITION 
THAT   THOSE    MEMOIRS    ARE    DIVINELY    INSPIRED    RECORDS? 

My  own  beHef  is  that  they  are  inspired.  That  belief  receives  fresh 
confirmation  from  every  examination  of  these  books.  On  this  grave 
subject  I  would  not  have  myself  misunderstood.  It  is  because  I  am  so 
thoroughly  satisfied  in  my  belief  in  the  inspiration  of  these  records 
that  I  have  felt  so  safe  in  resting  the  argument  of  this  volume  on  a 
basis  which  does  not  include  that  high  claim. 

Charles  F.  Deems 


Cbapxl  or  THB  "CBTjRca  or  ths  SnuMaEBa," 
4  Winthrop  Place,  New  York,  ChriBtmas,  1871, 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 


TirE  BIRTH   AND   CIlILDltOOD   OF   JESU8. 

[From  II. C.  G  to  A.D.  8.      Tho-Cecn  i/eurs  and  u  /uil/.] 

CHAPTER  I. 

PHELISriNARy  EVENTS, 

The  birth  of  John  Baptist  announcerl,  15. — Mary  and  her  genealogy,  17. — The  birth  of  Jesus  aiv 
nounccd,  IS). — Mary's  visit  to  Elizabeth,  2U. — jliith  of  John,  21. — John's  early  life,  22. 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  BIHTH  OF  JESUS :     ITS  DATE. 

Joseph's  flipam,  23. — Jesus  bom,  2.'5. — Examination  of  the  chronology,  2-3. — Probable  date,  28. — 
Another  niodc  of  approximation,  2S. — From  the  death  of  Herod.  2!t. — From  the  astronomical  cal- 
culation, .'50. — From  the  slaying  of  the  Uethlehemite  infants,  30. — From  the  taxing,  or  census,  31. 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  PLACE  OP  THE   BIRTH  :     THE   CIBCUMCISION. 

Bethlehem,  30. — Site  never  lost,  37. — The  caravanserai,  40. — Vision  of  angels  by  shepherds,  40. — Jesus 
circumcised,  41. — Simoon,  41. — Anna,  42. 

CHAPTER  TV. 

HIS   FIRST   YEARS. 

The  Jfagi :  who  and  whence,  43. — They  find  Jesus,  4fi. — They  elude  Herod,  47. — Joseph  dreams  again, 
4T. — The  Hijiht  into  Egypt,  47. — Herod  ma.ssacres  the  babes  of  Bethlehem,  48. — The  return  from 
Egypt,  4it. — Nazareth,  the  home  of  Jesus.  ,")0. — Jesus,  at  twelve  years  of  age,  in  the  Temple,  51. — 
Mis.sed  and  found,  52. — His  life  in  Kazareth,  54. 

CHAPTER  V. 

STATE   OF   PUBLIC   AFFAIRS  DURING   THE    CHILDHOOD   AND    YOUTH   OF  JESUS. 

JuD-TSA.     Herod  the  C.reat,  5I>. — Family  of  Herod,  5fi. — His  will,  5S. — His  funeral.  .5S. — Ai-ehclans.  58. 

— Troubles  in  settling  the  succession,  .58. — Snbiinis,  ail. — Varus,  (10. — An  helans  confirmed,  (ill. — 

Tlu- p.-^'udo-Alexander,  (>1. — Cyreniiis,  (12. — The  revolt  under  Judas,  (12. — Menahem.  (i;i. — Ciipniiins. 

('>.'i. — The  Samaritans  pollute  the  Temple,  I'^i. — I'ontins  Pilate  outrages  the  Jews,  (1-1. — Tacitus  and 

Joscphus  speak  of  Jesus,  (iS. 
Galilkk.     Herod  Antii)a.s  G^. — In  love  with  Ilerodias,  GO. — QnaiTcls  with  Pilate,  (Mi. — Herodias,  U(i 

— Character  of  Herod  Antipas,  07. 
The  Chuuch.     The  High-priesthood,  (i7. — Caiaphas  and  Annas,  (i7. — The  Sanhedrim,  08. 
The  Sects.     The  Pharisees,  71. — The  Sailducees,  71. — The  Es.senes,  72. — The  lleroilians,  72. 

PART  II. 

INTRODUCTION  OF  JBSUS  TO  HIS  PUBLIC  MINISTRY. 

IFrojn  A.I).  20  Co  A. I).  27.    About  one  year.'] 

CHAl'TER  I. 

JOHN'S  PREACHING  AND   MINISTRY. 

"The  Baptist"  opens  the  wny  for  Jesns,  73. — Elijah.  73. — John's  consecration,  74. — His  ministrj-,  Ta. 
— Sul)-;tance  of  his  discourses:  Repentjince,  77. — Against  formalism  and  scepticism,  78. — An- 
nciiiiii-es  a  coming  kingdnm,  7'.1. — Announces  the  presence  of  the  ruler,  80. — His  bapti-sm,  80. — Hiu 
ministry  not  peruuineutly  effective,  82. 

CHAPTER  II. 

JESUS  DESIGNATED  AT   HIS  BAPTISM  BY  JOHN. 

Jesus  co"~es  to  be  baptized  by  John,  S4. — Why  Jes\is  was  baptized,  S-1. — Cert.iin  mistakes  8-1. — John's 
previous  anpiaintani-e  with  Jesus  80. — .lohn  de<lin(!s  to  baptize  Jesns,  87. — MoMu-ntous  crisi.s,  87. 
— The  ilc-cendiiig  iluve,  88. — John  and  Jesus,  88. — John  the  di.scoveiXT  of  Jesus.  .SS. — A  voice,  S'J. 

xiii 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

CnAPTEU  III- 

THE   THMPTATIOS. 

Acconnts  by  Mnfthcw,  Mnrlc,  nnd  Lnkp.  91. — rincc  of  the  tomptntion.  fl2.— ErplnnntoTy  th(>oric«,  91 
— S<>nso  of  liJK  hnmnnity  in  Jesus,  '.15. — ExciU-nicnt  of  Jcsnn  at  bin  buplisiii,  Utj. — The  collapse,  'M, 
— H;k  immitivi:  ^'ivi-ri  hiimniily,  '.«. 

Batan,  1)8.  —  liU-ii  of  .Sntnn  iiol  pn-poiitrnntu,  !>S. — Rational  probaWlities  of  the  existence  of  Patan,  Ofl, 
lOtl.— SiitiiM  of  JifiUH  not  JfwiKh.  100.— The  Jewish  iiU-a  not  IVrsiiin.  lOO.— The  Satiin  of  Joh,  101. 
— <»f  Diiviil.  ml.— Of  the  ChronicleR,  101.— Of  Zechariah,  lUl.— What  Jesus  believed  about  th« 
tenipt;ition.  lUi. 

Firnt  tenipiiition,  "the  Inst  of  the  flesh,"  10.3. — Second  temptation,  "the  lurt  of  the  eye,"  10-'5. — Third 
U'inptiitioM,  "the  pride  uf  life."  104. — Assault  on  the  SlesKiah  side  of  Jesus,  105. — Satan's  admis- 
sion, U'5. 

Ministry  of  onceK  lOf?. — Anpels  the  hiphest  creatures,  IOC. — Their  power,  107. — Their  activity,  107. 

—Their  inlellipi-nce,  107.— Their  holinexs,  lll«.— Their  numbers,  lOS Agents  of  Goil,  109.— "The 

Angel  of  Jehovah,"  109. — The  angcU  miuibter  to  Jesus  HI. 

CnAPTER  IV. 

THE   FinST  DISCIPLEa 

Committee  from  the  Sanhedrim,  112.— John's  testimony  to  Jesus,  112,— "The  Lamb  of  God,"  11.3, — 
rirst  two  disj-iplcs,  ll-'{. — Andrew  and  John,  111.— Simon  (IVter).  11-1. — Philip,  115,— Nathanael, 
115.— "The  Sou  of  Man,"  IIS,— Thesou  of  David,  1 1'.l.- Bartholomew,  119, 

CUAPTER  V. 

n«    CANA    AND   CAPEnXArM. 

Cana  of  Onlllce,  120.— The  flrrt  miracle,  120.— The  most  memorable  weddinfr,  121.— The  mother  of 
Jexua,  122. — The  watcr-potn,  12.3. — The  niirucle,  121. — The  lesstm,  125. — A  vinil  to  Capernaum,  12Sw 

TART  III. 

FnOM  THE  FIRST  TO  THE  SECOND  PASSOVER  IN  TIIE  PUBLIC  LIFE  OF  JE8XJ3. 
[One  year:  pr«b<ihly  from  April,  A.l>.  27,  to  April,  A  D.  28.] 

CHAPTER  L 

CLEANSING   THE   TE>rPLl?. 

The  broVers  cTpelled  by  Jp«ns,  127. — His  authority  demanded,  127. — Reply  of  Jesus,  128. — The  Tenv 
pie,  12j^.  —  I'liiurnl  national  rciMlleetious,  129. — Retort  of  the  Jews,  l.'iO. — The  nation  shocked,  130. 
— The  resurrecllontliouiiliL,  1-31. — An  Appeal,  1.31. — Jc-sus  had  no  "policy,"  132. 

CHAPTER  IL 


KIcodemus,  13.3.— His  address.  131.— Its  caution,  i:i5.— Reply  of  Josns,  13.^.— M 
l.'Jfi. — "The  Kingdom  of  tioiL"  i:;*i.  — Nieo<lemu8"s  reply,  1.38. — Response  of  > 
ond  "wind,"  1-1(1.— Surpri-^- of  Nic<)<lcmus,  HI. — Jesus  claims  pre-existenc» 


-Meanlnpr  of  that  reply, 
"Jesus,  1.39.— "Sp'rit" 

_ _.  ,  ,  .  stence,  142, — Another  lofty 

claim,  14.3, — Two  great  doctrine*,  143. 

CHAPTER  III. 

PROM   JTTD.KA   TO  BAMARIA. 

John  and  the  disciples  of  Jesus  baptlr.lnu,  14.%. — John's  self  conquest,  140. — His  last  testimony  for  Jeim% 
147. — .^!BchlL•^^l«,  14S.  —  HiTihI  iuiprisons  .lohii,  IIS. — Ji-sus  ret\inis  to  (iaiilw,  149. — Sheoheni, 
l-IU. — Origin  of  the  Sainariljins,  \M. — lliitntl  between  Jews  and  Samaritans,  l.')l. — Jacob's  well, 
J5'J. — Suriiaritiin  woman  at  the  well,  15-3. — .\  straiipi-  promise,  154. — 3'he  woman  attempts  O'W- 
trovniiy,  l.V).— Itep'.y  of  Ji^sus,  lOU.  —He  duliiri's  h'.m«4f  the  .Messiah,  l.''>7  —Return  of  the  disci- 
Jite«,  157.  — ArrivuU  from  the  city,  158. — Satiinritain  ide^is  of  the  Messiah,  158. 

CHAPTER  IV, 

FROM  BAMARIA  TO  OALILEE. 

lams  begins  to  preach,  KiO. — Hi-als  the  nobleman's  son.  Ifil.— In  Na7j\reth,  1f!2. — The  synneoffiie, 
ir.2.  —  Its  inllui'Mi-e,  ll'k3.  — Its  oftlcers,  ICh').— lis  service,  H'hl.— Jesus  reiuls  from  Isaiuh,  lt(5. — He 
shirks  their  )irejndic«T«,  IPki.  — He  is  dnven  from  Nazareth,  It'iCi. — Make.4Ca|>cmauin  his  headipi.-ir- 
tt:nt,  l'''7.--I)ei«<Tiptlon  of  Cais-rnaum,  Ui7. — Its  "UrroumlinK,  Hi9. — J<wih  preaches  from  a  bosit, 
170.— Wot  Jcrful  draught  of  llshcs,  170.— The  lUhenneii  follow  Jesus,  171. 

CHAPTER  V, 

DEMONIACS, 

The  man  with  the  nnclenn  spirit,  172.— Pemnniaejil  )x«scsslons :  classical  authorities,  173, — .Tewish 
opinion,  174. — The  New  3'i-sliiinent  writers,  174.— One  ihisiry,  with  its  ri-a'«>ns,  174.— The  oiipoxinu 
tbuory,  wiUi  Ita  n«M)Ds,  170. — Most  proboUlu  Uu^tirv,  179. — A  demonUu:  cureil  in  the  syiiaKORue,  179 


CONTENTS.  3CV 

CHAPTEE  VI. 

THE   FIllST  TOUR  OF  GALILEE. 

Jesus  heals  Siiimn's  mother-in-law,  ISl.— Exhausuvo  I'llucts  on  Jesus,  1^2.— Jesus  travels  in  G^ee, 
1S.J  — The  leprosy,  IS."!.— Supposed  to  be  incurable.  1S5.— Jesus  heals  a  leper.  ISO.— Ihe  sufferei 
and  the  healer,  1S7.- Jesus  withdraws  from  the  publie,  1S'.».— Heals  u  paral.nio.  1^;9.— Importance 
of  a  word,  190.— An  awful  claim,  190.— Call  of  Matthew.  191.— .\ratthew-s  feast,  192.— John  s  di* 
ciplea  object,  193.— The  Old  and  the  New,  191.— lUustrations,  19,i.— Jesus  the  dividing  line  of  his- 
tory, lUtJ. 

PAPwT  IV. 

FEOM  THE  SECOND  UNTIL  THE  THIRD  l'ASSO\Ti:E  IN  THE  PUBLIC  MINISTRX 

OF    JESUS. 
[From  A.D.  28  to  A.D.  29.     One  year.] 

CUAPTEU  I. 

THE   SABBATH   QUESTION. 

The  House  of  Outpom-ii>e.  198.— The  impotent  man.  2UU.— Ciured  on  the  Sabbath,  200.— The  Sabbath 
before  Moses,  201.— The  Sabbath  in  the  Decaiojrue,  202.— IW  les.sons.  20-3. —Pharisaic  exactions, 
204.— Jesus  never  broke  the  Sabbath  \nw,  20.5.— His  reply  to  accusations,  206. — Itemarkable  dis- 
course, 200. — Jesus  no  egotist,  209. — The  battle  begun,  210. 

CHAPTER  IL 

THE  SABBATH  QUESTION  AGAIN. 

The  disciples  In  the  erain-ficld.  211.— The  example  of  David,  211.— Example  of  the  priests  212.— 
Key  to  the  Sabbath-idea,  212.— The  battle  continued,  21-J. — Question  of  healing  on  the  Sabbath, 
213. — A  counter-question,  2M. — An  ad  liomiiiem  (piestion,  215. — The  cure  of  the  withered  haiul, 
215. — The  Herodiaus,  21ti.— Crowds  foUow  Jusus,  210. — A  movable  pulpit,  217. 

CHAPTER  IIL 

THE  TWELVE. 

A  crisi.s,  218.— Selection  of  the  twelve,  219.— Simon  I.,  or  Peter,  219.— Andrew.  221.— James  I.,  222.-- 
John,  223.— Philij),  22.5.— Nathan.ael,  22(1.- Levi,  or  Matthew,  227.— Thomas,  227.— James  II., 
228.— Judas  I.,  2.!0.— Simon  II.,  231.— Judas  II.  (Iscariot),  2;«.— "The  Twelve,"  2:i5.— Why  thiii 
number,  235. — Their  order,  230. — Types,  237. — Nothing  of  the  "church"  ideo  239. 

CILU'TER  IV. 

THE   SERMON   ON   THE   MOUNT. 

Place  of  delivcrj',  241.— Reports  by  JIatthew  and  Luke,  242.— The  time,  245.— The  Text:  Character, 
245. — Thk  By.vTlTUDEs:  fJlenients  uf  Uifty  rliaiaclur,  248. — The  poor  in  s))int,  24.\ — Those  who 
mourn,  251. ^The  meek,  252. — Those  who  hunger  and  thirst  for  rightcousnes.s  254. — The  merci- 
ful, 255.— The  pure  in  heart,  256.— The  iiirace-makers,  258 — The  persecuted,  2.59.— The  reviled, 
260. — Value  of  a  lofty  character,  261. — Jesus  the  completer  of  the  law,  263. — IIkfutation  op 
Phauis.mc  errous.  266. — Of  murder,  266  —Of  adultery,  271.— Of  divorce,  272.— Of  perjurv, 
27:5. — Of  revenge.  274. — Love  and  hatred,  277. — Diueotions  FOR  THK  discharoe  of  duty.  28ll. 
—Alms-giving.  2.S1.— Prayer,  2S2.— "The  Lord's  Prayer,"  284.— Forgiveness,  292.— I'asting.  29:i.— 
Warnincis:  Against  covetiuisuess,  294. — Against  double-mindednes.s  294. — Against  e.xcessivo 
anxiety,  295. — .\gainst  harsh  judgments,  299. — Against  doubting  God,  301. — Against  the  broad 
way,  301.— Against  hypocrisy,  303. — Conclusion:  'llie  s(ife  foatulaUon  of  cliuracUr,  304. — The 
manner  of  Jesus,  305. 

CHAPTER  V. 

IN    CAPERNAUM   AND   NAIN. 

The  centurion's  servant,  .307. — The  centinion's  humility.  308. — Jesus  namireshim,  308. — The  ?ervant 
healed,  309.— In  Nain,  309.— Jesus  raises  the  dead.  310.— John  hears  of  the  works  of  Jesus,  ."iVi.— 
His  mes.sage  to  Jesus  and  reply,  312. — Defence  of  John  by  Jesus,  313. — Relative  estimate  of  Jotin, 
814. — Both  John  and  Jesus  rejected,  315. — Jesus  dines  with  a  Pharisee  and  is  anointed  by  a 
woman,  317. — The  delicacy  of  Jesus,  318. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   SECOND  TOtTK   OP   GALILEE   AND   RETURN  TO   CAPERNAUM. 

A-Ocompanied  by  women,  820. — Magdala,  320. — Mary  Magdalene,  321. — Her  devotion  to  Jesu.'!,  322.— 
The  mo.st  beautiful  of  loves,  323. — Caiiernaum,  324. — The  blind  and  dutub demoniac.  324. — Phari- 
saic conspirators  325. — The  charge  that  Jesus  has  a  ilemon.  325. — The  reply  of  Jesus  326. — He 
is  more  powerful  than  Satan.  326. — Blasphemy  against  the  Ifoly  Ghost,  .327. — The  sign  of  Jon.ih, 
8.31. — A  woman's  complimetit,  3;i3. — Mary  and  her  w)ns«333. — Je.sus  eats  with  a  Pharisee  and 
denounces  Pharisaism,  334. — A  "lawyer,"  '^i5. — Wari.ing  against  hypocrisy,  337. — Parable  of  tbfl 
rich  fool,  337. — One  of  Pilate's  outrages,  341. — Parable  of  the  lijj-ti'ce,  343, 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEn  VI L 

A   CBAPTEB  or  PAJIABLES. 

Parablp  o(  the  Bowor.  3-15. — Of  the  tnrois  ."Mti. — Of  the  |>aticnt  farmor,  ZAFt. — Of  the  mu^JtarflRcctl,  i-JQ 
— Of  tho  li^^ivcii,  '-'A'. — Explicati  m  of  the  piinil'k-  of  tlif  s»)\vir,  3^9. — Of  thi-  jMitii-nl  fiiniior,  ."iSS 
— Of  iho  nmiilaril-KocJ,  a50.— l)f  tho  Itaiveii.  %7. — Siuulitudea,  367. — Tho  Lrcu»un.'  iu  the  field, 
857.— Tho  peail-buycr,  36ti.— Tho  drutf  ulL,  ib'J. 

CILA.ITEU  VIII. 

A   CUAPTEIl  OF  MiUACLES. 

JcsuB  hnd  no  iwlitlca,  861.— A  political  followi-r.  .•iCl.- A  hanl  miying.  :;fi2.— Its  dimailty,  lfi:i.— IU 
k-won,  ?.Cili. — .\iiothcr  lesson.  .'ilM. — Stonii  on  the  lako,  '■H\4. — Jisus  stills  the  storm,  •'.tki. — Oudnra, 
3<i6. — The  deuioniuc,  807. — The  swiiie,  ."^li-S.— lii  Cn|N-niuiiirt.  370. — Juiriis  •'"71. — The  wuiiiiiii  wiili 
the  hoinorrhaKc,  .■i71. — In  hcaletl  in  Umchinj;  Jcsns,  371. — Deiith  of  Jiiinis's  diuit'htcr,  372.— Jckik 
rcKtorcs  the  duiiKhter  of  Jainix  to  Ufe,"{73. — Two  blinil  men  ro-U-ntl.  '•)'!>. — Jeiiai>  cures  u  dumb  do- 
monioc,  376. — In  Kazarcth,  377. — Aguin  rejected  by  Uin  uwu  people,  377. 

CHAI'TKU  IX. 

TBS  THIBD  TOtm  OF  OjLlAl£K  AND   nETmN  TO   CAPEnNAim. 

In  Galilee,  .779. — A  mixsionary  movement,  379. — Aildrosa  of  Josnn,  ."280. — The  ronte  of  the  twelve,  SSI. 
— The  huincaltar,  3ti2. — A  warninj.',  Stfi. — A  cunsoliition.  liNl — The  kukih?!  to  bi-  ii  diMTimumtiou, 
■"^4. — A  fritrhtful  fl^'ure,  :y>5. — A  >.Teut  step  fonvimi.  •'iN'>. — John  Baptist  l)thoiu|p<|,  ;i"S.'>.  — Herod 
heiirs  of  Jesus,  :iNi. — Ueturn  of  the  twelve,  .'JNi. — MinKulotis  fiMHlin^  of  live  ihuu.siiiiil.  Ii)*.— 
Klonn  on  the  lake,  3ilU. — Jisus  wulkinj;  on  the  waters,  3111. — rrofrreKsiveiiess  of  Jesus,  3'.hJ. — In- 
tense excitement,  393. — The  brend-s«vkcr«,  3!M. — Thi-y  demand  a  sipn,  3U5. — Jesua  iiguiu  offeuda 
tbo  rbariiicvtt,  396. — Their  puzzle,  3*J7. — Jesus  sifts  his  followers,  398. 


PART  V. 


PROM  TUE  THinO  rA.SSO%n-,n  to  the  ensuing  FEAST  OF  TABEIIXACLE8. 
[From  April  to  October,  A.D.  29.     Hix  moiU/ia.] 

ClIAI'TEIl  L 

tJNSETTLED. 

Tmditlon,  S99. — Jowm  rcbnke«  the  rharisoos,  -IllO.- What  defiles  a  man,  401.— In  rhnenicin,  402.— 
The  Syro-1'h'rnician  woman,  -lIKi. — Jesus  upim-ciiites  holy  wit,  4(lfi. — The  IXn-npolis,  4(i(;. — Cure 
of  the  deaf  stnmmenT,  4')1S.— Heidi ni,'.  4U!t.  — Keediiin  of  four  thousand,  4U'.I.— Daliuanuthn,  410. — 
A  siini  dcmaiMled,  411. — Addressed  to  weuther  prophets,  412. — The  leuven  of  tho  rharlsoes,  413. — 
Bethsuido,  413. 

CHAPTEn  IL 

THE  OnEAT   CONFKgSION. 

Ctaaarcn  rhillppl,  41.'5.— Another  crlsin,  415.- Not  Rtnirk  n>ot,  41fi.— Peter's  wilomn  oonfofwion,  417.— 
Jesus  n'ceivcH  M<-'»ianie  hoiuu^'e,  417. — Aildn-ss  of  Ji-susto  I'eter,  41f<.— The  wunl  '•ihurcli."  420. 
— HU  "c«>n»rreuntloii,"  420.— The  |Miwer  of  the  keys.  421.— Jesnis  ixmtrols  history,  42.3.— He  pn.'- 
dlctii  his  nanirrecUou,  42-1.— Itebukus  I'eUT,  424.— .Viidress  to  his  disciples,  426.— lu  meuiiiug,  425. 

CHAPTEn  III. 

THE     TnANSriOtTRATION. 

Account  by  the  Evancelisti«,  427.— Why  Klijiih  must  tlrsi  come,  428.— Site  of  the  tmnsfitniratlon,  428. 
— PetiT's  ci.nji-clure,  42'.t. — The  voi.-i^.  42'.).— liiilni-n<v  on  tho  distiiple-s  4-'{0.— A  perplexity,  430. — 
Anotlur  iwrplcxlty,  430.- lU«lou  ol  Cuatiireu  I'hilippL  4-31.— Thu  deuioniuc  bi>y,  4.'ia.— Jej.us  hcul« 
him,  433. 

CHAl'TEll  IV. 

LAflT   DAYS   IN   GALILEE. 

Tliroiurh  Northern  Oullleo,  ♦"A— The  Temple  tnx,  l-!*!.— A  mirarle  of  knowlo<lire,  4.'}7.— Mmwlanlo 
ho|>e«,  4.'4.*'.— The  nile  of  preoi-.leei<-e,  4;!.S.— Joliir»  frank  confcMion.  4-"i'J.— S«-hisn\,  440.— •'  If  two 
mnvf,"  441.— Ideii  of  II  tnie  ehun-h,  442.— I'arable  of  tho  unuiurciful  servant,  442. — Tho  missioa 
of  the  Suvuuty,  444. — Inhunjiltiiblo  Suiiuu-itun  vilhiKe,  44(i. 

PART  \\. 

PnOM  THE  FEAST  OP  TAnEllNACLKS  UNTIL  THE  LAST  PASSOVEH  ^VEBK. 

[n-om  CKtober.  A.IK  29,  to  April,  A.IK  30.     A'te  MoiUli*.] 

CH.MTEn  I. 

AT  TIIE   rEAKT  OT  TAnEnNACLKS. 

rhe  Fi-nst  of  TnlK-rnnoW  447.  — Evenlnif  wr\iiT,  44S.— Rnpplpmentnl  festival,  449.— Jcwmnt  the  fmrt, 
44'J. — His  defensive  i-jK-uch,  430. — Uu  attitclw  l.U  uneinleis  4M.— Aaicns  his  buaveiily  urit;iu,  46S. 


CONTENTS.  Xvii 

— An  alarming  speech,  453. — The  great  day  of  the  feast,  454. — Tho  fountain  of  Siloam,  454. — 
They  cannot  arrest  Jesus,  455. — In  the  treasury,  4.56. — The  woman  taken  in  adulter}-,  450. — • 
Caught  in  tlieir  own  trap,  457. — Conflict  of  Jesus  with  his  enemies,  457.  — Josus  more  deeply  in- 
censes his  enemies,  460. — Jesus  charged  with  having  a  demon,  461. — His  reply,  403. — Jesus  before 
Abraham,  462. 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE   FEAST   OF   DKDICATION. 

Hear  Jcncho,  40;?. — Parable  of  the  Good  Samarit;in,  404.— From  .Teni«alom  to  Jorcho,  4K). — Tiethany  : 
JIury  and  Martha,  406. — Keply  nf  Jesus  to  ;Miirtlia,  407. — The  hlinit  man,  4li'.l. — iOxistence  of  evil, 
40!l. — The  ancient  pagan  idea,  470. — The  Helirew  idra,  4711, — "  Wtio  did  sin  ?  "  471. — What  JesiL'J 
thought  of  it,  472. — Manner  of  the  healing,  47.'!. — JlCiikd  im  the  Sabbath,  47^1 — The  patient  and 
his  parents  examined,  474. — Jesus  meets  him.  477. — Discouriie  of  the  shepherd  and  the  sheep,  478. 
— Division  among  his  enemies,  47'.l. — A  challenge,  4ti0. — E.xalted  claims,  4i50. 

CHAPTER  III. 

IN   PEKEA. 

Bethany,  east  of  Jordan,  4S2. — Jesus  visits  the  place  of  his  baptism,  482. — The  dropsical  man,  484.— 
I'arable  of  the  Great  Supper.  Iiv5. — Terms  of  discipleship,  4S<i. — Parable  of  the  Los-t  Sheep,  487.— 
Of  the  Lost  Coin.  487.— Of  the  lYodigal  Son,  487.— Of  the  Unjust  Steward,  480.— Meaning  of  the 
parable,  4Wt. — Parable  of  the  Rich  Man  and  Lazanis,  491. — Prayers  to  saint,*.  4!K3. — Of  offences 
and  forgiveness.  41)4. — A  prayer  for  faith,  4i)4. — Sickness  and  death  of  Lazarus,  495. — Devotiou 
of  Thoma.s,  407. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

JESUS  ON  niS  LAST  cinctriT. 

Bethany,  near  Jenisalem,  4!>8. — Jesus  claims  to  be  The  Resurrection,  500. — Mary  and  Jesus.  ,501. — 
The  grief  of  Jesus,  502. — At  the  grave,  50.'5. — I.azanis  rai.sed  from  the  dead,  504. — The  Sanhedrim, 
5U5. — .\ckiiowledge  his  miracles,  505. — Reject  him  as  Messiah,  506. — Caiaphas,  506. — His  prophecy, 
5117.- Ephron,  507.— Ten  lepers  healed,  50!).— The  Parouxia  of  the  Son  of  Man,  511.— Parable  of 
the  Unjust  Judge,  512. — Its  lesson,  51.3. — Despondency  of  .Jesii.s,  514. — Parable  of  the  Pharisee  iind 
I'ublican,  514. — Final  departure  fiom  Galilee,  510. — Divorce,  516. — Mosaic  law  of  divorce,  517. — 
True  law  of  divorce,  520. 

CHAPTER  V. 

GOING  TO  JERUSALEM. 

Jesus  blesses  little  children.  .52.'5. — The  rich  ruler,  .52 1. — "  ^V^lo  can  be  saved  ? "  527. — The  Palingeiiexia, 

52M. — Parable  of  the   laljorers,    528. — The   lesson,  5-30. — A  third  warning,  530. — The  ambitious 

bj-i>thers,  5'-ii. — The  blind  men.  533. — Blind  Bartimieus  healed,  5:i5.— Jericho,  530. — Zaccha.'us,  537. 

-His  conver.sion.  5oS. — Parable  of  the  pounds,  539. — Bethany:  House  of  Lazarus,  541. — Crowds 

fiock  to  see  Jesus,  542. — Uis  last  Sabbath,  542. 

PART  YII. 

THE  LAST  AVEEK. 

[From  April  2  to  April  8,  A.D.  30.] 

CHAPTER  L 

THE    FinST    DAT. 

Palm-Sunday,  .543. — Jesus  riding,  ,544. — Great  excitement,  545. — "The  church"'  frightened,  .540.—. 
In  sight  of  Jerusalem,  517. — Jesus  ajiostrophizes  Jerusalem.  548. — Entering  the  city  and  the 
Temple,  548. — Greeks  seek  him,  549. — The  liatk-ICol,  550. — What  was  if.  551. — Jesus  knew  it,  552. 

CHAPTER  XL 

THE    SECOND    DAT. 

The  barren  fig-tree  cursed,  554. — Trouble  in  the-  narrative.  5.55. — A  great  lesnon.  .550. — A  prnnd  truth, 
557. — The  second  clean&ing  of  the  Temple,  557. — fine  discriminations,  558. — An  act  of  mercy, 
558. 

CHAPTER  IIL 

THE   THinD   DAT. 

"  ly  what  authority?"  ,501. — A  countcr-dUemma,  502. — Puzzled  priests.  503. — Parable  of  the  Two 
Sour,  504. — I'arable  of  the  Wicked  Husbandmen,  .504. — Parable  of  the  Marriage  of  the  King's  Son, 
565. — Without  the  wedding-garment,  5(!7. — Conspiracy.  508. — .-Vftempt  to  ensnare  Jesus  56!). — 
An  adroit  question.  670. — The  net  torn,  571. — .V  profound  lesson,  .571. — Question  by  theSad.lucee*, 
573. — Reply  of  Jesus.  574. — Jesus  against  Pantheism,  574. — The  gri'at  commandment,  .576. — The 
reply  of  .Jesus,  .57f>. — David"s.s,*i  and  David's  Lord,  .578. — The  valedictory  to  the  Jews,  57!). — Con- 
trasted with  the  "Sermon  on  the  Mount,"  581. — Final  woe,  587. — L.a.st  times,  .587. — The  he.irt  of 
Jesus  melts,  .588. — The  widow's  mite,  5S!). — Last  utterance  of  Jesus  in  tho  Temple.  5S9. — Piuable 
of  the  Ten  Virgin.s,  b'.K^. — A  prophecy,  51)4.— Jcru.s,ilem  to  be  destroyed,  5!)5. — Pseiidc)-Chriot,s,  5!)6, 
— General  judgment  of  mankind ,  596. — Jesus  the  representative  of  himianity,  698. — Absence  ot 
doKmatism,  590. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   FOiniTH   DAT. 


DiMippolntMl  hn|>cR,  WXI. — Tenxt  in  Pinion's  house,  CiOO. — Mary  nnoints  Jcstis,  fiOO. — Jiidoji  ob](>ctn,  fiOl. 

—  Reply  of  .IfhUN  ti<H. — A  nii<tiii(,'of  i-oii>i>initons  IK)'.'.— Tlicra)itiirr  ix)8tiHJUud,  602, — JiiduDOODiul 
Ui  them,  (jua.— The  ciue  uf  Juduii,  (XXi.— Fruib  cxuiainution,  UU4-till. 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE   FIFTH    DAT. 

The  flmt  day  of  nnlcnvcncd  bread,  filS!.— Preparations  for  the  Paschal  Supper,  C14. — At  whose  hoime 
014. — Between  the  cveuinipi,  C15. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  SIXTH  DAT. 

Buc.  1.  The  StTPFn.  Jcsub'h  opening  upecch,  (ilG. — Washes  their  feet,  017. — Peter's  refiiRal.  617. — 
The  lesHoi),  GlS.—Siul  preilictioii.  lilS). — Sulf-inRiio<-tion.  til'.t. — Judas  leaves,  62(). — Peter  puzzled, 
020. — CoDiiolinK  words  •'""• — Philip's  muterialisui,  (12:1.— Thaddeus  iwrplexc*!,  (124. 

Bee.  a.  The  VALKDirxnnT  AND  Last  PuAYtn.  The  Hallel,  (124. — An  out  diK)r  di.^course,  625. — 
A  luiuse,  62(1. — l)inciple.s  e.vpress  lx4ief,  (127.— The  last  prayer  with  the  disciples,  627. 

Bee.  3.  GETM8KMANK.  The  Ki-clron  valley,  ri2«.— In  the  pnrdeii,  (l-'id. — Soliuirj-  prayer.  (ViO.— A  horror, 
(i-'MI.— The  sweat  C)f  blood,  Ci-'tl. — The  Is-trayal,  CkSl. — Jewish  criminal  law,  (>.'i2. — l'rejud(,anent,  633 

—  Irn-K^ilarities,  (l.'i*l.— The  sijcual,  (>.'14.— The  arrest,  (UM.— Peters  zeal  (l-'W.— Forwikon,  i>^. 
Bee.  4.  The  TuiaU  (>-'1(1.     Fresh   outrage,  ((.Sd.— Annas,  (>:56.— Caiaphas,  (>J7.— Reply  of  Jesus,  (>Jt<.— 

I'eter,  filjS.-    llis  denials,  (kJT-CstU.— Dayhivak,  Csll.— False  witnesses,  6-11. — Jct>usputon  oath,  649 

— The  judifo  in  a  rat;e,  ('(:).  —  Intense  exeiteuieiit,  614. 
Bee  5.   I'lLATE.     The  Procurator,  644.— The  jim  f/tmlil.  (sl4.— To  PilBt«\  6-15.— Play  of  pa-ysions  645 

^A  halt,  (hlO.— Change  of  tTound,  (H7. — In  the  prajtorium,  6-IS. — Jesus  replies  to  I'ilate,  64'J. — 

A  contras-t,  (15(). 
Boo.  6.  llFnoii.     Herod  and  Jcaiim,  (SO.— Herod  aud  Pilate,  651.— Jesus  sent  to  Herod,  651. — Jctma 

SIKKH-hll-SS,  652. 

Bee  7.  Back  to  Pilate.  I'ilatcand  the  Sanhedrim,  652.— The  jMMiple  aeainst  Jesus  65.3.  —  Burabhas, 
6>5J.— I'datt-'s  wife's  drtam,  CM. — The  unstable  |>eople,  655.— Pilate  washes  his  hands,  (156.- Jesui 
sconn,'"!  and  mocked,  (l-'id.- I'ilato  in  trouble,  (i57.— "  Kcce  Homo  1  "  657. — Pilate  seeks  to  release 
Jesus,  (15S.— "Ciesnr's  Friend,"  65!t.— A  dyiuR  luitionality,  (iCO.— The  sentence,  (160. 

Bee.  8.  The  last  of  Judas.  His  hopes  and  fears,  tiCiU.— The  pround  gives  way.  661. — He  returns  to 
the  priests,  661. — They  regard  him  n  fool,  662. — He  Mings  the  money  away.  6(i'2. — Potter's  Field.  66:i. 

Bee.  Jl.  Goiso  TO  Calvaiiv.  Beanng  the  cross,  (Kki. — The  Cyrenian,  Wh'i. — Form  of  the'cros-s  664. — 
Daughters  of  Jenisalem,  (KhI. — Jesus  prophesies,  (i65. — (lolgothiu  6(15. — The  sour  wine,  666. 

Bee.  10.  FiioM  Nine  o'clock  till  Noon.  Jesus  prays  for  his  tormentors,  667. — The  scanUess  pir- 
mint,  (i<i7.— The  epigraph.  6(W. — Ciesar's  verdict,  ViiV^. — Jesus  reviled,  66'J. — The  imi)enitent  thief, 
(i»lil. _'lhe  jienitcnt  th;ef.  (17(1. — Jesus  accepts  him.  671. — Near  noon.  671. — His  mother.  672. 

Bee,  11.  FiioM  Noon  until  Tubek  o'clock.  N<s)n  and  darkni'.s.s,  (17:1 — The  cry.  674. — A  mys- 
ter)-,  674. — The  light  ix'turns,  675. — Jesus  thirsu  and  dies,  676. — An  eorthiiuakc,  676. — The  cen- 
turion. 676. 

Bee  1'2.  FnoM  Tkhee  o'clock  t-NTll,  Evening.  A  ritualistic  difllculty.  677.— The  thieves  killed.  678. 
— The  siK-arthnist.  67!^.— Physicnl  causes  of  death  of  Jesus.  (>7U.—What  wivs  his  agony  ♦  6b3.— 
Joseph  ODil  NieoJeiuus,  6W.— ^Secret  disciples,  6S4.— In  a  garden,  6t)5.— Love's  last  vigil,  685. 

PAET  VI ir. 

BESURRECTION  OF  JESUS  AND  SUBSEQUENT  E\'ENTS. 
[Forty  iHti/i.    Fii>mAprU\>lo  MuyVXA.D.ZU.] 

L  The  Sabliath  after  cniciftxion,  e.'ifl.— The  sepulchre  (niarded.  687. — Preimnitions  for  embalming, 
(W7.— A  vision  in  the  sepulchre,  6.V1.— A  message  to  Peter.  6!S8. — John  ami  PeU-r,  CWt.— Mary  of 
Magilala  »<•«•*  Je»iis  «!I0.— Her  obedience.  6!I0.— The  other  women,  601.— The  watch.  6'.ll.—i'lic 
Sanhedrim,  OOl.^The  conKpiraey,  tl'.fj.  — On  the  way  to  Emmaus  6'.l'i. — Jesus  ivvi-als  himself,  (i05. 

}{,.  apiM'ars  to  Peter,  61(6. — First  aswmbly  of  the  dis<'lples.  6'.I7. — Jesus  in  their  tnidst,  607. — The 

Holy  Spirit,  (i!W.— Absolution.  60H.     Thomas  incredulous.  (i'.C.I.- The  second  •"semblage.  700. 

II.  The  .\|K«tlc«»  in  Galilee,  7U0. — Jeaus  by  the  lake,  701. — Peter's  ordeal,  702. — A  pivdiclion,  703. — 
J..lin.  7(tt. 

III.  Talsir.  701.— "Five  hundn-d  \>rethren  at  once,"  704. — Jesus  reappears.  70.5. — The  commission, 
7(1.').— The  last  nt-'irdnl  wi.ril.  70.'>.— Ji-suk's  ctmeept  of  God.  706.  — All  n-strictions  removed,  706. 
A  unlvers4il  nOiiron.  7o7. — A  cUimi  uud  a  prediction,  707. — The  fullllmcut,  707. 

I V.  The  Asceiuuon.  7uU. 

<lnENDICE«. 

ChronoloKy  of  the  Birth  of  Jemis,  711. — rBpemaum.  711.— Addition  to  note  on  page  ISfl,  711.— 
Hlave«at  Jnl>ili'»',  Til.— Mary  of  Magdala,  712.— A  translation  e.xplainiMl.  712.  — I>is<-lpline,  71'A 
The  wonuu)  taken  in  adidt<Ty.  71.'1.— Bethany  =  Ilcthabara,  713.— Tniu.'Jutiou  of  Matt  low  xxlv. 
10,  713.— PhysieuJ  cause  of  tiie  death  of  Jusuo,  713. 

DxacsiFTiOM  OF  IixusTiu noNs,  72V. 


WHO  WAS  JESUS? 


PART    I. 


THE    BIETH   AND    CniLDnOOD    OF   JESUS 

FROM  B.O.  6  TO  A.D,  8— ABOUT  THIRTEEN  TEARS  AND  A  HALT. 


CHAPTER   I. 


PRELIMmAKY   EVENTS. 


In  the  reign  of  Herod  the  Great,  in  Jndea,  lived  Zaclmrias  and 
Elizal)eth.  They  were  of  priestly  descent  and  of  great  age,  were 
diildless  and  without  hope  of  cliildren.  Their 
Axes,  had  been  blameless.  Their  family,  their 
employment,  and  their  character  gave  them  an  air  of  sanctity. 
Zacharias  was  of  the  conrse  of  Abia,  being  tlie  eighth  of  the 
twenty-four  courses  established  by  Da\'id.     (1  Cliron.  xxiv.  10.) 

One  day,  in  the  order  of  his  coui'se,  according  to  the  custom 

of  the  priest's  office,  liis  lot  was  to  burn  incense  wlicn  he  went 

into  the  temple  of  Jehovah.     Wliile  engaged  in  this  solemn  act, 

he  beheld  an  apparition  standing  on  the  right  side  of  tlie  altar  of 

incense.     The  sight  troubled   Zacharias.     Lulce  says  it  was  an 

angel,  and  that  Zacharias  was  told  by  the  angel  that  his  name 

was  Gabriel.     This  is  the  name  of  the  man  whom  Daniel  had 

1.5 


16 


•niE  Bmrn  and  cifildiiood  of  jesus. 


eccn  in  a  vision,  and  from  -svhoni  he  learned  the  time  when  the 
Hessiah  slioiild  appear.      (Daniel  ix.  21-23.     Gabriel  =  Man  ol 

God.)  Gabriel  predicted  to  Zacharijis  that  Eliza- 
Birth  of  John  ^,^tjj  should  bear  a  son,  whose  nanie  should  be 
announced. 

called  John  (in  Hebrew,  Jehoanan,  meanin<^  tlio 

gift  of  Jehovah,  equivalent  to  Theodore);  that  he  should  diink 
neither  wine  nor  stronf^  drink  (Xumbei-s  vi.  1-21),  but  that  he 
should  be  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  have  the  power  and 
office  of  Elias,  namely,  to  go  before  the  Lord  and  turn  the  hearts 
of  the  fathers  to  the  cliildren,  and  to  make  the  people  ready  for 
the  Lord,  as  Malachi  had  predicted  in  the  last  words  of  the  Old 
Testament.  Zacharias,  being  incredulous,  asked  a  sign  of  Gabriel. 
]t  was  given.     lie  was  to  be  dumb  until  the  birth  of  his  child. 

"While  this  was  firoinir  on,  tiie  Avhole  cono^reiration — at  this  time 
X  uusually  large — were  silently  praying  in  the  outer  court.  Tlie 
jjeople  wondered  at  the  tarrying  of  Zacharias.  When  he  came 
forth  he  could  not  speak.  From  his  solcnm  manner  and  speech- 
lessness the  people  concluded  that  he  had  seen  a  vision.  They 
were  then  in  expectation  of  the  Messiah. 

Zacharias  finished  his  week's  work  and  departed  to  his  own 
house,  which  was  prcjbabl}'  in  Hebron,  or  Juttah.  There  Eliza- 
beth conceived,  and  hid  hei-self  five  months,  saying,  "  Thus  hatli 
Jehovah  dealt  with  me,  in  the  days  wherein  He  looked  on  me,  to 
take  away  my  reproach  among  men."  As  a  Deliverer  was  alwaj'S 
looked  for,  the  highest  desire  of  a  Hebrew  bride,  in  the  line  of 
David,  was  to  become  a  mother — if  ]>erha])S  it  might  be,  mother  of 
the  great  E.\])ected  King.     Barrenness,  therefore,  was  a  reproach. 

"\V"hile  Elizabeth  was  quietly  awaiting  hei-  time  in  the  hill  coun- 
try of  Judea,  another  wonder  occurred  in  the  obscure  little  city 
of  Nazareth,  in  the  heart  of  Galilee  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, far  fi-om  the  sjilendid  temjjle  where  Zacha- 
rias had  beheld  his  vision.  In  that  remote  place  dwelt  a  8imi)le 
Hebrew  maiden,  Mh(»se  name  was  Maky.  She  was  poor.  Ilei 
society  was  that  of  the  common  work-people.  She  wjis  betrothed 
to  a  kinsman,  a  cai-penter,"'  named  Joseimi.     But  royal  blood  ran 


Mary. 


*  The  word  translated  "carpenter" 
means  any  worker  in  wood,  builder  of 
houBes  or  of  ships,  or  maker  of  wooden 
furniture.  We  know  that  Joseph  was 
not  a  ship-buildcr.     It  ia  not  probable 


that  he  was  a  house-builder,  because  of 
the  scarcity  of  wood  and  the  custom  of 
building  stone  houses.  lie  was  probably 
a  maker  or  mender  of  furniture.  It  hau 
been  suggested  that  he  was  an  architect. 


PKELIMINARY   EVENTS.  17 

through  her  veins,  and  the  gifted  King  Da\  id  was  her  ancestor. 
So  great,  however,  had  been  the  decHne  of  lier  people,  that  even 
the  race  of  Jewish  kings  liad  failed  to  keep  so  accurate  an  account 
of  tlieir  genealogy  as  to  save  historians  from  great  perplexity. 

T^vo  tables  of  genealogy  have  been  preserved — one  in  the  bio- 
graphical sketch  by  Matthew,  and  another  in  that  by  Luke.     It  is 
noticed  that  both  trace  the   descent  of  Joseph 
rather  than  of  Mary,  for  whom  it  is  specially    ji^^°^''^°^  ""^ 
necessary  to  make  a  descent  from  David,  seeino- 
that  her  wonderful  Son  is  reputed  to  have  had  no  earthly  fathei-. 
But  if  Mary  was  the  daughter  of  Jacob,  as  has  been  supposed, 
she  was  the  first  cousin  of  Joseph,  so  that  a  table  of  his  genealogy 
is  in  fact,  if  not  in  form,  a  table  of  Mary's. 

These  two  tables  present  very  gra\-e  difficulties,  but  not  per- 
haps insurmountable.  Matthew  says  that  Joseph  was  the  son  of 
Jacob ;  Luke  says  that  he  was  the  son  of  Ileli.  The  former  pre- 
serves the  genealogy  of  Joseph  as  legal  successor  to  the  throne  of 
David,  the  latter  his  private  genealogy,  sh(3^ving  his  real  birth  as  a 
descendant  of  David.  Jacob  and  Ileli  might  both  have  been  sons 
of  Matthan,  who  was  thus  gi-andfathei-  to  both  Joseph  and  Mary. 
"J  1  Jacob^inight  have  been  Mary's  father,  as  was  generally  supposed.. 
.  /  and  ILeTi  Joseph's  father.  Or,  Mary  might  ha\c  been  Matthan's 
•granddaughter  by  her  mother,  whose  name  has  not  been  pre- 
served. This  latter  is  asserted  to  have  been  the  fact  by  Ilippo- 
lytus  of  Thebes,  in  the  10th  century;  but  his  statement  probably 
rested  upon  ti-adition,  the  value  of  which  we  cannot  now  ascertain. 
But  if  it  were  true,  then  Jacob  might  really  have  had  no  son,  and 
Matthew  gave  his  name  as  Matthan's  eldest  son,  because  Matthew 
was  making  a  list  of  successive  heirs  to  the  throne,  not  of  succes- 
sive progenitors,  the  latter  being  the  work  of  Luke. 

If  we  compare  Luke's  personal  table  with  Matthew's  official 
table  of  genealogy,  M-e  find  that  the  lineal  descent  was  broken  in 
Jechonias  (Matt.  i.  12),  who  could  not  have  been  literally  the 
father  of  Salathiel,  as  he  is  declared  childless  in  Jeremiah  xxii. 
30.  It  is  clear  from  this  that  Matthew  could  have  been  giving 
only  the  names  of  the  heirs  to  the  throne.  And  this  simple  e.v 
planation,  if  applied  to  Matthew's  table,  according  to  the  Jewish 
law  in  lumbers  xxvii.  8-11,  may  go  far  towards  clearing  up  diffi- 
culties. Even  if,  with  Dean  Alford,  we  take  the  ground  that  the 
difficulties  created  by  the  two  tables  cannot  be  soh-ed  without 
2 


18  THE   BIKTII    AND   CUn.DHOOD   OF   JESUS. 

kno-\vlc(lge  which  wc  do  not  j)()?ticss,  it  would  not  be  positive  proof 
a<'ainst  the  general  conchision  which  the  tables  undertake  to 
reach,  namely,  that  Jesus  was  a  descendant  of  David,  because  the 
writers  may  ha\e  had  kn<i\vledge  which  we  do  not  posses?, — or 
there  may  have  crept  some  clerical  erroi*s  into  the  text,  M-hich  do 
not  vitiate  the  general  line. 

If  even  the  tables  were  abandoned,  there  still  remain  such  ev- 
idences as  these:  (1).  The  nearly  contemporaneous  biographies  of 

Jesus,  all  indeed  upon  which  we  base  our  knowl- 
Other  evidences.  '  i       p  i  .  i        ^   o  r   ta 

edge  of  him,  speak  or  Inm  as  the  "  oon  or  Da- 
vid." He  was  repeatedly  addressed  as  such,  and  never  declined 
the  title.  Unless  we  accept  it,  we  arc  obliged  to  consider  Jesus 
an  arrant  impostor.  Tiiere  can  be  no  middle  ground.  So  great 
a  man  could  never,  without  being  a  very  bad  man,  be  party  to 
what  the  gifted  M.  Rcnan  mischievously  calls  "  innoc^iit  frauds^'' 
a  solecism  in  languageand  a  contradiction  in  thought.*  (2).  Paul 
was  a  scrupulous  Pharisee.  lie  knew  where  to  find  the  records 
and  how  to  satisfy  himself.  In  2  Tim.  ii.  8  he  speaks  positively 
of  *'  Jesus  Christ  of  the  seed  of  David,"  'i*  impu.xTvi  Au^iS. 
(3).  "  The  Emix'ror  Domitian  was  at  fii-st  uneasy  at  this  illus- 
trious descent,  which  might  lend  itself  to  ambitious  or  seditious 
views,  but  was  reassured  on  seeing  the  horny  hands  of  these 
cliildren  of  a  king,  become  common  artisans."  (De  Pressensc's. 
'•  Jesus  Christ,"  book  ii.) 

*  M.  Renan  denies  the  existence  of  I  claimed  descent  from  David.  Is  that 
the  family  of  David,  on  such  slender  I  an  argument  ?  Because  people  who  do 
grounds  as  the  following  question  indi-  :  not  belong  to  a  certain  family  make  no 
cates  :  "If  the  family  of  David  still  claim  to  the  relationship,  is  that  a  proof 
formed  a  distinct  and  well-known  group,  I  that  another  man's  claim  is  false  ?  He 
how  happens  it  that  we  never  see  it '  admits  that  Jesus  seemed  to  take  pleas- 
figuring  by  the  side  of  the  Sadokitee,  ure  in  the  name  of  the  "  Son  of  David," 
the  Boethuses,  the  Asraoncans,  or  the  "  for  he  pcrfonned  most  graciously  those 
Herods,  in  the  great  Btruggles  of  the  1  miracles  which  were  sought  of  him  in 
times?"  (Life  of  Jcbuh,  ch.  xv.)  That  is  this  name."  And  to  verify  this  M.  Rp- 
very  good  for  a  poet,  but  very  poor  fcra  I  nan  cites  several  passages  in  Mattlu  \v. 
historiiin.  A  question  may  be  answered  I  Mark,  and  Luke  !  Is  it  not  surprising 
by  a  question :  Does  not  M.  Renan  that  any  man  can  bo  in  such  a  moral 
know  that  at  this  very  moment  there  state  as  to  write  a  glowing,  almost  ador- 
are  dolapsod  families  of  roj'al  blood  liv-  ing,  poetical  romance  of  one  whom  he 
ing  in  Karope,  who  are  not  "  figiiring  by  '  begins  by  reiiresonting  as  a  sneaking 
the  side  "  of  the  Bonapartos  or  the  Bis-  impostor?  In  that  view  the  "Vie  de 
marcks,  "  in  the  great  stnigglcs  of  (/<«<!' JOsus  "  is  the  most  remarkable  moral 
times"  ?   lie  says  the  .\smoncans  never    phononnnon  iji  uvkIlth  literature. 


PRELnnNAKY   EVENTS.  19 

The  simple  maiden  Mary  was  residing  in  Nazareth,  a  small 
town  among  the  hills  which  constitute  the  south  ridges  of  Leba- 
non. The  historians  give  her  no  worship,  no  idealizing,  no  halo. 
They  describe  her  as  a  quiet  soul,  looking  and  longing  for  the 
salvation  of  her  nation.  Her  becoming  a  mother  was  supernatu- 
ral, in  the  sense  of  a  loftier  class  of  influences  bearing  down  upon 
that  world  we  call  "  the  natural,"  by  which  we  can  reasonably 
mean  only  so  much  of  the  chain  of  cause  and  effect  as  we  discern. 
It  is  as  unphilosophical  to  deny  supernature  as  to  deny  nature. 
In  writing  history  we  must  follow  our  best  authorities,  and  how- 
ever unsatisfactory  the}^  may  be,  they  will  always  be  our  best  until 
better  be  found.  In  this  history  we  must  mainly  follow  the  writ- 
ers called  the  Evangelists.  If  they  set  forth  before  us  what 
JSTeander  calls  "the  divine  ideal  become  a  reality,"  shall  we  throw 
away  this  finest  thing  because  it  is  so  fine  ? 

Elizabeth  was  in  her  sixth  month  of  retirement,  when  Mary,  a 

virgin,  saw  an  angelic  apparition  in  the  city  of  Nazareth.   The  angel 

is  called  Gabriel  by  the  historians.     Perhaps  this 

.     ,,  ,  ,     -iir  XX  i      j«  ii         '  Birth  of  Jesufl 

is  the  name  lie  gave  to  JMary.     Her  report  or  the    announced 

interview  was  that  the  angel  said  to  her,  "  Hail, 

highly  favored !     The  Lord  is  with  you ;  and  blessed  are  you 

among  women ! "     This  annunciation  troubled  the  simple  maiden, 

and  she  began  to  think  what  it  might  mean,  when  the  angel  spoke 

again  and  said,  "  Fear  not,  Mary :  for  you  have  found  favor  with 

God.     And,  see !  you  shall  conceive  and  bear  a  son,  and  you 

shall  call  his  name  Jesus.*     And  he  shall  be  great,  and  shall  be 

called  the  Son  of  the  Most  Hio;h.     And  the  Lord  God  shall  give 

him  the  throne  of  his  father  David,  and  he  shall  rule  the  house 

of  Jacob  through  the  ages,  and  of  his  kingdom  there  shall  be  no 

end." 

Knowing  herself  to  be  of  the  lineage  of  David,  she  had  no 

surprise  at  the  assumption  that  her  son  should  be  a  descendant 

of  the  great  king;  but  that  she  should  be  at  once  a  mother  and  a 

virgin  was  a  puzzle  to  her,  and  she  took  courage  to  say  as  muc;li 

to  the  angel.     The  angelic  reply  was,  "  The  Holy  Spirit  shall 

come  upon  you,  and  the  power  of  the  Most  High  shall  invest  yon 


*  Jesus  =  Joshua  =  a  Saviour.  Joshua 
was  a  common  name  at  that  time,  and 
the  reason  for  its  bestowment  upon  this 


Child  of  Miracle  is  given  in  Matt.  i.  21, 
because  he  should  "save  his  peopla 
from  their  sins." 


20  THE  Brern  and  ciitldiiood  of  jesus. 

like  a  cloud,  in  order  that  the  holy  thini^  shall  be  called  the  I^or, 
of  God.  And,  behold,  Elizabeth,  your  relative,  even  she  is  preg- 
nant witli  a  son  in  her  old  age,  and  this  is  the  sixth  month  to 
her  called  barren :  for  nothing  is  impossible  with  God."  Mai-y 
was  as  devout  as  she  was  modest,  and  she  said  to  the  angel, 
"  BeliDld,  I  am  the  servant  of  the  Lord !  Let  it  be  to  me 
according  to  your  word."  And  the  angel  left  her,  and  she 
patiently  awaited  all  the  terrible  misapprehensions  and  perils  to 
which  this  honor  God  was  about  to  give  her  would  certainly  ex- 
pose her. 

Yery  shortly  after  this  !Mary  paid  a  visit  to  her  cousin  Eliza- 
beth, in  the  "Ilighlands"  of  Judea,  to  congratulate  that  relative 

upon  the  prospective  joys  of  maternity,  and  per- 
Elizabeth  haps  to  receive  counsel  for  her  own  behavior  in 

her  peculiar  ciicumstances.  She  entered  the 
house  of  Zacharias,  and  upon  the  delightful  surprise  caused  by 
Iier  salutation  Elizabeth  felt  the  first  life-movement  of  her  own 
unborn  babe,  and  cried  out  Avith  joy,  "  ILippy  are  you  among 
women,  and  happy  your  offspring !  And  whence  is  this  to  me 
that  the  mother  of  my  Lord  should  come  to  me?  Forlo!  as 
soon  as  the  voice  of  your  salutation  sounded  in  my  ears,  the  babe 
leaped  within  me  for  joy.*  And  blessed  is  she  that  believed : 
for  there  shall  be  a  performance  of  those  things  that  were  told 
her  of  Jehovah!" 

Then  Mary,  as  if  by  sudden  inspii-ation,  uttered  that  glorious 
canticle  which  the  Christian  church  has  made  one  of  its  chief 
hymns  under  the  title  of  the  Magnificat^  and  which  is  recorded 
in  Luke  i.  4G-55. 

"  My  soul  magnifies  the  Lord,  and  my  spirit  exults  in  God  my  Saviour ;  for 
ITc  has  looked  on  the  low  condition  of  His  servant;  for,  behold,  from  this 
time  all  ponorations  shall  rail  me  blessed,  because  the 
mighty  One  has  done  great  things  for  me,  and  holy  is  Ilis 
name;  and  TTis  mercy  is  to  generations  and  generations  of  them  that  fi-ar 
Flim.  lie  lias  made  strong  Ilis  arm;  lie  has  scattered  the  proud  with  tlic 
thought  of  their  hearts;  He  hius  brought  do'mi  the  mighty  from  thrones,  and 
exalted  the  humble ;  IIo  has  tilled  the  hungry  with  goods,  and  sent  the  rich 


•  Phymcians  designate    this    Hymp-  I  nomenon,  produced  by  any  sudden  emo- 
torn  of  advanced  gestation  by  the  name     tion. 


of  "quickening."     It  is  a  common  pbe-  I 


PEELIMINAKY   EVEN'JS. 


21 


Birth  of  John. 


away  cnrpty.     He  has  helped  Israel  his  servant,  and  remembered  his  mercy 
as  he  said  to  oui'  fathers,  to  Abiaham  and  his  posterity  forever."  * 

Aftor  this  ]\[ary  stayed  with  Elizabeth  tliree  mouths,  until  jnsl 
before  the  birth  of  John,  and  then  returned  to  her  own  home  in 
Nazareth. 

Elizabeth's  full  time  came,  and  she  was  the  mother  of  a  son. 
Iler  relatives  and  neighbors  collected  to  congratulate  her.  On 
the  eighth  day,  according  to  Jewish  law,  the  child 
was  to  be  circumcised.  Some  near  relative  seems 
to  have  attempted  to  officiate  in  the  place  of  Zacharias,  who  was 
still  dumb.  He  gave  him  his  father's  name,  but  the  mother  inter- 
posed and  said,  "  No ;  but  he  shall  be  called  John,"  a  name  not 
belonging  to  her  husband's  family,  but  known  in  the  house  of 
Levi  and  among  the  Maccabcean  princes.  The  friends  remon- 
strated with  Elizabeth,  and  appealed  to  Zacharias,  who  surprised 
the  company  by  writing  upon  his  tablets,  "His  name  is  John." 
Immediately  his  duml)ness  left  him,  and  he  broke  forth  into  a 
canticle,  which  the  Christian  church  has  since  preserved  under 
the  name  of  the  Benedict  us. 


Tho  Bcnedictus. 


"Blessed  is  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  because  He  has  visited  and  redeemed 
His  people,  and  raised  up  a  horn  of  salvation  for  us  in  the  house  of  David 
His  servant,  as  He  said  by  the  mouth  of  His  holy  jMophcts 
from  of  old ;  a  salvation  fi'om  our  enemies,  and  from  the 
hand  of  all  that  hate  us,  to  perform  His  mercy  Avith  our  fathers,  and  to  remem- 
ber His  holy  covenant,  the  oath  which  he  SAVore  to  Al)raham  our  lather,  to 
grant  us  without  fear,  being  delivered  from  the  hand  of  our  eucnucs,  to  serve 
Hun  in  holiness  and  lighteousness  before  Him  all  our  days. 

"And  you,  little  child,  shall  be  called  a  prophet  of  the  Most  High;  for  you 
shall  go  before  the  face  of  the  Lord  to  prepare  His  ways,  to  give  a  knowledge 
of  salvation  to  His  people,  wdth  a  forgiveness  of  sins,  on  accovmt  of  the  com- 
passionate mercies  of  our  God,  by  which  a  morning  from  on  high  has  visited 
us,  to  illuminate  those  sitting  in  darkness  and  the  shade  of  death,  to  direct 
our  feet  in  the  way  of  peace." 

The  extraordinary  circumstances  attending  the  birth  of  Jolin 


*  We  shall  come  often  on  the  word 
translated  "forever."  In  our  English 
dictionaries  and  philosophical  books  we 
write  it  aon.  The  Greek  is  aiwr,  and 
Bigijifies  a  life-time  of  anything — the 
Bpace  of  time  in  which  anything  exists. 
"  Through  the  a;on"  means  while  that 


thing  or  that  state  of  afifairs  exists. 
Here  it  means  as  long  as  the  posterity 
of  Abraham  exists.  It  does  not  involve 
the  idea  of  absolute  endlessness.  E'i$ 
Tov  ai  :ua  may  be  translated  ' '  perpetu- 
ally." 


THE   BIKTH   AKD   CHILDUOOD   OF   JESUS. 


produced  a  profound  impression  upon  all  who  saw  and  heard. 

The  fame  of  these  things  spread  throughout  tlie 

o     8     eary    land,  and  deepened  the  conviction  of  the  people 

history.  ,  ,     .  .  ,  ~ 

that  their  nation  was  on  the  eve  or  great  events, 
and  quickened  their  hopes  of  speedy  deliverance  from  the  Koman 
yoke.  The  age  of  the  prophets  seemed  to  be  rolled  back.  Per- 
haps this  was  Elijah;  he  might  even  be  the  Messiah.  And  thus 
the  very  birth  of  John  was  a  harbinger  of  Jesus. 

The  boy  grew  in  physical  and  mental  vigor,  in  virtue  and  moral 
energy.  As  he  approached  manhood  he  separated  himself  from 
his  worldly  coimtryinen  and  liid  himself  in  the  deserts  of  Judea, 
a  thinly  peojiled  region  west  of  the  Dead  Sea,  where  he  gave 
himself  to  a  life  of  asceticism  and  religious  study  imtil  the  time 
of  his  entrance  upon  his  public  ministry. 


AWD  ramT  of  thk  caiiod,— "nuBBi.* 


CHAPTER   II, 


BIKTII    OF   JESVS  :     ITS    DATE. 


The  birth  of  Jesus  occurred  under  the  following  circumstances: 
Joseph,  to  whom  Mary  was  espoused,  was  a  devout  Jew.     He 
l<new  nothing  of  the  announcement  which  had 
been  made  to  her  by  the  angel.    After  her  return 
from  the  visit  to  Elizabeth  it  became  apparent  that  she  was  about 
to  become  a  mother.     Shocked  at  the  discovery,  Joseph  thought 
of  making  an    example  of  her.     But  his  love  was  not  wholly 
destroyed  by  her  supposed  misconduct,  and  he  was  minded  to  put 
her  away  privily,  which  was  a  milder  course,  as  it  saved  her  from 
the  shame  of  pubhc  exposure.     Pondering  these  things  in  his 
troubled  and  affectionate  heart,  he  had  a  dream, 
in  which  the  angel  said,  "Joseph,  son  of  David, 
fear  not  to  take  unto  you  Mary,  your  wife ;  for  that  which  is  con- 
ceived in  her  is  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  and  she  shall  bring  forth  a 
son,  and  you  shall  call  his  name  Jesus,  for  he  shall  save  his  peo- 
ple from  their  sins."     Joseph  seems  to  have  been  addressed  by 
the  title,  "  Son  of  David,"  as  if  the  angel  would  assure  liim  that 
though  he  came  of  royal  blood,  there  should  be  no  humiliation  to 
him  by  taking  Mary  to  wife. 

Joseph  rose  from  his  sleep  next  day  and  did  as  he  liad  been 
bidden  in  the  dream,  taking  his  bride  to  his  own  home  and  await- 
ing tlie  unfolding  of  events. 

In  due  time  the  great  event  occurred.     Jesus  was  born. 

The  date  and  the  place  of  this  Great  Birth  are  important  and 
intimately  connected.  Before  other  things  let  us  strive  to  settle, 
as  nearly  as  we  may,  the  question  of  the  time  of 

.  1  ,         .      n    T  J.     j.\  ^J  Examination  of 

the  advent  oi  Jesus  to  the  world.  ^,      ,        . 

the  chronology. 

Can  we  ascertain  the  year,  the  month,  the  day? 

Christmas  has  been  celebrated  in  the  Latin  Church,  as  the  anni- 
versary of  the  birth  of  Jesus,  on  the  25th  of  December,  and  the 
year  has  been  marked  as  the  75-ith  after  the  founding  of  the  city 


24 


Tin:   BIKTII    AND   CHILDHOOD   OF   JESUS. 


Examination  of 
the  year. 


of  Rome.*  The  tradition  of  the  Latin  Clnirch  first  appears  in 
the  writings  of  Augustine,  who  was  born  a.d.  354,  too  late  to  make 
Uini  any  authority  on  such  a  question. 

It  is  now  well  ascertained  that  tlie  point  from  which  the  Christian 
Era  is  dated  is  several  yeai*s  later  than  the  actual 
birth  of  Christ.  lie  was  born  in  some  year  B.C., 
Before  Christ.  Let  the  reader  recollect  this. 
It  may  seem  anomalous  to  liave  any  other  day  for  the  Chris- 
tian epoch  than  the  very  day  on  which  Jesus  was  really  born  ; 
but  as  the  chronology  of  Christendom  had  gone  on  for  yeai-s 
before  thorough  investigation  was  made,  to  whatever  results 
they  lead  it  would  now  clearly  be  impracticable  to  rectify  the 
error.  The  confusion  caused  by  adding  the  years  and  montlis 
and  days  necessary  to  conform  the  first  of  January,  1871,  for 
instance,  with  tlie  real  time  would  be  a  much  greater  inconveni- 
ence than  following  the  received  chronology,  especially  wlicn  we 
shall  show  that  the  most  recent  researches  and  studies  exhibit  an 
error  even  in  that  of  at  least  one  year,  and  probably  more.  And 
this  is  not  a  matter  affecting  any  man's  faith,  but  is  a  mere  ques- 
tion of  historical  inquiry.  If  even  it  could  be  shown  that  the 
evangelist  Luke  is  inexact,  his  want  of  exactness  is  easily 
explained,  and  is  of  no  manner  of  importance  for  the  object 
which  he  had  in  view. 


Fifteenth 
of  Tiberius. 


In  Luke  iii.  1,  it  is  recorded  that  in  the  fifteentli  year  of  the 
reign  of  Tiberius  Cajsar,  Pontius  Pilate  being  governor  of  Judaea, 
and  Ilerod  tetrarch  of  Galilee,  John  began  to 
^^"  preach,  and  that  at  that  time  "  Jesus  hegaii  to  he 
about  tliirtij  years  of  acjeP  Luke  iii.  23.  The 
word  "about"  must  allude  to  something  less  than  one  year,  and 
refer  to  months  or  weeks.  The  "  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of 
Tiberius  Caisar"  is  now  to  be  fixed. 

Tiberius  Cajsar  was  admitted  to  joint  rule  by  Augustus  some 
time  before  that  emperor's  death,  at  which  time  Tiberius  became 
sole  emperor.  Does  Luke's  date  refer  to  his  associate  reign  or 
his  solitary  reign  ?     That  it  refei-s  to  the  former  is  shown  tluis : 


*  Acoording  to  Dionysiua  Exiguus,  in 
the  0th  century.  One  fact  Bhows  that 
is  at  least  four  years  too  late,  namely, 
that  Herod  died,  as  JoscphuH  showw  (-la- 


tiquitieK,  xviii.  9,  §  3,  xvii  8,  t^  4),  in 
u.c.  750,  and  Jesus  wa.s  born  before  the 
death  of  Herod. 


m'M 

j^ 

wi'S^ 

MM> 

ip 

B 

Rl'i 

pS 

BmTlI    OF   JESUS  :    ITS   DATE.  25 

(1.)  The  imhhc  ministiy  of  Jcsns  must,  at  the  lowest  calcula- 
tion, have  covered  between  two  and  three  years,  as  not  less  than 
three,  and  probably /ot^r,  Passovers  occurred.  (See  John  ii.  13  ; 
vi.  4 ;  xii.  1 ;  v.  1.)  It  may  have  occupied  more  than  three.  Let 
us  say  two,  of  which  we  are  certain. 

(2.)  That  public  ministry  closed,  as  all  admit,  during  the  con- 
sulsliip  of  the  two  Gemini,  and  that  is  fixed,  as  all  agree,  in  the 
fifteenth  year  after  the  death  of  Augustus.  Then  Jesus  could  not 
have  be(/un  his  ministry  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  sole  reign  of 
Tiberius,  and  it  must  have  been  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  some 
other  reign,  that  is,  of  his  associate  reign. 

"VYlien  did  that  associate  reio-n  beo:in  ? 

Comparing  Suetonius  with  Dio  Cassius,  it  appears  that  Tiberius 
returned  to  Rome,  triumphed,  and  dedicated  temples  in  the  consul- 
ship of  M.Emilius  Lepidus  and  T.  Statilius  Taurus,*  in  the  month 
of  January.  It  would  seem  that  this  is  the  time  of  his  probable 
accession  to  joint  power  with  Augustus.  Indeed  Suetonius  says : 
"JVot  long  after  (the  dedication  of  the  temples)  a  law  being  pro- 
posed by  the  senate  that  he  (Tiberius)  should  administer  the 
government  of  the  provinces  in  common  with  Augustus,  he 
departed  into  Illyricum."  It  must  have  been,  at  longest,  only  a 
few  weeks  after  January  of  this  year.  Let  us  say  February. 
Xow  tlie  consulship  of  M.  Emilius  Lepidus  and  T.  Statilius 
Taurus  M-as  in  the  third  year  hefore  the  death  of  Augustus. 
When  did  Augustus  die?  On  the  19th  of 
August,  in  the  year  in  which  Sextus  Appu-  ^^^^^'^t^  ^^  ^"&^s- 
leius  and  Sextus  Pompeius  were  consuls.  AVliat 
A.D.  was  that  ? 

From  some  ascertained  coincidence  of  an  event  in  some  con- 
sulship with  a  certain  year  in  our  era  modern  chronologers  have 
reckoned  back  and  arranged  the  consular  tables  so  that  we  have  : 
A.D.  IGl  \  •^^-  ^^^^''  ^G^'^is  Anton.  Cges.,  called  the  Philosox>her. 
\  L.  yElius  Aur.  Yerus  Caes.,  called  "  OominodusP 
In  copying  and  otherwise  it  seems  that  some  confusion  has  come 


*  ConsulsMps  are  very  important  in 
these  investigations.  The  Romans  kept 
their  dates  by  consulships  as  we  do  by 
the  "Year  of  our  Lord."  The  preser- 
vation of  the  fiiiccessitm  of  consuls  was 


the  English  dated  everything  by  the 
year  of  their  reigning  sovereign,  and  the 
Americans  by  the  year  of  their  Presi- 
dent. The  Fa.sti  among  the  Roman.s 
were  marbles  in  which  were  carved  this 


cif  the  utmo.st  importance  in  their  chro-  |  succession  of  consuls.      Fragments   of 
nology.     It  is  as  if  we  had  no  .\.d.,  and  I  these  marbles  still  exist. 


A.D.  160 


A.D.  IGl 


i 


2C  TITE   BLRTn    AKD   CniLDIlOOn   OF   JICSUS. 

in  at  this  point  of  the  chronological  calculation,  and  two  sets  ol 
consuls  have  been  shrunk  into  one  year.  The  authority  of  three 
lists  (those  of  Cassiodorus,  Victorius,  and  the  Paschal  Chronicle) 
makes  two  years,  while  that  of  one  list  (Idatius)  makes  one  year. 
It  is  safer  to  follow  the  stronger  authority,  and  by  correcting  the 
mistakes  of  copyists,  the  consular  list  at  this  particular  period  ia 
restored  thus : 

'  T.  El.  Aur.  Antoninus  "  Pius,"  Emperor  (who  died 

this  year),  and 
M.  El.  Aurelius  Anton.,  the  Philosopher  (who  sue 
ceeded  him), 
j"  M.  El.  Aurelius  Anton.,  the  Philosopher,  and 
L.  Aur.  Ant.  Yerus,  called  "  Commodus," 

It  will  be  perceived  that  tliis  pushes  back  all  the  other  consul- 
ships one  year,  so  that  those  for  IGO  must  be  i)laced  in  a.d.  159, 
and  so  all  the  way  back  through  the  list.  The  consulship  of 
Sextus  Ap})ulcius  and  Sextus  Pompeius,  usually  entered  a.d.  14 
(Julian  Period  -1727),  must  be  one  year  earlier. 

The  result  is  that  Augustus  died  on  the  lOtli  of  August,  a.d. 
13:*  the  associate  reign  of  Tiberius  began  three  years  before 
this,  namely,  a.d.  10,  in  February :  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  that 
reign — between  February,  a.d.  24,  and  Februar}-,  a.d.  25 — Jesus 
reached  his  thirtieth  year.  This  is  marked,  because  it  Avas  the 
legal  time  of  entering  upon  the  Jewish  priesthood,  and  was  the 
age  at  wliicli  Jesus  actually  began  his  public  ministry.  From 
that  date  deduct  thirty  years,  and  the  conclusion  is  reached  that 
Jesus  was  boin  between  the  Februaries  of  the  yeai"S  G  and  7 
before  the  beginning  of  the  Vulgar  Era. 

Secinir  that  this  event  has  l)een  by  different  writei-s  assigned  to 
every  month  in  the  year,  can  we  ascertain  the  very  day?  If  not, 
let  us  see  how  nearly  it  can  be  approximated.  The  Latin  Churcli 
luis  kept  the  25th  of  Decemljcr;  the  Greek  Church  originally 
observed  the  Cth  of  January,  but  subsequently  came  over  to  the 
Latin  calendar.     Neither  date  has  any  conclusive  authority. 

According  to  Josephus,  Jerusalem  was  taken  in  the  second  year 
of  the  reign  of  Vcsi)asian,  on  the  8th  day  of  Sep- 

Exnmination  of  ^^.,,^1,^  ^^  yq,  which  was  in  the  year  of  the 
month  and  uuy.  .       ,        .    ^_ „     '  ,  ,  ,  , 

City  (a,u.)  823,  and  the  temple  was  destroyed  on 

*  Be  careful  to  notice  that  this  is  I  the  actual  birth  of  Jesus, 
the  Vulgar  Era,  not  on  era  dated  from  I 


BIRTH   OF   JESUS :    FfS   DATE. 


27 


tlie  4th  of  August.  According  to  the  Jewish  ]\[is]iiiii— compiled  in 
Palestine  toward  the  close  of  the  second  centnrj — on  that  day 
the  first  sacerdotal  class  of  the  twenty-four  which  officiated  in 
rotation,  each  a  week  (1  Chron.  xxiv.,  and  Xeheniiah  xii.),  entered 
upon  their  duties.  Computing  the  number  of  sacerdotal  cycles 
between  a.d.  70  and  b.c.  8,  we  ascertain  *  that  on  the  4th  day  of 
August,  B.C.  8,  there  were  nine  weeks  and  five  days  needed  to 
complete  the  cycle.  Add  these  to  4th  of  August  and  we  reach 
October  11  as  the  recommencement  of  the  cycle.  The  eio-hth  class 
that  to  which,  according  to  Luke  i.  5,  Zacharias  belonged,  woidd 
enter  upon  duty  on  the  forty-ninth  day  after  October  11 ;  that 
is,  Ko\eniber  29  (n.c.  8).  A  simple  arithmetical  calculation  shows 
that  Zachai'ias  must  have  been  serving  on  the  followino-  days : 

B.C.  9..  August        12  j  B.C.  8..  July  14  I  b.c.  7.. May  IG 

B.C.  8.  .Jauuary       27  [  B.C.  8.  .November  29  I  B.C.  7.  .October       31 

Add  to  these  dates  fourteen  months  and  twenty-two  days,  by 
which  allowance  is  made  of  seven  days  for  Zacharias's  ministry, 
five  months  and  fifteen  days  for  EKzabeth's  time  before  the  Annim- 
ciation,  and  the  usual  period  of  nine  months  for  Mary's  time,  from 
the  Annunciation  to  the  bh-th  of  Jesus,  and  you  have  the  follow 
ing  table : 


B.C.  8.  .November  3  I  b.c.  7.  .October 
B.C.  7 . .  April         1 8 1  B.C.  6 . .  February 


6  I  B.C.  6.  .August  7 

20  I  B.C.  5.  .January         22 


These  six  dates  are  all  that  seem  possible  on  the  calculation  by 
the  courses  of  the  priests.  It  is  not  necessary  to  point  out  objec- 
tions to  any  single  date,  as  our  previous  calculations  have  shown 
that  it  must  have  been  b.c.  6.  Was  it  February  20  or  August  7"? 
To  decide  between  these  dates  we  are  helped  by  the  statement  in 
Luke  ii.  8,  that  at  the  Nativity  "there  were  in  the  same  country 
shepherds  abiding  in  the  fields,  keeping  watch  over  their  fiocks 
by  night."  Would  this  have  been  in  the  month  of  February  ?  In 
lluhle's  Economical  Calendar  of  Palestine  (it  may  be  found  as 
the  454th  of  the  fragments  in  the  4to  edition  of  Calmet),  which 
contains  a  very  satisfactory  account  of  the  weather  for  each 
month,  it  is  shown  that  February  is  rainy  and  snows  are  frequent 


*  In  this  -way  :  The  interval  between 
the  dates  is  77  years,  being  28,12-1  days, 
being  4,017  weeks  and  5  days,  which, 


divided  by  24,  gives  166  cycles,  with  9 
weeks  and  5  days  over. 


28  THE  BIKTH  AND   CHILDHOOD  OF  JESUS. 

in  the  soutlierii  part.  It  was  not  a  month  for  shepherds  to  be 
v/atching  their  flocks  at  night  in  the  open  air.  Nor  is  it  probable 
that  tlie  enrolment  which  was  had  at  the  imperial  order  would 
have  been  assigned  to  so  distressing  a  portion  of  the  year,  nor 
that  ^lary,  in  her  condition,  could  have  taken  this  journey  in 
FebruaiT. 

T/ie  1th  day  of  August,  b.c.  6  (a.tj.c.  747),  is  the  nearest  approach 

we  can  make  to  the  date  of  the  bikth  of  Jesus.     Within  a  f<nt- 

niglit  of  that  day  this  great  event  most  probably 

Jesus  born  pro-     occurred. 

jj'p  Q  '  '  '  '  In  reaching  this  date  I  have  used  the  most 
direct  and  most  trustworthy  mode  of  calculation, 
and  yet  find  only  a  probable  conclusion,  after  having  read  an  im- 
mense amount  of  matter  on  this  question.  It  is  annoying  to  see 
learned  men  use  the  same  apparatus  of  calculation  and  reach  the 
most  diverse  results.*  It  is  bewildering  to  attempt  a  reconcilia- 
tion of  these  varying  calculations.  It  may  be  proper  to  consider 
the  other  data  used  in  these  calculations,  and  give  the  reader  the 
benefit  of  the  latest  investigations. 
It  is  recorded  in  Matthew  ii.  1-10: 

"  Now  when  .Tesus  was  bora  in  Betlilohem  of  Judea  in  the  days  of  Herod  the 

king,  behold,  there  came  wise  men  from  the  cast  to  Jeinisalctn,  saying.  Where 

is  he  that  is  boni  King  of  the  Jews  ?  for  we  have  seen  his 

proximation  ^^'^'"  "^  ^^"^  ^^^^■'  '^"^^  '"'^  Come  to  worship  liiin.     AVhcn  He- 

rod the  king  had  licard  th^se  ihiiigs,  he  was  troubled,  and 
all  Jerusalem  with  him.  And  when  he  had  gathered  all  the  chief  priests  and 
Bcribes  of  the  people  together,  he  demanded  of  them  where  Christ  should  be 
bora.  And  they  said  unto  him,  In  BLtlilchem  of  Judca :  for  thus  it  is  written 
by  the  ])roph('t,  And  thou  Betlilohem,  in  tlie  land  of  Juda,  art  not  the  least 
among  tlie  princes  of  Juda:  for  out  of  thee  shall  come  a  Governor,  that  shall 
rule  my  jieople  Israel.  Tlien  Ilorod,  when  he  had  privily  called  the  wise 
men,  inquired  of  them  diligently  what  time  the  star  ajipearcd.  And  he  sent 
them  to  Bethlehem,  and  said.  Go  and  search  diligently  for  the  young  child; 
and  when  ye  have  found  him,  bring  me  word  again,  that  I  may  come  and 
worship  him  also.  "When  they  had  heard  the  king,  they  departed ;  and,  lo, 
the  star,  which  they  saw  in  the  cast,  went  Ixfore  tliem,  till  it  came  and  stood 
over  where  the  young  child  was.  When  they  saw  the  star,  they  rejoiced  with 
exceeding  great  joy." 

"  For  example  :  the  birth  of  our  Lord  [  and  Gres^vell;  B.C.  5  by  Usher  and  Pe- 
ls placed  in  B.C.  1  by  Pearson  and  Ilnp;  j  tavius;  n.c.  0  by  Strong',  Luvin,  and 
R.(".  2  by  Scaligcr;  n.c.  o  by  Riironius  j  Clark;  u.c.  7  by  Idelcr  and  Sonde- 
and  Puulus;   ii.c.  4  Viy  Bengcl,  Wicsclcr,  |  mcntc. 


BIKTH   OF   JESUS :    ITS   DATE. 


9(1 


"  The  data  in  this  passage  furnish  little  help  towards  precision, 
but  do  fix  the  exterior  limit  of  the  Nativit3\     We  learn  from  it 

that  Christ  was  born   hefore   the  death  of  Ue- 

7  iTTij'j  J-         i.T         1-  Date  of  Herod'a 

rod  ^    and  ilerod   died,   accordmg  to   Josephus    ,     , 

{Ant.  xvii.  8,  §  1),  'having  reigned  thirty- four 
years  from  the  time  that  he  had  procured  Antigonus  to  be  slain ; 
but  thirty-seven  from  the  time  he  had  been  declared  king  by  the 
Romans '  (see  also  B.  J.  i.  33,  §  8).  His  appointment  as  king, 
according  to  the  same  writer  {Ant.  xiv.  14,  §  5),  coincides  with 
the  184:th  01}Tnpiad,  and  the  consulship  of  C.  Domitius  Calvinus 
and  C.  Asinius  Pollio.  It  appears  that  he  was  made  king  by  the 
joint  influence  of  Antony  and  Octavius ;  and  the  reconciliation 
of  these  two  men  took  place  on  the  death  of  Fulvia,  in  the  year 
714.  Again,  the  death  of  Antigonus  and  the  siege  of  Jerusalem, 
which  form  the  basis  of  calculation  for  the  thirty-four  years,  co- 
incide (Joseph.  Ant.  xiv.  16,  §  4)  with  the  consulship  of  M.  Vip- 
sanius  Agrippa  and  L.  Oaninius  Gallus,  that  is,  with  the  year  of 
Rome  717 ;  and  occnrred  in  the  month  Sivan  (=  June  or  July). 
From  these  facts  we  are  justified  in  placing  the  death  of  Ilerod 
in  A.u.c.  750.  Those  who  place  it  one  year  later  overlook  the 
mode  in  which  Josephus  reckons  Jewish  reigns.  Wieseler  shows 
by  several  passages  that  he  reckons  the  year  from  the  month 
Nisan  to  Nisan,  and  that  he  counts  the  fragment  of  a  year  at 
either  extreme  as  one  com23lete  year.  In  this  mode,  thirty-four 
years,  from  June  or  July,  717,  would  apply  to  any  date  between 
the  first  of  Nisan,  750,  and  the  first  of  ISTisan,  751.  And  thirty- 
seven  years  from  714  would  apply  likewise  to  any  date  within  the 
same  termini.  Wieseler  finds  facts  confirmatory  of  this  in  the 
dates  of  the  reigns  of  Herod  Antipas  and  Archelaus  (see  his 
Chronologische  Synoj)se,  p.  55).  Between  these  two  dates 
Josephus  furnishes  means  for  a  more  exact  determination.  Just 
after  Herod's  death  the  Passover  occurred  (Nisan  15th),  and  upon 
Herod's  death  Archelaus  caused  a  seven-days'  mourning  to  be 
kept  for  him  {Ant.  x^di.  9,  §  3,  xvii.  8,  §  4) ;  so  that  it  would 
appear  that  Ilerod  died  somewhat  more  than  seven  days  before 
the.  Passover  in  750,  and  therefore  in  the  fii'st  few  days  of  the 
month  Nisan,  A.r.c.  750." — S^nitKs  Dictionary  (Hurd  &  Hough- 
ton's edition),  p.  1381). 

It  has  also  been  noticed  that  Josephus  mentions  {Ant.  x^di.  6, 
4  fin.)  an  eclipse  of  the  moon  not  long  before  the  death  of  He- 


30  THE  Bmxn  Airo  cniLDnooD  of  jesus. 

rod,  wliich  by  calculation  can  have  been  only  that  which  occurred 
on  tlic  u\<^]\t  between  March  12  and  March  13,  a.u.c.  750,  Now, 
as  Jesus  was  born  before  the  death  of  Herod,  it  follows  that  the 
Dionysian  era,  Avhich  corresponds  to  a.u.c.  754,  is  at  least  four 
yeai-s  t(X)  late. 

But  the  question  arises,  IIow  long  before  Herod's  death  did  the 
Nativity  occur  ?  "\Vc  can  approximate  this  only  l)y  allowing  snfli- 
cient  space  for  all  the  events  which  are  recorded, 
calcttur^'"^  namely,  the  journey  of  the  Wise  Men  and  the 
sojourn  of  Joseph  and  Mary  in  Eg\i)t.  An  as- 
tronomical calculation  by  Kepler  found  a  conjunction  of  Jupiter 
and  Saturn,  in  the  sign  of  the  Pisces,  a.u.c.  747,  which  is  before 
the  vulgar  era  G,  the  date  I  assigned  to  the  Birth.  But  Kepler 
found  the  same  conjunction  again  in  the  spring  of  the  next  year, 
with  the  planet  Mars  added,  and  from  this  would  place  the  Birth 
in  748.  But  Ideler,  on  the  same  kind  of  calculation,  places  it  in 
747.  Although  these  calculations  favor  the  date  which,  for  other 
reasons,  I  believe  to  be  correct,  I  place  no  great  reliance  upon 
them,  because  we  have  no  certainty  that  the  star  mentioned  in 
Matthew  has  the  same  time  as  the  celestial  phenomenon  found  by 
astronomical  calculations.  Tlie  coincidence,  however,  must  be 
acknowledged  as  very  interesting. 

In  Matthew  ii.  IG,  it  is  said  that  Herod,  when  he  saw  that  the 
Wise  Men  had  mocked  him,  was  very  angry,  and  sent  and  slew  all 

Killino-  of  the  the  children  that  were  in  Bethlehem,  and  in  all 
children  in  Beth-  the  coasts  thereof,  from  t2vo  years  old  and  under, 
•«bem.  «  according  to  the  time  which  he  had  diligently 

inquired  of  the  Wise  Men."  How  long  before  Herod's  death  was 
this?  We  have  no  means  of  knowing.  But  it  was  some  time. 
And  that  time  must  be  added  to  the  two  years  which  he  had 
learned  by  diligent  inquiry  of  the  Wise  Men  had  elapsed  before 
this  slaugliter  and  the  time  they  had  seen  the  star.  Then,  the 
Nativity  occurred  more  than  tioo  years  before  another  period, 
which  period  was  some  time  before  the  spring  or  summer  of 
A.u.c.  750.  If  these  two  undetermined  periods  amount  to  one 
year,  then  the  Nativity  is  placed  somewlierc  in  the  summer  of 
A.u.c.  747,  the  time  reached  by  tlie  date  assigned  in  tliis  work. 
But  tliis  is  ])resented  as  only  an  api»ro\imati()n. 

Luke  (ii.  1-7)  says  :  "  It  came  to  jkiss  in  those  days  that  there 
W'f  ft  out  a  decree  from  Civsar  Angustus  that  all  the  world  should 


BIKTH   OF   JEStJS:    ITS   DATE.  31 

be  taxed ;  and  this  taxing  was  first  made  when  Cjrenius  [Quirinus] 
wa?  governor  [that  is,  proconsul  or  lord-lieuten-     tj^  m    •  ^ 
ant]   of  Syria ;  and  all  went  to  be  taxed,  every  "    "* 

one  to  liis  own  city.  And  Joseph  also  went  up  from  Gali- 
lee, out  of  the  city  of  Nazareth,  into  Judea,  unto  the  city  of 
Da\id,  wliich  is  called  Bethlehem  (because  he  was  of  the  house 
and  lineage  of  David),  to  be  taxed  with  Mary  his  espoused  Avife, 
being  great  with  child.  And  so  it  was,  that,  while  they  were 
there,  tlie  days  were  accomplished  that  she  should  be  delivered. 
And  she  brought  forth  her  first-born  son."     .     .     . 

This  is  admitted  to  be  one  of  the  most  perplexing  passao-es  in 
the  Evangelists.  Dean  Alf(M-d  thinks  it  unmanageable.  Neander 
thinks  it  may  be  inexact.     The  destructive  critics 

have  made  the  most  of  it  as  affecting  the  author-  .  ^^^''^^  P*«- 

n      f        Ti  sage, 

ity  ot    the    Evangelists.      It    does  not  seem  to 

help  us  in  settling  the  date  of  the  Nati^^ty,  but  as  it  will 
Iielp  us  to  something  much  more  important  than  the  mere 
date,  we  must  consider  its  difiiculties,  which  are  simply  chrono- 
logical. 

1.  It  is  said  that  there  is  no  record  in  any  other  history  of  a 
census  of  the  whole  Koman  empii'e  under  Augustus.  It  has 
been  argued  in  reply  that  the  Zegis  Actiones  objections  :- 
and  their  abrogation  were  quite  as  important  in  No  other  histoiy 
respect  to  the  early  Eoman  historj^  as  the  Census  o^  t^i-'^  census. 
of  the  Empire  was  to  the  latter,  and  as  Livy,  Dionysius,  and 
Polybius  make  no  record  of  the  former,  we  are  not  to  be  sur- 
prised that  later  historians  do  not  mention  the  latter.  Our  knowl- 
edge of  the  former  is  derived  from  a  law-book,  namely,  "  The 
Institutes  of  Gains :  "  if  any  perfect  copy  of  a  similar  laio  book, 
covering  the  times  of  the  alleged  census,  made  no  mention  of  it, 
then  the  argument  from  i\\em:Q  {argnmentumdetacitrmiitate) 
might  have  some  force.*  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Suetonius 
and  Tacitus  are  very  brief,  and  that  in  the  history  by  Dio  Cassius 
there  is  a  gap  of  ten  years,  from  a.u.c.  747  to  757,  the  very 
period  in  which  Luke  says  the  census  was  begun.  The  argument 
from  silence  would  prove  that  no  -important  events  occurred  in 

♦  Hiischke  in  Wieseler,  p.  78.  The  I  life  of  Hadrian  devote  a  single  syUable 
eamo  author  says:  "If  Suetonius  in  to  the  edictum  perpctuum,  which,  in 
his  hfe  [of  Au-ustusl  does  not  mention  Inter  times,  has  chiefly  adorned  th« 
this  census,  neither  dofs  Si),irti:m  hi  his  ,'  nuuie  of  that  emperor." 


c{2  THE   BIRTH    AXD   Cnil.DlIOOn    OF   .TESUS. 

the  long  reign  of  Augustus,  except  those  ^vhicll  tlie  fi-agmcntarv 
history  of  the  times  has  preserved. 

But  it  is  known  that  the  subtle  Augustus  was  centralizing:  llie 
cj.ipire,  and  that  about  five  years  before  the  birth  of  Jesus  all 
I  he  pi-ocuratoi-s  of  the  empire  were  brought  over  to  his  control. 
(Dion.  Cass.,  liii.  32.)  From  several  sources  we  learn  that  esti- 
mates of  the  empire  were  being  made  about  this  time,  enrolments 
which  required  many  yeai-s  for  their  completion. 

And  Tinless  some  proof  can  be  produced  to  show  that  no  such 
census  was  actually  had,  it  is  to  be  borne  always  in  mind  that, 
apart  from  all  notion  of  inspiration,  as  mere  human  a^iihoriiy 
LuJce  is,  to  say  the  least,  as  (jood  as  Tacitus,  Philo,  Josejyhus,  or 
any  other  ancient  historian  whose  worTcs  Imve  heen  preserved. 

2.  It  is  said  that  if  such  a  census  had  been  ordered  it  would 
not  have  included  Judea,  wliich  was  not  yet  a  Tloman  province. 

It  would  not  I^i  ^"^Pbs  I'eference  is  made  to  a  passage  in  Taci- 
have  includedJu-  tus.  Augustus  directed,  as  we  learn,  a  "  brevia- 
^^^-  rium  totius  imperii  "  to  be  nuide,  in  which,  accord 

iiig  to  Tacitus,  "  Opes  publican  continebantur  :  quantum  civium 
soclorinnque  in  armis,  quot  classes,  rcgna,  provincial,  tributa  aut 
vectigalia  et  necessitates  ac  largitioncs."     (Tacit.  Ann.,  i.  11.) 

If  the  "  sociorum,"  "  regna,"  and  "  provincife  "  did  not  in 
elude  sucli  a  principality  as  Herod's,  it  would  be  diflicult  to  Icnin 
to  what  these  words  are  to  be  applied.  Moreover,  the  connection 
of  Judea  with  the  province  of  Syria,  first  established  by  Pomjiey, 
was  never  considered  as  dissolved  l>y  Herod's  clcvatioTi  to  the 
throne. 

3.  It  is  objected  that  the  Eoman  niode  of  taking  the  census 

was  according  to  actual  residence.     But,  even  if  that  was  bo,  and 

,    „  even  if  the  census  of  Augustus  did  not  ncces- 

>ot  the  Roman  .  "  i        tt         i         i  • 

njojle.  sarily  embrace  Judea,  we  know  that  licrod  at  tins 

time  had  state  reasons  for  desiring  to  propitiate 

the  (Miijicroi-,  and  might  on  that  account  have  ordered  a  census  ; 

which,  as  he  did  it  as  of  his  o\\n  motion,  lie  might  prefer  to  tyke 

in  tlie  Jewish  way,  that  is,  in  the  place  whence  the  family  sprung, 

lather  than  in  the  Uoman  manner,  that  is,  in  the  jilaceof  actual 

residence.     Or  even  if  Ilerod  had  simply  proclaimed  a  census,  it 

is  quite  easy  to  see  that  the  Jews  wcnild  prefer  to  go  to  the  place 

of  nativity,  as  tliatliad  been  tiii-ir  custom. 

4.  Again,  it  is  ol)jected  that  the  state  of  Mary's  health  would 


BIETH   OF   JESUS  :    ITS   DATE.  33 

have  precluded  such  a  journey.    It  is  answered,  tliat  if  the  enrol 
ment  was  made  by  tribes,  a  Jew  of  the  house  and    jjj^—.g  health, 
lineage  of  David  would  make  great  exertions  and 
sacrifices  to  present  himself  in  liis  proper  place  and  secure  the 
recognition  of  his  position.      This  motive  would  operate  equally 
upor.  Joseph  and  Mary,  as  both  were  of  the  family  of  David. 
Quiet  women  have  enormous  reservoirs  of  determination.     "When 
one  of    them  sets  her  heart  on  any  course  it  is  only  an  insur- 
mountable obstacle  that  can  divert  her. 

5.  Another  objection  is  that  Luke  seems  to  say  that  this  census 
did  not  take  place  until  at  least  ten  years  later.  (Luke  ii.  2.) 
This  brings  us  to  the  real  difhculty  in  the  passage.  It  is  an  ob- 
jection urged  by  Dr.  Strauss,  but  not  by  him  fairly  put.  {Leben 
JesUf  i.  iv.  32.)     Let  us  examine  this. 

Luke  makes  two  statements :  (1.)  That  Augustus  decreed  a 
taxing.  (2.)  That  this  taxing  was  made  when  Cyrenius  Avas  gov- 
ernor of  Syria.     Let  the  distinction  between  the 

statements  be  noticed.     The  first  has  been  estab- 

ments  seem  con- 

lished  above,  as  I  thi*k,  conclusively.  The  his-  tradictory. 
torian  Luhe  asserts  it,  and  there  is  nothing  in 
history,  so  far  as  we  now  know,  to  cast  the  slightest  discredit  on 
it.  The  difficulty  is  to  reconcile  the  second  statement  of  Luke 
with  his  first,  or  to  clear  away  somehow  the  difficulties  of  the 
passage.  Cyrenius  was  governor  twelve  years  after  the  date  of 
the  Nativity  assigned  above,  and  this  passage  seems  to  make  the 
birth  of  Jesus  to  have  occurred  during  his  governorship. 

The  following  explanations  are  tendered : 

(a.)  Ilerod  undertook  the  census  after  the  Jewish  form,  accord- 
ing to  the  imperial  decree,  but  died  before  it  was  finished.     The 

Evangelist  knew  that  as  soon  as  a  census  was 

1  ,      . .  1     T       •  1    1  .  .  How  explained, 

mentioned  persons  conversant  with  Jewish  history 

would  think  at  once  of  the  census  which  Avas  had  about  twelve 
)"ears  later,  after  the  banishment  of  Archelaus,  which  was  notori- 
ously a  Homan  census,  and  caused  an  insurrection  (Josephus,  ^l;//. 
xviii!  1,  §  1),  and  therefore  he  added  the  second  verse,  which  is 
equivalent  to  this :  "  Xo  census  was  actually  completed  then  :  and  I 
knew  that  the  first  Roman  census  was  had  after  the  banishment 
of  Archelaus;  but  the  decree  went  out  much  earlier,  namely,  in 
the  time  of  Ilerod."  This  is  the  explanation  of  Dr.  Thorason, 
Archbishop  of  York. 
3 


34  TTTE   BTKTir    AXD   CniLPIIOOD    OF   JESUS. 

(1).)  CyroTiiiiP,  it  is  said,  may  liave  l)ccn  twice  governor.  Prof, 
A,  "\V.  Zninpt,  of  Berlin,  has  pnhlished  a  work  entitled  Comr 
weniatlo  (Je  Syria  TtomnnorMin provincta  a  CcBsare  Augusta  ad 
T.  Ve.<ipa.<}?a7iuTn,  in  which,  hy  a  long  course  of  argument,  he 
shows  that  it  is  probable  Cyrenius  was  twice  governor;  but  then 
lie  makes  his  first  term  of  office  too  late  by  several  years  to  agree 
with  our  date  of  the  Nativity."  Lardner  (i.  320)  suggests,  which 
is  perhaps  better,  that  lie  was  a  commissioner  extraordinary  sent 
from  Home  for  the  special  purpose  of  superintending  this  census; 
and  we  learn  from  Tacitus  that  he  had  a  special  fitness  for  this 
kind  of  work,  and  was  at  this  time  absent  in  the  East. 

(c.)  Tielicf  is  sought  on  the  side  of  philology.     The  passage  in 

the    original  (Luke  ii.  2)  is,  avTr]  airoypar^r]  lyivfTO  TTpuiTiq  7/ye//oi€i'oiTO? 

Trj<;  Supi'a;  KupTji'tov.*  The  w(U'd  ly'iv^To  may  be  translated  "was 
completed,"  as  much  as  if  Luke  had  said,  "It  was  hegiin  as  an 
enrolment  just  before  the  birth  of  Jesus,  and  comjpleted  years 
after,  under  Cyrenius."  Or,  7rptoT->;  maybe  translated  "before," 
and  then  the  passage  would  mean,  "this  enrolment  took  place 
"before  (that  better  known  enn^lment,  when)  Qxiirinus  was  gover- 
nor of  Syria^  (See  Alford's  Greek  Testament,  ««.  loco)  For 
similar  examples  in  Greek  literature  De  Pressensu  refers  to  Tho- 
luck  {GhnilnoiirdigJi'eit,  p.  181),  and  confines  himself  to  citing  a 
specimen  of  the  same  construction  in  (John  i.  15)  the  words  of 
John  the  Baptist,  -^p'To's/xov^r,  "lie  was  before  me."  If  this  be 
received  it  ends  all  difficulties. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  this  is  not  ^  jprorcd  inaccuracy  \w 
Luke,  it  is   oidy  a  difliculty,  an  ol)scurity.     Ko  man   has  shown 

that  Augustus  Civsar  could  not  have  ordered  this 
n  y  an  o  )scu-     (.Q,,g„j,   jj,„.  |],.^|- (^y,.(,,,i,^P  jl],c;,)]„|^(,]y  (^.(-,,j]J  j^,^^  Jj^^^yg 

been  governor  wlien  it  was  in  process  of  execution. 
"We  know  that. he  was  fjovernor  years  after  the  Nativitv,  and 
with  M«^  gubernatorial  term  we  have  been  striving  to  recmicile 
Luke's  statements.  The  whole  difficulty  arises  from  our  igno- 
rance, not  from  Luke's  proved  inaccuracy.  All  honest  historical 
iiiquirei'S  should  admit  that  Lul<e,  who  lived  near  the  time  of 
what  he  narrates,  is  at  least  quite  as  competent  a  historian  as  tiie 
modern  Dr.  Strauss,  or  the  modern  M.  Renan. 


*  In  thin  text  I  havo  followed  the 
Codex  Sinaiticus,  the  oKlost  authority, 
in  which   irpwrij    is  not  separated  from 


r'yr/ioiiiioKTOf,  but  immediately  precede! 
it 


BIRTII    OF   JESUS  !    ITS    DATE.  So 

Till?  passage  has  almost  no  importance  in  respect  to  the  date 
of  the  Nativity,  and  therefore  I  did  not  discuss  it  in  that  connec- 
tion. It  is  important  as  giving  us  a  historical  reason  for  the 
birth  iii  the  ciff/  of  Bethlehem  of  the  child  whose  parents  were 
inhabitants  of  Nazareth,  To  a  Jewish  reader  this  is  vital,  as 
those  whom  he  treats  as  prophets  had  plainly  pointed  to  Bethle- 
hem as  the  place  of  the  birth  of  the  Great  Deliverer. 

Jesus,  then,  was  horn  in  BethUhem,  about  the  heginning  of 
August,  B.C.  6,  A.u.c.  747. 


CHAPTER    III. 


PLACE   OF   TnE   BIRTH  :    TirE   CIRCUMCISION. 


Betiii-eiiem,  the  name  signifying  "  House  of  Bread,"  is  one  of 
the  oldest  towns  in  Palestine,  having  been  in  existence  before 
Jacob's   return  to  his  native  land.     It  is  still  ex- 
isting.    As  to  its  location  there  have  never  been 
doubts.      It  is  identical  with  the  present  Beit- 
Lahm,  "  House  of  Flesh,"  of  the  Arabs.    It  is  six 
miles,  and  two  hours'  travel,  south  from  Jerusalem, 
east  of  the   main  road  to  Hebron      (Icobinson's  liesearches  in 
Palestine^  vol.  ii.,  p.  150.) 


Matt.  i.  ;  Luke 
ii.  Bethlehem, 
the  birt)iplace  of 
Jesus. 


IIETULKIIICM   KPHttATa. 


The  original   name  of  the  town  was  Eruu.vxn,  or   EriiRATAii. 
In    Micuh     V.   2,    it    is    called    r>ETni.iini:M-Ei'nuATAJL       Its  first 


PLACE    OF    THE    BIRTH  '.    THE    CmCTIMCIBION. 


37 


fame  came  to  it  from  its  being  tlic  birtliplace  of  David,  wlio, 
however,  did  nothing  to  advance  it,  even  after  his  elevation  to 
the  thi-one.  His  ancestor  Boaz  had  possessions  here,  and  in  some 
of  tlie  meadows  in  sight  of  the  town  Riitli  gleaned.  Bnt  it  ne\er 
rose  to  the  dignity  uf  a  ca])itah  The  birth  of  Jesns  has  made  it 
to  be  known  to  the  wlude  workL  Since  that  event  tradition  lias 
never  lost  sight  of  Ijcthlehem.  Justin  Martyr  visited  it  in  the 
second  century ;  Origen  in  the  third  ;  afterwards  Eusebius,  Jerome, 
the  Bordeaux  Pilgrim,  and  thousands  of  others.  The  Emperor 
Hadrian  planted  a  grove  of  Adonis  on  the  spot,  to  desecrate  it. 
This  grove  kept  up  the  identification.  It  remained  from  135 
to  315  A.D.  About  A.D.  330,  Constantino  or  the  Empress  Helena 
erected  a  church  which  remains  to  this  day.  In  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury it  was  elevated  into  an  episcopal  see.  There  is  shown  a  cave 
in  which  Jesus  is  said  to  have  been  born  ;  but  the  precise  spot  can- 
not now  be  known,  and  it  seems  absurd  to  suppose  that  cattle 
were  kept  twenty  feet  under  ground.    But  we  know  the  town.* 


*  The  birth  of  Jesus  in  Bethlehem  be- 
ing coincident  with  the  prophecies  of  the 
birthphvce  of  the  Messiah,  the  destnic- 
tive  critics  attack  it  as  being  a  false 
statement ;  but  it  is  observable  that  no 
one  has  proved  its  incorrectness,  nor 
even  presented  anything  worth  calling 
an  argument.  For  instance,  Dr.  Strauss 
(Book  i.  31)  says:  "But  the  opposite 
hypothesis  as  to  the  original  dwelling- 
place  of  his  parents,  from  which  these 
Evangelists  start  in  the  accounts  they 
give,  shows  that  they  are  not  following 
any  historical  authority,  but  simply  a 
dogmatic  conclusion,  drawn  from  the 
passage  in  the  prophet  Micah,  v.  1. "  Can 
such  modes  mislead  thinking  men  ?  A 
historian  says  that  two  people,  husband 
and  wife,  live  in  New  York,  but  finding 
it  important  to  go  to  London  in  person 
on  or  before  a  given  day, to  attend  to  mat- 
ters of  great  importance,  the  wife  is 
theie  delivered  of  a  son,  the  distinguished 
Bubject  of  the  historian's  biography,  and 
who  afterwards  spends  a  great  part  of 
his  life  in  New  York.  Some  subsequent 
critic  says:  "Nay,  but  he  was  bom  in 
New  York,  for  does  not  the  historian 


'  start '  with  that  as  '  the  original  dwell- 
ing-place of  his  parents  ? '  "  Such  a 
critic  would  equal  Dr.  Strauss.  But  then 
Dr.  Strauss  proceeds  on  the  theoiy  that 
he  was  a  native  of  Nazareth.  Why  not 
say  he  was  bom  at  Damascus  ?  On  what 
authority  do  these  writere  assume  that 
he  was  bom  in  Nazareth  ?  On  the  au- 
thority of  the  Evangelists.  Dr.  Strauss 
makes  fifteen  references  to  the  four 
Evangelists,  which,  if  the  reader  will 
consult,  will  be  found  to  contain  no  state- 
ment whatever  as  to  his  birthplace,  but 
simply  speak  of  Jesus  as  a  Nazarene  or  a 
Galilean.  Two  (Matt.  x.wi.  69,  71)  are 
the  accusations  made  against  Peter  by 
women,  that  he  was  an  associate  of  "  Je- 
sus of  Galilee,"  or  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth." 
A  third  is  the  speech  of  the  unclean 
spirit  (Mark  i.  24),  '*  A\Tiat  have  we  to  do 
\vith  thee,  thou  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ?  " 
A  fourth  is  IMark's  account  of  what  'Mat- 
thew gives  in  chapter  xxvi.  A  fifth  is 
Luke  xviii.  37,  where  the  blind  man  in- 
quires the  meaning  of  the  noise,  a  ad  the 
multitude  tell  him  that  ' '  Jesus  oi  Naza- 
reth passes  by."  This  is  the  amount  oi 
Dr.  Strauss' s  argument. 


38 


THE  BIRTH   AND   CHTLDHOOD   OF   JESUS. 


It  lies  on  the  eastern  and  northeastern  brow  of  a  ridge,  run 
ning  east  and  M'est,  from  the  t^p  of  which   there  is    an  exten- 


The  utter  want  of  fairness  is  seen  in 
three  wajs  :  1.  In  the  case  supposed 
above,  of  an  American  bom  of  American 
parents  in  London,  his  subsequently  re- 
turning and  being  called  ' '  Mr.  Blank,  of 
New  York,"  or  ''  Mr.  Blank,  the  Ameri- 
can," would  certainly  not  prove  that  he 
was  born  in  Xew  York,  and  most  certainly 
not  prove  that  he  was  not  born  in  Lon- 
don. 2  Take  his  reference  to  Luke.  To 
prove  that  Jesus  was  ior;i  in  Nazareth  he 
produces  the  reply  of  a  miscelhmeous 
crowd  to  a  beggar.  They  called  him  a 
"Nazarene."  But  if  that  passage  in 
Luke  be  good  authority  we  must  take  the 
whole,  what  the  beggar  said  as  well  as 
what  the  multitude  said.  The  beggar 
cried  out,  "Jesus,  son  of  DaNid,  have 
mercy  on  me."  Then  Jesus  was  gener- 
ally reputed  to  be  the  son  of  David.  But 
this  Dr.  Strauss  denies,  and  because  he 
is  following  "  simply  a  dogmatic  conclu- 
sion drawn  from  "  his  theory  of  mytha, 
he  is  anxious  to  show  that  Jesus  was  not 
bom  in  Bethlehem,  the  city  of  David, 
and  was  not  the  son  of  David  at  all,  and 
wag  not  believed  to  be  the  son  of  David. 
{Lcben  Jchu,  chap,  ii.)  But  his  own  au- 
thority confutes  him.  3.  He  cites  Luke 
xxiv.  19  to  prove  that  Jissus  was  bom  in 
Nazareth.  Does  Luke,  in  that  i)assage 
or  any  where  else,  say  so?  Not  at  all. 
But  this  same  Luke,  Dr.  Strauss's  wit- 
ness, does  say,  distinctly,  ii.  G,  7,  that 
Jet*uH  was  born  in  Bdhkhem. 

In  all  this  there  is  nothing  supernatu- 
ral, so  that  Dr.  Strau.ss  might  not  answer 
that  we  ha<l  gone  out  of  the  region  of 
realities.  It  is  purely  a  matter  of  fact. 
If  Dr.  Strau.ss  denied  the  whole,  and 
ftaid,  "  No  man  knows  where  Jesus  was 
bom,"  it  woultl  be  another  thing.  But 
he  affirms  that  he  was  bom  in  Nazareth. 
It  was  no  more  miraculous  to  be  bom  in 
Bethlehem  than  in  Nazareth.  But  it 
does  connect   Jesus  with  the  house   of 


Da\'id,  and  does  connect  him  with  what 
the  Jews  regarded  as  a  prophecy,  and  so 
obstinate  is  Dr.  Sti'auss  in  his  adherence 
to  his  naturalistic  theory,  that  no  fair 
reader  of  his  book  can  fail  to  see  that 
there  never  was  a  theologic  zealot  more 
bent  to  his  creed  than  Dr.  Strauss  to  hia 
dogma.  But  historians  must  avoid  all 
dogmatism. 

M.  llennn  (chap,  ii.)  says  distinctly, 
"  Jesus  was  bom  at  Nazareth."  Why 
not  say  that  he  was  bom  at  Capernaum  ? 
What  is  his  authority  ?  He  has  none  but 
Matthew,  Mark,  and  John !  He  cites 
Matthew  (xiii.  54,  et  seq.).  The  reader 
will  see  upon  inspection  that  there  is  not 
the  slightest  allusion  whatever  to  the 
birthplace  of  Jesus,  or  of  any  other  per- 
son, in  any  portion  of  this  chapter.  It 
simply  speaks  of  the  return  of  Jesus  to 
his  own  country,  but  does  not  say  where 
that  country  is  ;  and  if  it  be  oxnumed  to 
be  Nazareth,  that  would  not  prove  that 
he  was  born  there,  as  thousands  of  men 
who  were  bom  in  Europe  speak  of  Amer 
ica  as  their  country,  since  it  has  been 
their  place  of  residence  for  many  years. 
The  fact  that  in  manhood  Jesus  should 
speak  of  Nazareth  aa  his  country,  and 
others  should  so  speak  of  him,  has  no 
bearing  on  the  question  of  the  place  of 
his  nativity.  But  how  docs  JI.  Renan 
know  that  this  is  a  fact  V  On  the  au- 
thority of  Matthew.  Then  Matthew  is 
his  witness,  and  he  says  exjdicifly  that 
Jmui  was  born  in  JjethUhem  (ii.  1). 

Again,  M.  Renan  cites  Mark,  and  refers 
to  vi.  1,  where  it  is  written  :  '*  And  he 
went  out  from  thence  and  came  into  his 
own  country."  No  mention  is  made  of 
any  town  in  the  whole  pa.>;.sagc.  And 
this  is  cited  to  prove  that  Jesus  was  bom 
in  Ndznreth!  ! 

iVI.  Renan's  lost  authority  is  John  L 
45,  4(),  where  it  is  said  thai  I'liilip  found 
Nathanael  and  said:   "We  have  found 


PLACE   OF  THE  BIRTH  :   THE  CrRCUMOISION". 


39 


Bive  view  toward  the  east  and  south,  in  the  direction  of  Jericho, 
the  Dead  Sea,  and  the  mountains  of  Moab.  In  the  time  of  the 
captivity  there  was  an  inn,  or  caravanserai,  close  to  Bethlehem, 
which  appears  to  have  been  a  point  of  departure  for  Egypt. 
(Jeremiah  xli.  17.)  Perhaps  this  was  the  very  inn  wliere  Jesus 
was  born.  The  prophet  Micah  (v.  2)  had  said  of  this  city  of 
David :  "  Thou  Bethleheni-Ephratah  !  though  thou  be  little 
among  the  thousands  of  Judah,  out  of  thee  shall  he  come  unto 
me  to  be  the  Kuler  of  Israel ;  whose  goings  forth  have  been  from 
old,  from  the  days  of  eternity  ! " 

It  is  said  that  the  inn  or  caravanserai  in  Bethlehem  was  so 
cr(Avded  that  Joseph  and  Mary  were  obliged  to  Hud  lodging  in 
the  stable.     There  Jesus  was  born,  the  first  child  of  Mary.* 

It  would  seem  that  his  birth  occurred  in  the  nio-lit.     There 


him  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the 
prophets  did  write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
the  son  of  Joseph. ' '  Would  any  man  in 
a  court  of  law  bring  such  testimony  for- 
ward to  establish  the  birthplace  of  an 
individual  ?  It  might  prove  that  Jesus 
resided  at  Nazareth  when  he  was  about 
thirty  years  of  age,  but  it  has  no  bearing 
whatever  upon  the  question  of  the  place 
of  his  nativity.  A  man  having  resided 
in  New  York  a  few  years,  called  to  make 
affidavit,  might  describe  himself  gener- 
ally as  "of  New  York,"  unless  the  doc- 
uments were  known  by  him  to  be  about 
to  be  used  on  the  question  of  the  place 
of  his  nativity  or  citizenship.  The  fact 
that  John  says  that  Philip  spoke  of  Jesus 
at  thirty  as  being  "of  Nazareth,"  is 
nothing  to  the  i^oint ;  but  two  historians, 
one  having  had  personal  intercourse  for 
years  with  the  subject  of  his  biographj', 
pay  distinctly  that  he  was  born  in  Beth- 
lehon,  and  that  settles  the  question  until 
better  evidence  can  be  produced  showing 
that  he  was  born  elsewhere. 

Of  a  piece  with  this  is  M.  Kenan's 
Btafcement  in  Life  of  Jcsun,  chap.  xv.  : 
"  The  famOy  of  David  had  become,  it 
would  seem,  long  since  extinct,"  when 
M.  Renan,  as  one  of  his  notes  shows, 
knew  that  the  doctors  Hillel  and  Gama- 
liel were  reputed  of  the  race  of  David, 


and  Dr.  Strauss' s  reference  to  Luko 
xviii.  brings  up  a  passage  in  which  a 
blind  beggar  by  the  way -side  salutes  Je- 
sus as  the  "  son  of  David,"  no  one  of 
the  multitude  present  objecting,  show- 
ing that  Jesus  was  publicly  and  notori- 
ously recognized  as  of  that  race  and 
lineage. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  how  unreliable  are 
the  quotations  and  references  of  those 
who  attack  the  Evangelists.  A  great  par- 
ade is  made  in  foot  notes  and  parentheses. 
They  look  like  authority.  The  shrewd 
writers  knew  that  not  one  in  a  thousand 
of  their  readers  will  consult  the  passages 
referred  to.  Take  this  instance:  M. 
Renan  positively  names  the  place  of  the 
birth  of  Jesus,  and  then  in  a  foot-note 
quotes  three  distinct  ancient  authors, 
and  gives  chajater  and  verse.  That  looks 
like  settling  the  question.  But  an  exam- 
ination shows  that  not  one  of  these  au- 
thors alludes  in  the.se  X'laces  to  the  sub- 
ject, and  one  of  them,  who  knew  Jesus 
personally,  positively  affirms  that  he  was 
bom  ill,  another  plctce  ! 

•  Mary  appears  to  have  been  the 
mother  of  several  children,  sons  and 
daughters,  younger  than  Jesus.  Four 
sons  are  named,  and  daughters  are  al- 
luded to  in  Matthew  xiii.  55,  and  Mark 
vi.  3. 


40 


THE   niRTII    AST)   CHILDHOOD    OF   JESUS. 


were  slieplierdswatduni^  their  flocks  in  one  of  tlie  pasture  grounds, 
winch  may  still  be  seen  near  Bethlehem.*     To  them  appeared 


a  vision,  and  they  believed  that  God  told  them  not  to  fear,  that 

there  was  born  that  day,  in  the  city  of    David, 

cp  ti  i,   see    jgg^^g  ^y|jy  ^y^  ^Ij^j  Anointed  Lord,  the  Messiah. 

angels.  '  _  ^  ' 

That  they  nii<;-ht  be  assured,  it  was  told  them  that 

they  should  find  him  in  swaddling-clothes  and  lying  in  a  manger, 
one  of  those  exterior  stalls  usually  attached  to  caravanserais.  Im- 
mediately there  bui-st  upon  the  ears  of  the  shephei'ds  a  chorus 
sung  by  nniltitudes  of  voices,  saying,  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest, 
on  earth  peace,  good  will  to  men." 

If  it  be  iiKjuired  how  this  statement  came  into  histoi-y,  tlie 
answer  is,  that  it  is  probable  that  Luke,  when  he  came  to  writing 
the  biogi-aphy  of  liis  Master,  nui  le  diligent  search  for  all  he 
could  find  of  the  early  life  of  Jesus,  aiid  in  that  search  received 
from  the  lips  of  one  of  the  shepherds  his  simple  account  of  the 
transaction.  This  sounds  like  the  narrative  of  an  eye-witness. 
It  may  not  have  literal  accuracy,  but  it  has  been  noticed  how  re- 
mai-kably  free  it  is  from  all  materialism,  liow  very  pure  and  ele- 
vated is  the  statement  of  the  transaction.  It  occurred  as  any  well- 
balanced  mind  might  resisonably  suppose  it  would,  if  the  Great 
Father  ever  inr.de  any  such  comnnmication  to  men. 

The  shepherds  went  to  Bethlehem  and  found  the  ])lace,  the 
mother  and  the  babe.  Then  they  made  known  what  tliey  liad 
heard  in  the  plain,  and  returned  rejoicing. 


•  About  a  milo  cast  of    B«:tlilehem  |  lage  of  the  Shepherda. 
there  is  a  little  viUage  called  the  Vil- 


PLACE    OF   TUE   BIRTH  :    THE   CIECUMCISION.  41 

Luke  asserts  that  Mary's  child  was  circumcised,  according  to 
the  Levitical  law,  on  the  eighth  day,  and  received 

ii      „  £    T  Circumcision  o£ 

the  name  ot  Jesus. 

Jesus. 

The  Mosaic  law  required  the  presentation  to  the 
liOrd  of  every  first-born  male,  but  allowed  children  to  be  redeemed 
from  exclusive  devotion  to  religious  pursuits  by 

the  loayment  of  five  shekels,  which  is  about  thirty    .   ^^^^  presen  e 

^•^  111  OT  -K  '^^  ^'^®  temple. 

American  gold  dollars.  See  Levit.  xii,  24 ;  Num- 
bers xviii.  15,  16.  At  the  same  time  the  parents  were  to  offer  a 
sacrifice  of  a  pair  of  turtle-doves  or  young  pigeons.  (Leviticus 
xii.  8.)  In  this  service  consisted  the  legal  purification  of  the 
mother.  The  rich  offered  a  lamb ;  the  poor  gave  pigeons.  Mary 
had  only  doves  to  bring. 

If  tliis  history  had  been  written  by  an  impostor  he  would  have 
given  a  different  turn  to  th(j  story.  These  sacrifices  imply  sin. 
If  Jesus  be  that  Holy  One  fiom  the  birth,  why  were  these  offer- 
ings made  ?  The  straightfoi-wardness  of  the  story  gives  a  gen- 
eral air  of  truthfulness  to  the  wliole  narrative.  There  is  no  myth 
here.  Mythical  narratives  elevate.  This  depresses.  It  places 
Jesus  in  the  race  of  sinners.  A  writer  of  myths,  as  Neander 
suggests,  would  have  brought  in  an  angel  to  hinder  Mary  from 
submitting  her  child  to  a  ceremony  so  unworthy  his  dignity. 

But  here  there  appears  strikingl}''  that  mingling  of  humiliation 
and  glory  which  marks  all  the  main  passages  of  the  life  of  Jesus. 
Amid   the   general   spiritual   declension   of    the 

T  iU  '  i.    ^       Ti.i.1     1,        1         i  1-  Simeon  and  Amia. 

.lews  there  existed  a  little  band,  not  perhaps  con- 
Bociated  so  as  to  be  called  a  society,  but  well  known  to  one 
another,  of  those  who  made  careful  culture  of  the  spiritual  life, 
and  who  were  waiting  for  some  special  revelation  of  mercy  from 
Almighty  God.  Among  these  were  two  aged  people,  named 
Simeon  and  Anna,  who  looked  earnestly  for  the  coming  of  the 
Consoler  of  Israel.  Simeon  had  received  what  he  believed  a 
divine  intimation  that  he  should  not  die  before  he  had  seen  Je- 
liovah's  Anointed.  Moved  by  special  spiritual  impulse  he  came 
into  the  temple  the  very  day  of  Mary's  purification,  which  was  foity 
days  after  the  circumcision  of  the  child.  There  was  something 
in  the  babe  which  responded  to  the  ciy  of  the  soul  of  Simeon. 
In  him  he  recognized  the  long-looked- for  Eedeemer,  and  taking 
the  child  in  his  arms  he  broke  into  that  rapture  m  hich  the  Chris- 
tian Church  has  preserved  under  the  name  of  the  JSPiciic  Dimittis  : 


42  THE   BIRTH   Am)   CniLDnOOD   OF   JESUS. 

"  Lord,  now  lettest  Tliou  Tliy  servant  depart  in  peace,  according  to  Tliy 
word :  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  Thy  salvation,  which  Thou  hast  prei)ared  l^ef ore 
the  face  of  all  the  peoples;  a  light  to  enlighten  the  nations,  and  the  glory  ol 
Thy  people  Israel."     (Luke  ii.  29-32.) 

Although  Jesus  never  recognized  Joseph  as  liis  father,  Luke 
speaks  of  Joseph  and  Mary  together  as  the  parents  of  Jesus,  as 
they  naturally  would  genei-ally  be  taken  to  be,  and  says  that  this 
display  of  rapture,  u})on  the  part  of  Simeon,  caused  Joseph  and 
Mary  to  marvel.  Although  Mary  knew  of  Jesus's  miraculous 
birth,  each  new  wonder  would  impress  her  with  fresh  awe.  Per- 
ceiving this,  Simeon  said  to  Mary,  "  Behold,  this  is  set  for  the 
fall  and  risiug  again  of  many  in  Israel ;  and  for  a  sign  to  bo 
spoken  against ;  and  a  swoi-d  shall  pierce  through  thine  own  soul 
also,  that  out  of  many  hearts  evil  thoughts  may  be  revealed." 

In  the  words  of  Simeon  we  discover  a  feeling  very  much  in 
advance  of  the  general  state  of  the  Jewish  nn'nd.  They  dis]>lay 
a  softness,  a  hopefulness,  and  a  liberality  to  which  the  hard  Jew- 
ish heart  of  his  day  was  generally  a  stranger.  It  contains  the 
idea  of  development  through  struggle,  a  spread  beyond  the  limits 
of  Judaism,  and  a  final  trium])h,  which,  while  it  should  break  up 
the  exclusiveness  of  that  ancient  faith,  should  bestow  upon  it  a 
greater  glory  than  any  of  its  anterior  traditions. 

Tliei-e  was  also  one  Amia,  "  a  i)ro])lietess,"  daughter  of  Plia 
nuel,  of  the  tribe  of  Asher.  In  early  womanhood  she  had  mar 
ried.  After  Seven  years  her  husband  died.  She  had  been  more 
than  fifty  years  a  widow,  and  had  devoted  herself  to  the  tem- 
ple-service, not  departing  from  the  house  of  God,  whom  she 
Bers'cd  night  and  day  with  fasting  and  prayei-s.  Coming  in  at 
this  moment  she  joined  Simeon's  tlianksgiving,  and  ropoi-tcd  the 
case  "to  all  that  looked  for  redemj)tion  in  Joj'usalem."  * 

*  Schleiermacher's  conjecture  that  the  i  minutely  described  than  Simeon,  while 
narrative  came  indirectly  from  Anna  Simeon's  words  are  reported  and  her's 
seems  ]>laujjible,  seeing  that  she  is  more  |  are  not. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

HIS   FIKST   YEAK8. 

In  the  course  of  the  year  following  the  birth  of  Jesus,  there 
arrived  in  Jerusalem  a  company  of  men  described  as  the  "  Wise 
men  from  the  East."     (Matt.  ii.  1.)     Who  were  they? 

Matthew  calls  them  /idyoi.  By  this  name  Magi  the  Greeks 
denoted  the  priests  of  Persia,  just  as  we  now  speak  of  the  Brah- 
mins of  India.     The  Magi  may  have  been  a  tribe, 

as  Herodotus  says  thev  were.     To  them  amono;      ,  ,,^  *  "''     ^^ 
_        _,       .  1    "  T       •  ,       -r       '^     of  the  Magi, 

the   Persians,  as  to  the  Levites  among  tlie  Jews,- 

Avere  intrusted  all  the  public  matters  of  religion.  Their  chiefs 
educated  the  prince  ;  they  were  royal  counsellors  and  judges;  they 
kept  sacred  traditions,  and  were  thought  to  be  able  in  various  ways 
to  divine  the  future,  especially  by  watching  the  stars  and  by  in- 
terpreting dreams. 

In  the  Poman  Empire  their  name  was  generally  assumed  by 
magiciayis.  The  bad  character  of  this  class  is  clear  from  a  decree 
of  the  Senate,  which  banished  them  from  Pome  in  the  year  16. 
Matthew  used  the  term  in  its  original,  in  its  national  and  honor- 
able sense.  This  is  certain  from  Herod's  honorable  treatment  of 
these  ]\Iagi.  For  in  the  whole  -world  there  were  only  two  classes 
of  men  who  would  have  been  at  all  safe  in  coming  to  the  capital 
of  so  jealous  and  bloody  a  tyrant  with  the  question,  "  Where  is  ho 
that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews?"  even  though,  as  was  the  case  with 
these  Magi,  they  were  understood  to  be  seeking  not  for  a  spiritual, 
but  for  a  temporal  lord  ;  these  two  classes  were  citizens  of  Porno 
and  subjects  of  the  Parthian  kings,  and  it  would  have  been  well 
that  even  such  should  have  had  more  than  a  connnon  claim  to 
the  protection  of  their  governments. 

The  Parthians,  a  small  but  warlike  tribe,  had  gotten  the  upper 
hand  in  Persia.  They  were  haughty  and  fierce,  and  so  wielded 
the  military  power  of  that  country  as  to  make  it  dreaded  even  by 


44  THE   BIETII    A>'D   CHILDHOOD    OF   JESUS. 

(he  Iwomans.  Herod's  kinf^dom  was  exposed  to  their  sudden 
inroads,  and  in  his  youth  he  had  fled  before  them  from  Jerusalem. 
Against  their  anger  his  dependence  even  on  the  Koman  power  was 
no  sufficient  protection.  In  Babylonia,  which  was  then  a  province 
of  the  Parthian  Empire,  was  the  city  of  Ctesiphon,  on  tlie  river 
Tigris,  one  of  several  of  the  Parthian  capitals.  If  these  pil^iims 
came  from  Ctesiphon  under  a  safe-conduct  from  the  Parthian 
king,  or  were  Magi  of  his  court,  Ilerod  would  not  have  dared 
to  touch  a  hair  of  their  heads,  and  M'ould  have  been  driven  tci 
some  such  policy  as  that  to  wliich  he  did  resort.  His  treat- 
ment of  them,  especially  his  calling  together  the  Sanhedrim,  a 
body  of  men  who  in  their  sacerdotal  and  learned  character  much 
resembled  them,  proves  that  these  Magi  were  men  of  very  liigh 
rank,  though  they  were  not  kings,  as  they  were  commonly  held  to 
be  in  the  Middle  Ages.  This  tradition  seems  to  have  grown  very 
naturally  out  of  their  reception  at  Herod's  court ;  and  it  was 
probably  right  in  making  them  thi-ee  in  number,  for  this  seems 
to  be  indicated  by  their  presents  to  the  infant  Jesus. 

These  ]\ragi  are  described  in  our  version  as  from  "  tlie  East," 
and  it  is  said  they  were  in  the  East  when  they  saw  the  Star.  In 
the  original  the  Greek  word  is  the  same  in  both  places,  but  with 
such  a  difference  in  its  form  as  would  make  the  difference  made  in 
iMiglish  by  prefixing  to  the  former  the  word  fa}\  which  thus  means 
the  Far  East.  In  some  of  the  later  Books  of  Hebrew  Scripture 
Babylonia  is  called  the  East,  and  Persia  lies  next  beyond  it  and  in 
the  same  line.  History,  geography,  and  Hebrew  usage  leave  no 
reasonable  doubt  that  these  strangers  were  Persians,  and  saw  the 
Star  in  Babylonia,  then  a  Persian  province. 

Zoroaster,  the  famous  Persian  teacher  of  religion,  who  may  have 
lived  as  far  back  as  1500  years  betore  Christ,  or  not  far  from  the 
time  of  Moses,  was  ncj  idolater,  and  in  the  Bible  the  Persians  are 
not  classed  with  the  heathen.  Cyi-us,  the  founder  of  the  Pei-sian 
Empire,  was  predicted  by  Isaiah  (xliv.  24;  xlv.  1-6) ;  by  him  the 
Temple  of  God  in  Jerusalem,  which  had  been  burned  by  the  king 
of  Babylon,  was  ordered  to  be  rebuilt ;  and  in  his  proclamation  to 
that  clTect  (Neh.  i.  1-2)  he  acknowledges  the  (iod  of  the  Pei-sians 
and  of  the  Hebrews  to  be  the  same  Ix)rd  God  of  Heaven.  Daniel 
\vas  high  in  lionor  with  this  king;  and  the  Magi  had  an  idea  of  a 
Sosiosh,  or  Redeemer,  to  come,  that  in  certain  respects  was  strik- 
ingly like  his.     From  the  time  of  Cyrus  there  were  ever  many 


HIS    FIRST   TEARS. 


45 


Jews  in  (he  Persian  or  Parthian  country,  and  many  thln-s  per 
tannng  to  the  Hebrew  religion  must  have  been  well  known  to 
some  of  the  Ma^ri. 

Eut  how  did  they  come  hj  their  idea  of  the  Star?     It  was  the 
universal  belief  of  their  times  that  the  stars  controlled  the  fates 
of  men.     The  science  that  professed  to  look  into  their  influences 
was  called  Astrology,  and  the  Magi  were  astrologers.     An  ancient 
prophet,  who  was  of  the  East,  and  who  was  not  a  Jew,  had  foretold 
a  Jewish  Messiah  in  the  remarkable  prediction,  "  There  shall  come 
a  Star  out  of  Jacob,  and  a  Sceptre  shall  rise  out  of  Israel " 
(Numb.  XXIV.  17),  words  then  understood  as  foretelling  that  a  new 
star  would  shine  at  his  birth.     In  all  Syria  there  was  in  their  time 
an  expectation  that  this  personage  would  soon  appear,  which  must 
have  been  common  also  to  the  Jews  in  the  East  and   in  the 
Ear  East.     Within  that  very  century,  this  belief,  as  Suetonius 
and    lacitus*    state,    had    much   to   do   with   the   uprisino-   of 
Uie   Jews   against   the   Eomans,   in  which   Jerusalem   periSied 
Ihat   which   IS   further   required   to  explain  why  they  were  so 
sure  they  saw  the  Star  of  the  King  of  the  Jews  is  furnished  by 
a   discovery   of    Kepler.      He   traced   back   the   orbits   of    the 
planets,  and  found  that  near  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Jesus  cer- 
tain of  the  planets  were  in  positions  of  great  import  in  astrolo^ry  • 
Jupiter  and  Saturn  were  in  conjunction;  that  is,  were  very  cltse 
to  each  other,  and  were  in  such  a  place  in  the  zodiac  that  the  like 
happens  but  once  in  800  years;  and  there  were  other  astroloo-ieal 
signs,  all  giving  the  idea  that  some  great  event  was  to  conTe  to 
pass  in  Jud.nea,  as  Kepler  says,  "  according  to  the  rules  of  Chaldean 
art  as  existmg  even  till  his  own  time."     The  new  star  therefore 
seemed  to  them  the  Star  of  the  King  of  the  Jews;  and  it  seems 
providential  that  Ivepler  enables  us  to  see  how  the  Magi  came 
scientifically  to  this  opinion,  for  the  silence  of  the  Bible  as  to  anv- 
thing  supernatural  in  this  proves  it  was  not  revealed  to  them    " 
The  conjunctions  of  Jupiter  and  Saturn  occurred  twice,  in  the 
spring  and  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  and  some  have  thou-ht 
the  Magi  saw  the  earlier  one  when  they  were  in  the  East,  the  later 
3ne  when  they  left  Jerusalem,  and  that  it  was  in  the  direction  of 


*  Suetonius  says :  "  Percrebuerat  Ori- 
ente  toto  vctvs  st  constans  opinio,  esse 
in  fatis,  ut  eo  tempore  Judasa  profecti 
rerumpotirentur."    Tu cit us  says :  "Plu- 


ribus  persuasio  inerat,  antiquis  sacer- 
dotum  liberis,  contineri,  eo  ipso  tempore 
fore  ut  valesceret  Oriens,  profectiqua 
Judaja  rerum  potirentur." 


4:6  THE   BIKTU    A>T)    CIIUJ)IIOOD    OF   JESUS. 

I>ctlileliem,  and  bo  acted  as  a  guide  to  them.  But  it  is  neither 
manly  nor  lioncst  tlius  to  evade  the  astronomical  difliculties  ot 
their  guidance  l)y  the  star.  It  does  not  suit  the  words  of  Mat- 
thew, who  says  it  was  a  star,  and  that  it  went  hcfore  them ;  and 
the  latest  astronomical  researches,  while  they  prove  the  accuracy 
of  Kepler's  discovery,  prove  that  this  conjunction  was  not  in  such 
a  direction  from  Jerusalem  that  it  could  in  any  way  have  been 
a  guide  to  Bethlehem.* 

Upon  arriving  in  Jerusalem  the  Magi  seem  to  have  gone  at  once 

to  the  king's  palace.      At  any  rate,  Ilerod  learned  that  they  were 

present  in  the  city,  and  ascei-tained  the  object  of 

Ilerod  and  the    ^j^^j^.  coming.    With  his  usual  craftiness  he  called 

°  toirether  the  Sanhedrim  to  learn  where,  accordincj 

to  the  sacred  books  of  the  Hebrews,  the  Messiah  should  be  born. 
They  recited  to  him  the  well-known  prophecy  in  Micah  (v.  2) 
]K)intin2:  to  Bethlehem.  Calliuir  the  Mai;i  to  him,  Ilerod  care- 
fully  inquired  the  time  at  which  the  remarkable  "star'*  had  made 
its  ajipearance.  Then  he  directed  them  to  go  forthwith  to  Beth- 
lehem and  ascertain  exactly  all  the  facts  in  the  case  and  report  to 
him,  pretending  that  he  was  equally  desirous  to  pay  due  deference 
to  the  royal  infant. 

Tlie  Mairi  resumed  their  iournev,  still  bcholdinn;  the  luminous 
appearance  in  the  heaveu<?,  until  they  reached  Bethlehem,  where, 
of  course,  in  so  small  a  village,  they  had  no  difficulty  in  ascer- 
taining the  place  where  the  infant  Jesus  actually  was,  as  the  star 
indicated  somehow  the  very  spot.  They  woi-shipped  him,  and 
opened  their  treasures;  and,  according  to  oriental  etiquette,  pre- 
sented him  costly  gifts — gold  and  frankincense  and  myrrh. 

*  There  is  not  room  in  a  work  like  i  of  our  religion  in  the  early  ages  of  the 
this  to  enter  into  details  for  the  reasons  world,  which  are  of  great  value  to  the 
on  which  every  statement  is  based  and  1  people  as  well  as  to  scholars,  and  cspe- 
from  which  every  conclusion  Ls  drawn,  cially  so  in  their  bearings  on  the  dis- 
Dr.  Francis  W.  Upham's  book,  "  The  cussions  of  these  times.  I  cordially 
Wise  Men  :  Who  they  were  and  how  concur  with  Dr.  Tayler  Lewis  in  saying  : 
they  came  to  Jerusalem,"  New  York,  "Whoever  reads  this  book  must  a< 
1871,  is  the  first  succes-sful  attempt  quire  a  new  interest  in  the  study  of 
that  I  have  seen  to  clear  up  this  pil-  the  Scriptures.  There  is  hardly  a  pn^o 
grimage.  After  reading  it,  I  cancelled  !  in  which  we  arc  not  startled  by  some- 
what I  had  before  written  on  the  thing  strikingly  original,  while  at  the 
subject.  Besides  solving  what  hereto-  |  same  time  leaving  on  the  mind  an  im- 
fore  has  been  a  mystery,  this  book  gives  I  pression  of  its  profound  truth." 
new  ideas  and  facts  as  to  the  history  I 


niS   FIRST   YEARS. 


47 


Flight  into  Egypt. 


That  night  they  dreamed.  7Vnd  in  their  dreams  they  were 
warned  not  to  return  to  Ilerod.  They  were  believei-s  m  visions. 
Tliey  hearkened  to  this.  Instead  of  going  back  to  Jerusalem 
they  returned  to  their  own  country,  by  some  other  way,  probably 
going  south  of  the  Dead  Sea. 

The  night  after  the  departure  of  the  ATagi,  Joseph  dreamed  a 
dream,  in  which  he  saw  an  angel,  who  said  to  him,  "  Arise,  and 
take  the  young  child  and  his  mother,  and  flee 
into  Egypt,  and  be  there  until  I  bring  you  word  ; 
for  Herod  will  seek  the  young  child  to  destroy  him."  Joseph 
obeyed  the  warning,  and  conveyed  the  mother  and  child  to 
Egj'jit.  This  country  was  the  most  convenient  refuge  for  them, 
being  easy  of  access,  politically  discoimected  from  Judsea,  and 
inhaljited  by  many  Jews,  who  had  been  long  settled  in  the 
country.* 

Tradition  makes  Joseph's  route  by  way  of  Ilebron,  Gaza,  and 
the  desert,  and  there  could  have  been  no  more  direct  course. 
They  still  point  out  at  Hebron  a  spot  where  the  family  encamped 
for  the  night.  Xot  far  from  Heliopolis,  on  the  way  towards 
Cairo,  is  the  village  Metari^-eh,  where  it  is  said  Joseph  made  his 
sojourn  while  in  Egypt,  which  is  probable,  because  of  the  many 


*  Matthew  cites  this  as  a  fulfilment 
of  the  saying  in  Hosea  xi.  1,  "And 
called  my  son  out  of  Egypt."  But  the 
saying  in  Hosea  has,  to  a  modem  reader, 
no  reference  to  the  Messiah  whatever, 
and  is  not  prophetical,  but  is  a  mere 
statement  of  a  fact  in  early  Jewish  his- 
tory. The  explanation  seems  to  be 
that  it  was  the  habit  of  the  Hebrew 
mind  to  refer  everj-thing  to  the  Messiah, 
to  make  every  past  event  somehow  typical 
of  him,  and  that  Matthew  was  familiar 
with  the  fact  that  before  the  coming 
Jesus  the  Jews  believed,  from  this  of 
passage,  that  the  Messiah  was  to  repeat 
in  his  history  what  bad  occurred  in  the 
history  of  his  people.  With  this  knowl- 
edge j\Iatthew  naturally  cited  this  verse 
of  Hosea. 

A  similar  accommodation  occurs  in 
Matt.  iL  18:  "In  Rama  was  there  a 
Toice  heard,  Rachel  weeping  for  her 


children,"  etc.,  quoted  from  Jeremiah 
xxxi.  15,  where  it  was  applied  to  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  the  Baby- 
lonish captivity.  Dean  Alford  says  : 
"  We  must  seek  an  explanation  in  the 
acknowledged  system  of  prophetic  inter- 
pretation among  the  Jews,  still  extant 
in  their  rabbinical  books,  and  now  sanc- 
tioned to  U.S  by  New  Testament  usage  ; 
at  the  same  time  remembering,  for  our 
caution,  how  little  even  now  we  under- 
stand of  the  full  bearing  of  prophetical 
words  and  acts.  None  of  the  expres- 
sions of  this  prophecy  must  be  closely 
and  literally  pressed.  The  link  of  con- 
nection seems  to  be  Rachel's  sepulchre, 
which  (Gen.  xxxv.  19)  was  '  in  the  way 
to  Bethlehem,'  and  perhajis  from  that 
circumstance  the  inhabitants  of  the 
place  were  called  her  children.^''  (Alford's 
Greek  Testy  in  loco.) 


48  THE   BIETU   AXD   CnELDHOOD    OF   JESUS. 

Jews  who  resided  at  that  time  in  Ileliopolis.     But  tlicre  is  no 

historic  certainty  in  this. 

The  nearness   of  Bethlehem  to  Jeni-salem  allowed  Herod  to 

inform  himself  promptly  of  the  movements  of  the  Magi.     AYhen 

he  ascertained  that  they  had  eluded  him  he  was 

T>  ^1.1  u      1  v.        exceedinjjly  anorrv,  and  sent  and  slew  all  the  male 
Bethlehem  babes.  »  •'        n  ^  ? 

children  in  Bethlehem  "  from  two  years  old  and 
under,  according  to  the  time  which  he  had  diligently  inquired 
of  the  Wise  Men." 

This  creat  crime  is  consistent  with  the  character  of  the  man 
He  had  ascended  the  throne  through  blood  ;  in  blood  he  liad  sus- 
tained himself;  he  had  murdered  his  wife  and  thi-ee  sons 
through  the  suspicion  of  jealousy ;  and  he  had  arranged  that  the 
principal  men  of  the  Jewish  nation  should  be  slaughtered  at  his 
death,  that  the  people  might  have  some  occasion  to  mourn,  as  he 
foreknew  what  a  joy  of  relief  they  would  feel  at  the  death  of 
their  tyrant.  He  was  suffering  the  pain  of  a  horrible  and  incur- 
able disease,  loving  life  yet  looking  for  speedy  death.  He  was 
just  in  the  condition  to  commit  this  outrage. 

That  Josephus  does  not  mention  this  circumstance  is  nothing 
to  the  puiix)se.  Josephus  did  not  know  eveiytliing.  Josephus 
did  not  tell  all  he  knew.  So  many  and  great  were  the  outrageous 
crimes  committed  by  Herod  that,  even  if  this  came  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  Josephus,  it  might  not  have  occurred  to  him  to  mention  it. 
It  did  not  specially  bear  on  anything  he  had  in  hand,  and  he  had 
told  enough  of  Herod's  history  to  depict  the  character  of  the  wretch 
of  whom  the  Emperor  Augustus  is  i-e})()rtcd  to  liave  said,  '"''IlerodU 
tnalUm  2>orcus  esse  q^iamjilius:  ''  "  I  would  rather  be  Herod's  hog 
than  Herod's  son."  There  is  every  probability  in  the  histoiy,  and 
notliing  against  it.*  And  Matthew  is  as  good  histoi-ical  author- 
ity as  any  otlier  ancient  writer,  and  better  than  Josephus. f  He 
has  a  reason  for  mentioning  this  circumstance,  and  he  states  what 


*  Unless  you  say  that  it  is  too  horri- 
ble to  be  believed  :  but  why  ?  Ilerod 
murdered  his  wife  Mariamne,  and  his 
three  sons.  Alexander,  Aristobulus,  and 
Antipater,  the  latter  just  before  his  own 
death — perhaps  about  the  time  of  the 
Bethlehem  massacre.      If  he  killed  his 


of  the  hatod  inhabitants  of  an  obscure 
Jewish  village  ? 

f  LKhtenftcin  sngpcsts  that  Josephus 
would  purposely  avoid  everything  that 
drew  attention  to  the  Mps.sianic  hopea 
of  his  people :  Lnrdner  that  ho  could 
not  have  mentioned  this  caac  without 


own  family,  would   he  feel  any  com-  i  giving  the  Christian  cause  a  great  ad 
panction  at  killing  some  of  the  children  !  vantage. 


HIS   FIRST    YEARS. 


49 


consists  with  the  well-known  character  of  the  man  of  whom  it  is 
related. 

How  many  children  fell  we  cannot  now  know.  Yoltaiie,  who 
was  always  read}'  to  adopt  any  calculations  which  wonld  tend  to 
throw  discredit  on  the  history  in  the  New  Testament,  supposes, 
according  to  an  old  Gentile  tradition,  that  the  number  would  he 
14,000!  nearly  three  times  as  many  as  the  largest  assigned  popula- 
tion of  Bethlehem.  Sepp  supposed  the  number  of  inhabitants  tc 
have  been  about  5,000,  and  this  would  make  the  number  of  cliil- 
dren  of  the  specified  age  to  be  about  ninety.  Townscnd  makes 
the  number  of  inhabitants  at  2,000  ;  the  number  of  slain  cliildrcn 
would  then  be  about  fifty.  Some  have  said  fifteen.  Ko  oue 
knows. 

Upon  the  death  of  Herod  Joseph  had  another  dream,  in  which 
he  saw  an  angel  who  told  him  to  return  to  his  native  land  Avith 
Mary  and  the  child,  as  his  enemies  were  now 
dead.  Joseph  obeyed  immediately.  lie  seems 
to  have  naturally  supposed  that  David's  city  was 
the  place  where  David's  son  shoul'd  be  reared, 
and  so  prepared  to  return  to  Bethlehem.  But  upon  reaching  the 
confines  of  Juda3a,  he  learned  that  Archelaus  had  succeeded  to 
the  throne  of  his  father  Herod.  He  knew  that  this  prince  had 
inherited  his  father's  cruelty  and  contempt  of  holy  things,  and  so 
he  was  afraid  to  return  to  Bethlehem,  which  M'as  within  the  ter- 
ritories of  Archelaus.  Joseph  having  again  been  warned  in  a 
dream  to  go  to  Galilee,  which  was  under  the  dominion  of  the 
mild  Antipas,  seems  to  have  made  a  detour,  travelling  east  of  the 
Jordan,  within  the  territory  of  Herod  Philip,  until  he  came  to  be 
opposite  Galilee,  which  he  entered,  and,  proceeding  to  Nazai-eth, 
settled  his  family  in  that  city.  Jesus  thus  became  confounded 
with  the  despised  ISTazarenes."'^ 

In  this  toAvn  the  first  twelve  yeare  of  the  life  of  Jesus  were 
spent.  Ilistor}'-  gives  us  little  insight  into  this  period  of  his  exist- 
ence.    Luke  says  that  he  "grew  and  waxed  strong  in  spirit,  filled 


Return  and  set- 
tlement in  Naza- 
reth. 


*  Matthew  says,  "  that  it  might  be 
fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the 
prophets.  He  shall  be  called  a  Nazarene." 
So  far  as  I  can  discover,  the  Old  Testa- 
ment does  not  contain  any  text  in  which 
the  word  Nazarene  is  applied  to  the 
Messiah.     The  explanation  may  be  that 


prophets  had  described  the  IMessiah  as  a 
despised  person,  as  the  Nazareues  were. 
See  John  i.  4(5,  where  Nathanael  quotes 
the  proverb,  "  Can  any  good  thing  come 
out  of  Nazareth  ?  "  In  Isaiah  liii.  we 
have  a  specimen  of  the  general  prophecy. 


50  THE   BIKTII    AND    CIIILDnOOD   OF   JESUS. 

with  Avisdom  ;  and  tlic  grace  of  God  was  upon  liim."  He  liad. 
for  liis  playmates  liis  younger  liaif-brothers,  children  horn  to  Mary 
after  Jesus,  together  with  his  cousins,  the  cliildren  of  Cleopas. 
At  liis  mother's  knee  he  learned  language  and  the  elements  of 
religious  thought.  He  was  prol)ably  engaged  in  assisting  in  the 
ordinary  affaii-s  of  the  household  as  he  grew  older,  and  perhaps 
assisted  his  reputed  father  Joseph  in  his  business  as  a  carpenter. 
The  silence  of  history  is  filled  with  the  babblings  of  tradition, 
which  seems  to  delight  to  crowd  these  twelve  years  with  wonder- 
ful fantasies.  AVe  may  rely  only  upon  what  is  certainly  afiii'med, 
and  yet  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  wonderful  child  car- 
ried with  him  the  unconscious  air  of  an  innocent  soul  that  has 
uncommon  depths  of  spiritual  introspection,  and  is  being  fitted 
for  a  marvellous  destiny. 

So  <;rcat  is  the  influence  of  the  surroundinc^s  of  the  younc:  that 
the  situation  and  the  scenery  of  Nazareth. must  hereafter  forever 
be  a  study  of  profound  interest  to  evei-y  student  of  the  growth  of 
character.  There  is  none  more  glowing  than  the  following,  with 
which  M.  Henan  closes  the  second  chapiter  of  his  "Life  of 
Jesus" : 

"Nazareth  was  a  little  towii,  situated  in  a  fold  of  land  broadly  open  at 
the  summit  of  the  group  of  mountains  which  closes  on  the  north  the  plain  of 
Esdraelon.  The  population  is  now  from  three  to  four  thousand,  and  it  can- 
not have  varied  nuich.  It  is  quite  cold  in  wntor,  and  the  climate  is  very 
healthy.  The  t()^\^^,  like  all  the  Jewish  villages  of  the  time,  was  a  mass  of 
dwellings  Iniilt  without  pretensions  to  style,  and  must  have  presented  tliat 
poor  and  uninteresting  appearance  which  is  offered  by  villages  in  Semitic 
countries.  The  houses,  from  all  that  a})pears,  did  not  differ  much  from  those 
cul)cs  of  stone,  without  interior  or  exterior  elegance,  which  now  cover  the 
richest  portion  of  Lebanon,  and  which,  in  the  midst  of  vines  and  fig-trees, 
are  nevertheless  very  pleasant.  Tlic  environs,  moreover,  are  charming,  and 
no  place  in  the  world  was  so  well  adapted  to  dreams  of  absolute  happiness. 

"Even  in  our  days  Nazareth  is  a  delightful  sojourn,  the  only  i)lace  perhaps 
in  Palestine  where  the  soul  feels  a  little  relieved  of  the  burden  which  weighs 
upon  it  in  the  midst  of  tliis  unequalled  desolation.  The  people  are  friendly 
and  good-natured;  tlie  gardens  are  fiesli  and  green.  Antcmius  TSIarlyr,  at 
the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  draws  an  enelianting  i)icture  of  the  fertility 
of  the  en^nrons,  which  he  compares  to  paradise.  Some  valleys  on  the  western 
side  fully  justify  his  description.  Tlic  fountain,  about  which  the  life  and 
gayety  of  the  little  town  centred,  has  been  destroyed;  its  broken  channels 
now  give  but  a  turl>id  water.  Ikit  the  beauty  of  the  women  who  gather  there 
at  night — this  beauty  which  was  already  remarked  in  the  sixth  centur}',  and 
in  which  was  seen  the  gift  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  has  been  8uri)risingly  weU 


HIS  FIRST  years:  51 

presei-ved.  It  is  the  Syrian  type,  in  all  its  languishing  grace.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  Mary  was  tliere  nearly  every  day,  and  took  her  place,  -with  her  urn 
upon  her  shoulder,  in  the  same  line  with  her  unremembered  countrywomen. 
Antonius  Martyr  remarks  that  the  Jewish  women,  elsewhere  disdainful  to 
Christians,  are  here  full  of  affability.  Even  at  tliis  day  religious  animosities 
are  less  intense  at  Nazareth  than  elsewhere. 

"  The  horizon  of  the  town  is  limited ;  but  if  we  ascend  a  little  to  the  pla- 
teau, swept  l)y  a  perpetual  Ijrecze,  which  commands  tlie  higliest  houses,  the 
[jrospect  is  splendid.  To  the  west  are  unfolded  tlie  beautiful  lines  of  Cannel, 
terminating  in  an  abrupt  point,  which  seems  to  plunge  into  the  sea.  Then 
stretch  away  the  double  summit  which  looks  down  upon  Megiddo,  the  moun- 
tains of  the  country  of  Shechem,  with  their  holy  places  of  the  patriarchal 
age,  the  mountauis  of  Gilboa,  the  picturesque  little  group  mth  which  are 
associated  the  graceful  and  terrible  memories  of  Solam  and  Endor,  and 
Thabor,  -with  its  finely  rounded  form,  which  antiquity  comiiared  to  a  breast. 
Thiough  a  depression  between  the  mountains  of  Solam  and  Thabor  are  seen 
the  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  the  high  plains  of  Parjca,  which  fonn  a  contin- 
uous line  in  the  east.  To  the  north,  the  mountains  of  Safed,  sloping  towards 
the  sea,  hide  St.  Jean  d'Acre,  but  disclose  the  gulf  of  Khaifa.  Such  was  the 
horizon  of  Jesus. 

"  This  enchanted  cii-cle,  the  cradle  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  represented  the 
world  to  liim  for  years.  His  life  even  went  little  beyond  the  limits  familiar 
to  liis  childhood.  For  beyond,  to  the  north,  you  almost  see  upon  the  slope 
of  Hennon,  Cesarea  Philippi,  his  most  advanced  point  into  the  Gentile  world, 
and  to  the  south,  you  feel  behind  these  already  less  clieerful  mountains  of 
Samaria,  sad  Judaea,  withered  as  by  a  burning  blast  of  abstraction  and  of 
death." 

Joseph  and  Mary  were  accustomed  to  go  up  annually  to  Jerusa- 
lem to  attend  the  Passover  Festival.  When  Jesus  reached  the 
age  of  twelve  he  was  carried  to  the  Temple,  to 
be  initiated  into  the  regulai-  study  of  the  law,  and  /^^^"^  ^™°°2 
to  begin  tlie  observance  of  the  festivals  and  fasts 
of  the  Jewish  church.  The  Jews  believed  the  age  of  twelve  to 
be  the  line  dividing  childhood  from  youth.  At  that  period  one 
was  called  "son  of  the  law,"  and  first  incurred  legal  responsi- 
bility.* 

This  incident  is  the  only  passage  in  the  early  life  of  Jesus  of 
which  we  have  any  reliable  historical  account.  But  it  is  full  of 
interest. 

He  was  a  remarkable  child,  born  under  remarkable  circum- 
Btances,  which  had  undoubtedly  been  narrated  to  him,  and  which 

*  Josephus  states  that  when  he  was  1  city  met  with  him  to  put  qaestions  tc 
fourteen  years  of  age  the  priests  of  the  J  him  about  the  law 


52  THE    BIETn    ANT)   CniLDIIOOD   OF   JEStJS. 

lie  had  pondered  as  he  read  the  law  and  the  prophets,  or  heard 
them  read.  lie  liad  never  been  in  the  Temple  since  he  was  an 
infant.  Now  the  siglit  of  the  solemn  fane  and  the  holy  rites, 
amid  the  excitement  of  the  great  crowds  who  were  present,  must 
have  stirred  the  depths  of  this  profound  young  soul.  A  solemn 
sense  of  his  spiritual  capabilities,  and  perhaps  an  awful  presenti- 
ment of  his  tremendous  destiny  must  have  come  upon  him,  lie 
began  to  be  revealed  to  himself.  He  did  not  put  himself  forward 
as  a  teacher  amonjr  those  wliite-haired  rabbis.  His  hour^luul  not 
yet  come.  But  he  was  neitlier  a  stupid  nor  a  frivolous  l)oy.  His 
rarq  fine  spirit  had  been  developing  itself  amid  the  quiet  scenes 
of  nature,  and  he  had  been  looking  into  the  faces  of  the  most 
profound  and  puzzling  questions.  Many  a  bright  day  from  the 
heights  near  Nazareth  he  had  gazed  upon  the  grand  scenery  about 
him,  turning  over  what  he  had  heard  of  the  historic  associations 
of  such  famous  places  as  were  in  sight,  feeling  his  blood  tingle 
with  the  touches  of  autumnal  breezes  or  ghjwing  in  the  ric^i 
warmth  of  the  first  spring ;  and  Life  and  Man,  the  Seen  and  the 
Unseen,  Nature  and  Supernature,  held  their  problems  up  to  his 
soul.  And  he  dared  to  study  them.  At  twelve  he  was  read}''  to 
ask  questions  even  of  rabbis.  The  custom  of  the  Jewish  schools 
was  for  the  scholai*s  to  ask  questions  of  the  teachers,  and  much 
of  rabbinical  literature  consists  of  answers  to  such  intei"i"ogato- 
lies.  The  questions  a  man  asks  are  as  indicative  of  his  character 
as  the  positive  sayings  that  go  out  of  his  mouth.  If  hist(My  had 
preserved  these  questions  which  he  asked  in  the  Tcmpk^,  we 
should  be  helped  in  our  study  of  Jesus.  It  records  sinq)ly  tlie 
general  fact  that  his  learned  hearers  were  astonished  at  his  under- 
standing. 

When  the  Paschal  ceremonies  M-ere  ended,  Joseph  and  Mary 

started  to  return  to  Nazareth.     They  did  not  at  fii-st  perceive  that 

Jesus  M'as  not  of  the  company.     They  had  been 

M'Bsed  by  Jo-    ^^  accustomed  to  his  obedience  as  to  rclv  upon  his 
sepn  and  Mary.  n  •  '.  . 

promptness.     Eastern  travellers  m  ancient  tinn  > 

ordinarily  made  a  short  jotn-nc}'  on  the  first  day.     Poi-haps  J»)sc|>li- 

and  Mary  did  not  start  until  some  time  in  the  afternoon,  and! 

then  in  company  with  many  others.     When  they  pitched  tlicii- 

tents  that  night  they  discovered  his  absence.     They  returned  to 

Jerusalem.     Luke  says  that  "after  three  days  they  found  him." 

This  probably  includes  their  fii-st  day  out,  the  second  day,  in  which 


HIS   FIKST   YEARS. 


53 


they  returned  and  inquired,  and  the  third  day,  when  they  found 
him.  lie  was  in  the  Temple,  among  the  rabbis,  astounding  them 
by  asking  questions,  startling  by  reason  of  their  artless  depth  and 
amazing  significance.* 

Mary — not  Joseph — spoke  to  him.  She  and  Joseph  knew  their 
relations  to  the  boy.  And  Mary  said,  "Son,  why  have  you  dealt 
so  Avith  us?  Behold,  your  father  and  I  have  sought  you  sorrow- 
ing." Up  to  that  time  he  seems  to  have  regarded  Josej^h  as  his 
father,  and  to  have  behaved  towards  him  in  that  relation.  But  in 
his  public  teachings  he  never  acknowledged  Joseph  as  his  father. 
If  Mary  had  said  "  we,"  the  remarkable  answer  in  which  Jesus  ex- 
presses his  sense  of  his  own  intimate  relationship  with  God  could 
not  ha\e  been  given.  But  "your  father  and  I"  brings  it.  AVith 
tender  reproachf  ulness  Jesus  replied :  "  How  is  it  that  you  sought 
me?  Did  you  not  know  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  busi- 
ness?" As  if  he  would  remind  his  mother  that  she  ought  to 
know  from- his  extraordhiary  introduction  to  the  world  that  his 
was  to  be  an  extraordinary  life.  As  if  he  would  remind  her  of 
the  fact  that  at  the  Annunciation  she  had  been  told  by  the  angel 
that  her  child  was  to  be  the  "  Son  of  the  Most  High."  All  this 
she  knew ;  but  now  it  comes  home  to  her  with  power,  when  that 
simple,  ingenuous,  noble  child  stands  up  in  the  house  of  God  and 
claims  his  Divine  Paternity. 

Of  this  only  authenticated  saying  of  Jesus  in  his  childhood,  Stier 
beautifully  says:  "Solitary  floweret  out  of  the  wonderful  inclosed 
garden  of  thirty  3'ears,  plucked  precisely  there  where  the  swollen 
bud,  at  a  distinctive  crisis^  bursts  into  flower.  To  mark  that  is 
assuredly  the  design  and  the  meaning  of  this  record.  The  child 
Jesus  sought  to  know  himself,  and  his  whole  life  of  childhood 
was  this  seeking." 

All  these  things  Mary  laid  up  in  her  heart,  and  most  probably 
after  the  death  of  Jesus  told  them  to  Luke.  This  sounds  like  a 
mother's  narrative  repeated  by  a  historian. 

That  Jesus  had  accumulated  a  vast  number  of  questions  tou(th- 
ing  God  and  man,  life  and  death,  the  seen  and  the  invisible,  it  is 
most  natural  to  suppose.  One  also  naturall}^  thinks  that  those 
questions  must  have  been  based  largely  upon  the  Hebrew  sacred 


*"To  answer  children  is  indeed  an 
sxamen  rigororum, "  saj's  Hamann.  And 
again,  "  He  who  will  stop  the  mouths  of 


scribes  and  sophists  must  know  how  to 
put  questions."  (Edition  of  Tloth,  ii, 
424.) 


54  THE   BIRTU    AJfD   CUILDUOOD   OF   JESUS. 

books,  and  that  when  he  should  find  an  opportnnity  of  going  to 
ecclesiastical  headqnarters  and  visiting  the  apix)inted  cxponndera 
of  tlie  law  and  i)\e  ofhcial  cxi)lainer3  of  the  prophets,  he  would 
propound  such  questions,  and  tliat  his  interrogatories  would  not 
be  captious  or  critical  or  superficial,  about  tithes  and  such  trifies, 
l)ut  such  as  the  solcnni  tone  and  the  special  deep  phrases  of  the 
Hebrew  oracles  would  suggest  to  a  child  of  such  exquisite  genius 
and  such  extraordinary  spirituality.  "Would  they  not  naturally 
run  along  the  lofty  lijie  of  Messianic  hope  and  promise  which  his 
gifted  ancestor  David  had  drawn  ?  Would  they  not  push  against 
the  doors  to  spiritual  freedom  and  the  emancipation  of  humanity 
which  Isaiah  seems  to  have  set  ajar? 

When  this  marvellous  child  came  amid  the  rabbis  and  began 
to  ask  these  questions,  no  wonder  they  were  amazed.  But  ho 
must  have  been  disappointed.  Blindness  was  on  the  eyes  of  the 
teachers  in  Jerusalem.  The  more  he  pressed  his  simple  questions 
the  more  he  must  have  felt  that  sense  of  his  own  souship,  of  that 
intimate  nearness  to  the  Father  of  spirits  which  has  singled  l»im 
from  among  the  company  of  the  sons  of  God  as  the  elder  brotJier 
of  humanity.  They  could  not  instruct  him  as  to  Jehovah's  An- 
nointed.  Years  after,  on  his  last  visit  to  Jerusalem,  in  the 
last  week  of  his  public  ministry,  in  this  same  Temple,  Jesus  pro- 
pounded to  this  same  school  of  teaching  the  questions,  "What 
think  ye  of  Christ?  Wliose  son  is  he ? "  (Matt.  xxii.  42.)  Did 
not  his  fii*st  questions  have  the  same  bearing? 

Two  things  seem  to  have  come  strongly  to  him  from  this  visit; 
his  own  Peculiarity  and  the  Worthlessness  of  the  religious  teach- 
ing of  his  nation.  To  what  extent  the  former  we  do  not  know. 
If  it  was  a  wide  view  and  a  profound  conviction,  he  kept  it  hum- 
bly folded  in  his  soul  and  bided  his  time. 

Then  he  went  down  with  Mary  and  Joseph  to  Nazareth,  and 

abode  with  them,  and  was  subject  to  them.     For  another  space, 

coverinj'  ci":hteen  yeai-s,  we  have  an  unbroken 
Eighteen   yeara       .,  °        ^^^  t-.     '        ,  ,, 

in  Nazareth  silencC  as  to  Jesus.    Ilistoi*y  does  not  utter  a  sylla- 

ble. But  during  all  that  season  he  was  ripening; 
and  the  times  were  ripening.  He  lived  a  life  of  some  activity, 
probably  "working  with  his  reputed  father  at  the  bench  of  the  car- 
penter, lie  led  also  probably  a  social  life,  making  and  receiving 
visits,  as  his  presence  at  the  marriage  in  Cana  would  seem  to  im- 
ply that  he  was  in  friendly,  cheerful  intercoui-se  with  the  people 


HIS   FIKST   TEAKS.  55 

of  his  neighborhood.  Beyond  this  we  cannot  penetrate.  "Wg 
only  know  that  when  a  man  achieves  in  a  few  ycai-s  a  great  ^v(n•k 
the  influence  of  which  lasts,  he  must  somcliow  through  his  pre- 
vious life  have  been  accumulating  assets  of  ])owci'  to  meet  the 
drafts  of  his  crisis.  Jesus  was  no  exception.  lie  was  thirty 
years  growing  in  the  preparation  to  do  the  ^\•ork  of  three. 

That  preparation  could  hardly  have  embraced  wliat  we  call 
"  learning,"  in  any  sense  beyond  a  study  of  the  ancient  Hebrew 
Scripture.  Hellenism,  which  embraces  what  we  generally  con- 
ceive to  be  the  culture  of  the  Greeks,  had  not  penetrated  to  the 
obscure  town  in  which  Jesus  spent  his  early  life.  Indeed  it  was 
discouraged  by  the  Jews  throughout  Judea.  In  the  Talnmd  of 
Jerusalem  (Peah.  i.  1)  a  story  is  told  of  a  learned  rabbi,  who, 
when  asked  at  what  time  it  was  proper  to  teach  a  child  the  wis- 
dom of  the  Greeks,  replied  :  "  At  the  hour  when  it  is  neither  day 
nor  night,  for  it  is  written  of  the  laio,  '  Thou  shalt  study  it  day 
and  night.' "  He  must  also  have  been  preserved  from  what  M. 
Renan  happily  calls  the  "  grotesque  scholasticism  "  at  that  time 
taught  in  Jerusalem,  and  which  shortly  after  was  embodied  in 
the  Talmud.   He  had  no  regular  theological  training. 


CnAPTER    V. 

PUBLIC  AFFAIKS  DURING    THE   CIIILDIIOOD    AlO)    YOUTH    OF   JE8US. 

JUD^A. 

"When  Jesus  was  born  Ilerod  was  near  his  end,  perishing  of  an 

incurable  disease.      Ilis  reign  had  been  one  of  oppression  and 

„      ,  terror  to  the  Jews,  but  so  skilful  a  iiolitician  was 

Herod.  /       .  ^ 

he  that  no  combination  had  been  able  to  break 

Ilis  influence  at  Rome.     lie  continued  his  crimes  up  to  the  very 

day  of   Ills  death.      lie  had   slain  his  wife  on  suspicion,  that 

Mariamnc  Mhom  he  so  loved  that  after  her  death  he  would  go 

howling  for  licr  through  his  palace.     lie  had  slain  his  two  sons, 

Alexander  and  Aristobulus,  and  just  before  he  died  he  slew  a 

third  son,  Antipater. 

lie  had  outraged  the  religious  sentiments  of  the  Jews.  He 
had  built  a  theatre  in  the  Holy  City.  lie  had  introduced  Roman 
games,  in  which  gladiatoi^s  and  wild  beasts  fought.  lie  had  put 
lip  the  Golden  Eagle  over  the  gate  of  the  temple,  probably  about 
the  time  he  had  inscril)ed  the  name  of  Agrippa  over  the  gate. 
The  Jews  regarded  this  as  a  breach  of  the  Second  Cumnuind- 
ment.  It  was  intolerable  to  them.  It  was  "  an  abomination  of 
desolation."  At  the  instigation  of  two  rabbis  there  was  an  up- 
rising, and  on  a  false  repoit  of  the  death  of  Ilerod  the  young 
men  of  the  city  tore  down  the  hated  thing  in  open  daylight. 
Ilerod  caused  the  rabbis  to  be  burnt  alive,  the  high-priest  Mat- 
thias to  be  deposed,  and  Joazar  to  take  his  place. 

This,  in  brief,  was  the  state  of  affairs  in  Jerusalem  when  Ile- 
r<xl  died,  as  related  at  large  by  »Tosephus  {A)it.,  book  xvii.) 

To  uiidei-stand  the  history  of   the  times   of    Jesus   we   must 

know  the  condition  of  the  Jews  and  the  coui-se  of  their  rnlei*s,  of 

,,     .,     .  „      ,     whom  members   of    the  family  of  Ilerod  were 
i  amily  of  Herod.  _        ^  •' 

chief  in  the  firet  year  of  Jesus.  We  need  only 
notice  the  children  of  the  iii'st  five  wives  of  Ilerod,  in  a  table 
adapted  from  Smith's  iV!  T.  J/isto7y. 


rUBLIC    AFFAIllS    DURING    THE   CIIILDIIOOD    OF   JESUS.  57 

1.  Before  his  accession  to  the  throne  Ilerod  married  Z^r?;^'^  / 
and  her  only  son,  Antipater,  was  the  victim  of  his  father's  dying 
rage.  2.  Akistobulus,  his  eldest  (son  by  Mariamne^  the  grand- 
daughter of  Ilyrcanns),  was  the  parent  of  a  large  family,  and 
from  him  were  descended  the  two  AoRirrAS,  the  first  of  whom 
was  the  "  King  Herod  "  who  slew  James  and  imprisoned  Peter  ; 
the  second  the  "  Keng  Agkippa  "  before  whom  Paul  pleaded. 
3.  After  the  murder  of  Mariainne  Herod  married  another 
Mariamne^  daughter  of  the  high-priest  Simon :  her  son  was  He- 
rod PiiiLU',  whose  marriage  with  his  niece  Herodias,  daughter  of 
Aristobuhis,  followed  by  her  divorce  of  him  to  marry  his  half- 
brother,  Ilerod  Antipas,  to  -whom  she  stood  in  the  same  relation, 
led  to  the  martyrdom  of  John  the  Baptist.  He  is  often  con- 
founded with  his  half-brother  Philip,  the  Tetrarch  of  Ituraga. 
4-.  His  next  wife,  MalthaGe,  a  Samaritan,  was  the  mothe)'  of 
Herod  Antipas  and  Akcuelaus.  5.  By  Cleojyatra  he  had  two 
Bons,  the  younger  of  whom  was  Philip,  the  Tetrarch  of  Ituraea 
and  the  adjacent  districts,  with  Trachoiiitis.  6.  His  other  wives 
and  their  children  are  of  no  consequence  in  the  history.  These 
complicated  relations  will  be  made  clearer  by  the  following  con- 
spectus of  the  chief  personages  with  whom  the  history  is  con- 
cerned for  the  four  generations  of  the  family  : 

A. — Herod  the  Great. 


Wives.  Sons. 

1.  Doris 1.  Antipater.  )^         j.   i  u     j.t.  •    * 

2.  Mariamne,  grandd.  of  Hyrca-  (  3.  Aristobulus.  [  E^'ecuted  by  their  fa- 

nus  II.  U.  Alexander.  \      *^«^"  ^^  ^^«  lifetime. 

3.  Mariamne,   d.  of  Simon l"^'  ^^^-^^^^  ^^i^.'P   ^'         ^^""^^  ^^  ""  P"^'"^*^  P^^" 

'  {  m.  Herodias.  )      son. 

4.  Malthace,  a  Samaritan Vl'  ^'^^.^^^^  ^*'P^^  '  • '     Jfi"^^'"^  °^,  J^'^i"^^' 

'  {  0.  Archelaus Ltnnarcii  or  Juda;a. 

5.  Cleopatra |  m.  Salome^cL  of  Philip  \  Tetrarch   of  Northern 

(      I.  and  of  Herodias   i      I'er^^,  etc. 

B. — Children  op  Aristobulus. 

1,  Herod  Agrippa  I King  of  Judaja. 

2.  Herodias.  m. — 

(1.)  Herod  Philip  I. 
(2.)  Herod  Antipas. 

C. — Children  op  Herod  Agrippa  I. 

1.  Herod  Ag^^ppa  II.  (titular  king) Tetrarch  of  N.  Perasa,  etc. 

2.  Bemice Named  in  Acts  xnv.  23. 

3.  Drusilla,  m.  to  Felix. Named  in  Acts  xxi  v.  24. 


58  TIIE   EIRTU   AND   CIIILDnOOD   OP   JESUS. 

Ilcrod  made  a  will  in  favor  of  the  children  of  Malthaec,  name- 
ly, Ilerod  Antipas  and  Archelaus,  At  first  Antipas  was  named 
as  the  successor;  but  the  final  codicil  gave  tlie 
succession  to  Archelaus.  To  Antipas  was  left  tho 
government  of  Galilee  and  Penija,  with  the  title  of  tetrarcli.  In 
his  domain  Jesus  spent  the  larger  portion  of  his  life.  To  Ilerod 
Philip  11,  was  left  the  territory  and  government  of  Ituraa,  Gau- 
lonitis,  and  Batna^a,  with  the  title  of  tetrarcli. 

As  soon  as  Herod's  death  was  known  the  soldiery  were  gath- 
ered together  in  the  am})hitheatre.  A  letter  from  Ilerod  was 
read,  in  which  he  thanked  the  army  for  their  fidelity  to  him,  and 
exhorted  them  to  be  as  faithful  to  Archelaus.  Then  the  king's 
last  testament  was  read,  in  which  he  named  his  successor.  Ar- 
chelaus was  acclaimed  king. 

He  addressed  himself  at  once  to  the  discharge  of  his  last  filial 
duties.  He  took  care  that  the  funeral  of  his  father  should  be 
most  sumptuous.  A  golden  bier,  embroidered 
^unera  o  e-  ^.^^^  prccious  stones,  held  the  body,  which  was 
covered  with  purple.  The  dead  monarch  had  a 
diadem  upon  his  head,  over  which  was  a  crown  of  gold ;  he  also 
had  a  sceptre  in  his  right  hand.  The  bier  was  surrounded  by  the 
sons  and  numerous  relatives  of  the  deceased.  Next  to  these  the 
guard  and  band,  dressed  according  to  their  nationalities — Thra- 
cians,  Germans, Galatians — then  the  whole  army  followed  "in  the 
same  maimer  as  they  used  to  go  out  to  war,  and  as  they  used  to 
be  put  in  array  by  their  muster-masters  and  centurions ;  these 
were  followed  by  five  hundred  of  liis  domestics  carrying  spices. 
And  so,"  says  Josephus  {Ant,  book  xvi.  chap.  8),  "  they  went  eight 
furlongs  to  Ilerodium,  for  there  by  his  own  command  he  was  to  bo 
buried."  From  Jericho,  where  Ilerod  died,  to  Ilerodium,  where  ho 
was  buried,  was  a  distance  of  two  hundred  furlongs,  and  if  tho 
acctount  of  Josephus  means  that  the  procession  moved  at  the  rate  of 
eight  furlongs  a  day,  this  i)omp  continued  no  less  than  twenty  days. 

While  Archelaus  was  thus  publicly  mourning  for  liis  father,  ho 

was  said  to  be  privately  s]ien(]iiig  his  nights  in  revelry.     Tho 

mourning  done,  he  went  up  to  the  Temple,  took 

Archelaus.  Trou-    |||^  ^^^^^  ^      ^^  ^  tlironc  of  gold,  spokc  coiiciliatiiig- 

blcs in Rcttling the     ,  ,  ^.•.     -,  •      -i    ^i  xi  • 

Iv  to  the  multitude,  promised  them  cvervthmgi 

succession.  -^  '   i  •^     \  -ii 

but  declined  to  assume  the  crown  until  the  will 

of  his  father  had  been  ratified  by  Ca'sar. 


PUBLIC   AFFAIRS   DURING   THE   CHILDHOOD   OF   JESUS. 


59 


Archclaus  in 
Rome. 


But,  almost  immediately  after,  a  sedition  was  raised  in  the  city. 
The  people  began  a  lamentation  for  the  two  martyi*s  wlio  had 
perished  in  the  affair  of  the  Eagle.  At  the  Passover,  at  tlie  time  of 
the  evening  sacrilice,  this  feeling  became  deep,  and  broke  into  cric^i 
for  vengeance.  Archelans  sent  his  general  to  explain  and  remon- 
strate. But  it  was  of  no  avail.  The  upshot  of  the  riot  was  the 
slaughter  of  three  thousand  men  and  the  breaking  up  of  the  feast. 

Archelans  then  went  to  Rome  to  secure  the  establishment  of 
his  kingdom  by  an  imperial  edict.  lie  carried  with  liim  the 
elofpient  orator  Nicholas  of  Damascus,  who  had 
been  a  faithful  friend  of  his  father.  With  him 
also  was  his  intriguing  aunt,  Salome,  who  was 
secretly  in  the  interest  of  his  brother,  Ilerod  Antipas,  Tlie  Jews 
sent  after  him  a  deputation  of  five  hundred  of  their  chief  men, 
praying  Caesar  to  abolish  the  monarchy  and  let  them  be  governed 
by  their  own  laws.  They  made  what  capital  they  could  of  the 
inauspicious  events  which  had  attended  the  beginning  of  his 
government.* 

"While  Archelans  was  in  Home,  Jerusalem  was  in  charge  of 
Sabinus,  the  Roman  procurator  of  the  province.  He  was  a  vio- 
lent, tyrannical,  avaricious  coward.  lie  made 
diligent  search  for  the  late  king's  treasure,  and 
did  not  scruple  to  take  even  the  sacred  treasure, 
devise  means  to  exasperate  the  Jews.  The  smouldering  iires  of 
fanatic  determination  to  free  their  country  from  the  Roman  yoke 
were  fanned  into  a  flame.  When  Pentecost  came  vast  multitudes 
of  men  from  all  parts  of  the  country  flocked  to  Jerusalem,  mani- 
festly full  of  bitterness  and  ready  for  mischief.  They  encamped 
about  the  Temple,  and  besieged  Sabinus,  who  from  a  lofty  tower, 
to  which  he  had  betaken  himself  for  safety,  gave  a  signal  to  his 
troops  to  issue  forth  against  the  besiegers.  Much  slaughter  was 
on  both  sides.  The  Jews  were  repulsed,  but  betook  themselves 
to  the  Temple,  fi'om  the  heights  of  which  they  rained  arrows  on 
the  Romans,  who  could  not  reach  their  enemies.     The  Romans, 


Sabinus. 

He 'seemed  to 


*  Perhaps  it  is  to  this  that  Jesus  allud- 
ed in  the  parable  reported  by  Luke  (xix. 
12-27) :  "  A  certain  nobleman  (  I'yc-i  11$,  a 
man  of  birth  or  rank,  the  son  of  Herod) 
went  into  a  far  country  {Italy)  to  re- 
ceive for  himself  a  kingdom  {Judcea), 


and  to  return.  But  his  citizens  {thi 
Jews)  hated  him,  and  sent  a  message  (or 
embassy)  after  him  {to  Augustus  CcBsar), 
saying,  '  We  will  not  have  this  man  to 
reign  over  ua.' " 


60 


TIIE   BIRTH   AND   CHILDHOOD    OF   JESUS. 


Varus. 


however,  set  fire  to  the  cloisters,  the  roof  fell  in,  and  many  were 
precipitated  into  the  flames.  Those  who  were  not,  were  either 
slain  by  the  Romans  or  threw  themselves  upon  their  swords  or  into 
the  fire.  The  troops  of  Sabinns  broke  into  the  Temple  and  plun- 
dered the  sacred  treasnres;  but  the  Jews,  furious  at  these  outrages, 
continued  the  siege. 

Meanwhile  disbanded  troops  of  Ilerod  roamed  over  the  coun- 
try plundering  and  ravaging.  The  people  were  driven  about, 
and  many  of  the  villages  were  destroyed.  The 
utmost  confusion  prevailed  in  Jenisalem  and  in  the 
rural  districts.  A^'arus,  the  prefect  of  Syria,  marched  to  the  relief  of 
Sabinus  with  a  great  force.  The  insurgents  laid  do\vn  their  arms ; 
two  thousand  were  crucified,  and  the  others  sent  to  Rome  for  trial. 
Notwithstanding  the  influence  brought  to  bear  against  him, 
Archelaus  succeeded  in  securing  from  Augustus  so  much  of  a 
confirmation  of  his  father  Herod's  will  as  to  make 

firte?"'^'''''  ''*''"  ^""^  "^^  ^'"'S  i"tlced  over  the  whole  countiy,  but 
ethnarch  of  Judsea,  Iduma?a,  and  Samaria,  <5ne- 
half  of  that  which  had  been  subject  to  Ilerod.  Archelaus  was 
also  promised  the  royal  dignity  if  he  should  govern  so  as  to 
deserve  it.  He  retained  also  the  chief  cities  of  Jerusalem,  Se- 
baste,  Ciesarca,  and  Joppa.  His  income  wab  six  hundred  talents."^ 
Upon  his  return  he  seemed  disposed  in  some  measure  to  conciliate 
the  Jews.  The  only  act  of  his,  however,  which  had  much  con- 
cern with  their  history,  was  his  displacement  of  Joazar,  whom 
Ilerod  had  made  high-priest  after  the  affair  of  the  Eagle,  and 
the  substitution  of  Eleazar,  Joazar's  brother.  But  his  general 
course  was  tyrannous  towards  Jews  and  Samaritans,  and  the 
hatred  of  the  Jews  for  him  was  increased  l)y  his  violation  of  their 
law.  Glaphyra  was  his  sister-in-law,  having  been  the  wife  of  his 
brother  Alexander.  After  his  father  Ilerod  had  killecl  him,  Gla- 
^phyra  married  Juba,  king  of  Lydia,  and  when  he  died  Archelaus 
divorced  his  wife  Mariamne  and  married  Glai)hyra.  She  had  had 
three  children  by  his  brother  Alexander,  which  made  it  oftensive 
to  the  Jewish  law  for  Archelaus  to  marry  her.  The  Jewish  pc()i)]o 
uuule  suflicient  interest  in  Rome  to  cause  Archelaus  to  be  recalled 


*  A  Bhekel.  in  the  times  of  JoBephus, 
from  whom  we  have  the  statements  in  the 
text,  was  worth  about  70  cents  in  gold, 
and  3,000  shekels  biinj;  to  a  talent,  the 


talent  was  worth  nbont  $2,100;  jind 
the  income  of  Arclielaus  must  hav« 
been  about  f;l, 800,000  in  gold. 


PUBLIC   AFFAIRS   DURING   THK   CHILDHOOD    OF   JESUS.  61 

and  examined.  The  result  was  that  Augustus  stripjied  him  of  his 
rule,  at  the  end  of  ten  years  after  his  api)oiutment,  took  away  his 
money,  and  banished  him  to  Yienne,  in  Gaul,  where  he  died,  the 
year  unknown. 

In  the  meantime  the  excited  state  of  the  public  mind  rendered 
it  possible  for  many  pretenders  and  impostors  to  palm  thcmselvea 
upon  the  people  and  add  to  tlie  general  troubles  and  perplexities. 
One  case  was  notable. 

There  was  in  the  city  of  Sidon  a  young  man,  by  birth  a  Jew, 
who  iiad  been  educated  by  a  Eoman  freedman.     His  resemblance 
to  Alexander,  one  of  the  sons  of  Herod  whom  he 
had  slain,  was  so  striking  that  many  were  ready       '^^  pseudo-Al- 
to  attest  that   he  was   Alexander.     Discovering 
this  he  turned  it  to  his  own  account,  and  united  witli  "an  ill  man  " 
wlio  had  great  cunning.     The  story  put  forth  was,  that  he  was  the 
real   Alexander,  brother  of  Aristobulus,  and   that  those  whom 
ITerod  sent  to  destroy  him  had  actually  saved  him  and  his  brother, 
slaying  other  men  in  their  stead.     In  Crete  and  in  Mclos  the 
Jews   believed   him   the   true   Alexander,  and  gave  him  nmch 
money.     He  had  the  audacity  to  go  to  Kome.     The  Jews  of  that 
city,  learning  that  he  was  coming,  went  out  to  meet  him,  brought 
him  in  a  royal  litter  through  the  streets,  and  adorned  him  with 
ornaments  at  their  o^vn  expense.     There  was  great  joy  at  what 
they  supposed  a  special  providence.     So  great  a  stir  did  this  make 
that   the   report   reached   Augustus,  wlio   sent   for   tliis    pseudo- 
Alexander  and  his  accomplice.     The  emperor  soon  detected  the 
imi)osture.     The  Prince  Alexander  had  lived  in  his  palace,  and 
Augustus  knew  his  physique.     This  man's  hands  and  body  had 
all  the  roughness  which  belongs  to  a  laboring  man,  while  Alex- 
ander's had  had  the  smoothness  of  those  who  are  reared  delicately 
in  kings'  palaces.     So  Augustus  took  the  young  man  aside  and 
told  him  of  the  discovery,  and  that  he  thought  the  plan  too  deep 
to  liave  been  concocted  by  one  so  young,  and  that  if  he  would 
reveal  his  accomplices  his  life  should  be  spared.     He  did.     He 
was  put  to  the  galleys  and  his   accomx)lice  was   put  to  death.* 
And  so,  again,  had  the  liopes  of  the  Jews  been  raised  and  dashed. 

Upon  the  banishment  of  Archelaus,  Jud^a,  including  Samaria, 
was  reduced  to  the  state  of  a  Roman  province  and  governed  by  a 


Josephus,  Ant.,  book  xvii.  ch.  13. 


62      '  THE   BIRTn   A'SD   CniLDHOOD    OF   JESCS. 

procurator,  who  was  tlic  subordinate  of  the  Prefect  of  Syria.  Tlie 
Komaii  dopeiideiK-ies  weie  of  two  classes, — those  wliich  were  'j;ov- 
ei-ned  solely  by  the  Emperor,  and  those  which  were  under  tlie 
direction  of  the  Senate.  The  foi-nior  Avere  the  imperial,  the  latter 
the  senatorian  provinces ;  the  former  Avere  jinder  the  immediate 
<::<  i\  cinmont  of  Legates,  the  latter  of  Proconsuls.  The  Legates  col- 
lected the  rc\  cnues  through  inrK-uyaU)]'9,,p?'oairafo)'cs  CcBsaris ;  the 
pntconsulri  through  quivstoi-s.     All  these  officers  were  men  of  rank. 

Publius  Sulpicius  Quirinus,  called  in  the  New  Testament 
Cyrenins,  had  been  consul  A.r.c.  742,  r..c.  12.  Ujion  the  banish- 
ment of  Archelaus  he  was  made  Prefect  of 
■  Syria  to  finish  the  enrobnent — the  beginning  of 
the  making  of  which  had  called  Joseph  and  Mary  to  Bethlehem — 
or  to  collect  the  tax  consequent  upon  such  enrolment.  The  pro- 
curator lujder  Quirinus  was  Coponins,  whose  residence  was  at 
Caisarca,  on  the  coast.-  Quirinus  himself  came  over  to  Judaea  to 
look  after  the  late  king's  treasui-es.  The  enforcement  of  the  tax 
caused  great  disturbance.  To  the  Jews  it  was  always  most  detesta- 
ble on  religious  grounds.  Jerusalem  Avas  kept  comparatively  quiet 
by  the  Avise  influence  of  Joazar,  Avho  AA'as  for  a  short  time  again 
high-priest.     The  rural  districts,  hoAA'ever,  Avere  full  of  turbulence. 

There  Avas  one  Judas  Avho  came  out  of  Galilee  and  headed  a 
revolt   "  in  the  days  of  the  taxing."  *     According  to  Joscphus 
{Ant.,  XA'iii.  1,  §  1)  he  Avas  a  Gaulom'te  of  the  city 
J  ,  ^°  ^     of  Gamala,  and  Avas  called  a  Galilean  probably 

because  his  revolt  first  broke  out  in  that  province. 
The  AvatcliAvord  of  his  party,  "  AV^e  ha\e  no  Lord  and  master  but 
God,"  is  a  key  to  the  character  of  this  uprising.  It  Avas  theo- 
cratic. God  Avas  king  ;  Ciesar  Avas  not.  To  give  tribute  to  Ca?sar 
Avas  treason  to  God.  Under  Ciod  Avas  freedom,  under  Caesar 
slavery.  lie  taught  all  the  scruiiulous  external  and  ceremom'al 
morality  of  the  Pharisees,  Avhilc  he  inspij-od  his  followers  Avith  an 
intense  love  of  freedom  and  a  fanatical  disregard  of  life,  so  that 
rather  than  call  any  man  "  master"  they  should  prefer  to  surren- 
der themselves  and  their  friends  to  the  death,  lie  Avas  a  man  of 
fiery  eloquence,  and  attracted  large  nuinbere  to  his  standard. 
They  became  laAvless,  and  committed  many  depredations  before 
the  Roman  power  suppressed  them. 

•  lie  ia  referred  to  by  Gamaliel  in  his  speech  before  the  Sanhedrim,  Acts  t.  37. 


rUBLIC   AFFAIRS   DURING    THE   CHILDHOOD    OF   JESUS.  63 

Judas  was  killed,  and  his  immediate  followers,  who  were  called 
(jauloiiites,  were  dispersed.  But  the  spirit  of  this  insurrection 
survived  many  years,  and  animated  the  Zealots  and 
en  em.  gjearii  of  later  days,  to  whose  obstinate  fanaticism 
Josephus  attributes  the  subsequent  troubles  of  his  country  and 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  as  in  a.d.  47  two  sons  of  Judas 
renewed  the  revolt,  and  for  twenty  years  their  younger  brother, 
Menahem,  took  the  lead  of  a  band  of  desperadoes,  laid  siege  to 
Jerusalem,  captured  the  city,  assumed  the  name  and  state  of  king, 
and  committed  many  outrages,  when  he  was  slain  by  the  partisans 
of  Eleazar  the  high-priest,  a.d,  GQ."^ 

It  was  in  the  procuratorship  of  Coponius  that  Jesus  was  in  the 
Temple,  about  a  year  after  Annas  had  been  made        ^ 
high-priest. 

Under  his  government  it  was  that  the  Samaritans  polluted  the 
Temple,  after  the  manner  adopted  by  J(;siah  toward  the  idolatrous 
shrines,  by  secretly  bringing  dead  men's  bones  and  strewing  them 
in  the  cloisters  during  the  night  of  the  Passover,  when  the  priests 
had  opened  the  temple  gates,  as  their  wont  was,  immediately 
after  midnight.  Thenceforward  the  Samaritans  were  excluded 
from  the  Temple.  It  was  another  matter  of  distress  and  public 
perplexity  and  increase  of  hate  between  Jews  and  Samaritans. 

About  a.d.  10,  Coponius  was  succeeded  in  the  procuratorship 
by  M.  Ambivius,  and  he  was  sucseeded  by  Annius  Eufcjs.  Upon 
the  death  of  Augustus  (a.d.  14),  his  successor,  Tiberius,  ap- 
pointed a  new  procurator,  Valerius  Gratus,  who  held  office  till 
he  was  succeeded  by  Pontius  Pilatus.  There 
had  been  a  succession  of  high-priests,  whose  his- 
tory is  not  now  important.  Pilatus,  or  Pilate,  as  we  know  him, 
found  Joseph  Caiaphas  in  the  high-priest's  office. 

The  pr(eno772e}i  of  Pilate  is  lost.  Of  his  early  history  we  have 
no  authentic  information.  There  is  a  German  legend  Avhich  rep- 
resents him  as  the  bastard  son  of  Tyrus,  king  of  Mayence.  The 
story  furtlicr  goes  that  having  been  guilty  of  a  murder  in  Pome, 
whither  his  father  had  sent  him  as  a  hostage,  he  was  sent  into 
Pontus,  where,  having  subdued  certain  barbarous  tribes,  he  rose 
to  honor,  received  the  name  of  Pontius,  and  was  sent  as  procura- 
tor to  Judaja.     Put  his  name  may  indicate  that  he  was  of  the  gena 

*  Milman's  Hist.  Jews,  ii.  152,  231. 


04  THE   BIRTU    A^'D   CHILDHOOD   OF   JESUS. 

of  tlie  Pontii,  whose  first  distinguished  member  was  the  famoas 
Samnite  geiiei-al  C.  Pontius  Telesinies. 

Pilate  was  the  sixth  Roman  procurator  of  Judiea.  The  usual 
oflicial  residence  was  at  Caisarca;  hut  during  the  festivals  it  was 
the  custom  of  the  procurator  to  be  present  in  Jerusalem,  for  the 
better  ovei-sight  of  the  turbulent  population  who  ordinarily  then 
assembled,  and  were  on  such  occasions  most  easily  excited  to  vio- 
lence. Shortly  after  his  appointment,  Pilate  removed  the  army 
to  Jerusalem  for  winter-quarters,  "  in  order,"  says  Josephus,  "  to 

abolish    the  Jewish  laws."     In    the  night-time, 
Pilate  outrages    ^^.n]^^^^,^  tj^^  knowledge  of  the  people,  the  Pton.an 
the  Jews.  ,      ,  ,         ^^      ,  ,        ^     '  .       ,        . 

standards  wei-e  brought  m  and  set  up  in  the  city. 

These  standards  bore  the  image  of  Caisar;  and  because  the  re- 
ligious regulations  of  the  Jews  were  so  stringent  against  images, 
former  procurators  had  respected  religious  scruples,  which  Pilate 
disregarded  and  delicd.  The  infuriated  people  rushed  to  Caesarea 
in  multitudes  and  interceded  with  Pilate  to  remove  the  offence. 
This  was  continued  for  five  days  with  increasing  vehemence. 
Pilate  refused,  on  the  ground  that  the  removal  would  be  an  af- 
front to  Cajsar. 

The  people  still  pei-severed  in  their  pleadings.  On  the  sixth 
day  they  renewed  their  obtestations  before  Pilate,  who  was  seated 
on  a  throne  in  an  open  space,  and  had  troops  so  arranged  that  at 
a  given  signal  they  surrounded  tlie  suppliants.  Pilate;  then  threat- 
ened them  with  immediate  death  unless  they  ceased  disturbing 
him  and  went  to  their  homes.  Upon  this  they  threw  themselves 
upon  the  ground,  made  bare  their  necks,  and  declared  that  they 
would  sooner  die  than  see  their  laws  so  violated.  Their  numbers 
and  the  firmness  of  their  resolution  })revailed.  Pilate  ordered 
the  standards  to  be  brought  back  from  Jerusalem  to  C'lusarea. 

Not  warned  by  this,  Pilate  attempted  another  outrage  on  the 
feelings  of  tlie  Jews.  In  his  ]>alace  at  Jerusalem  he  hung  U]) 
certain  gilt  shields  without  images,  but  bearing  the  names  of 
heathen  deities.*  The  people  had  not  forgotten  the  clandestine 
inti'oduction  of  the  standai-ds,  and  this  new  act  greatly  inilamed 
them.  They  appealed  to  the  lOmperor  Tiberius,  who  ordered  their 
removal.     This  must  have  weakened  Pilate's  influence  at  Pome. 

The  Co?'lafi\  among  the  Jews  was  any  oblation,  but  especially 

•  Philo,  Ad  Caiuin,  §  38,  iL  580.  |      f  ^''^^  -OiJ.  Arch.,  v.  §§  302  3'JL 


PUBLIC    AFFAIKS   DUKING    THE   CIIILDIIOUD    OF   JESUS.  G5 

in  the  f  ulfilineiit  of  a  tow,  which  w.as  dedicated  to  the  Temple, 
It  might  be  money,  cattle,  lands  and  houses,  and 
it  became  the  property  of  the  Temple,  only  that 
the  land  might  be  redeemed  in  the  year  of  Jubilee.  (Lev.  xxvii. 
1-24.)  It  was,  of  course,  held  as  very  sacred.  But  this  treasure 
was  diverted  by  Pilate  to  the  building  of  an  aqueduct  to  bring 
water  into  Jerusalem.  This  so  incensed  the  Jews  that,  in  the 
language  of  Josephus,  "many  ten  thousands  of  the  people  got 
together  and  made  a  clamor  against  him.  Pilate  dressed  a  num- 
ber  of  his  soldiers  like  the  Jews,  and  had  daggers  concealed  on 
their  persons.  AVhen  the  Jews  would  not  forbear,  he  gave  the 
Boldiers  the  signal  agreed  on  beforehand,  and  they  fell  upon  the 
unarmed  and  surprised  populace,  striking  the  innocent  as  well  as 
the  guilty,  so  that  many  were  slain  and  others  wounded."  * 

This  was  the  kind  of  man  uiider  whose  procuratorship  Jesus 
spent  his  whole  public  life  and  exercised  his  public  ministiy, 
under  whom  he  suffered  and  died,  as  the  Evangelists  and  other 
historians  relate. 

Tacitus  says:  "Christus,  Tiberio  Imperate,  per  procuratorura 
Pontium  Pilatum  supplicio  adfectus  erat."t 

The  following  is  the  only  mention  of  Jesus  which  occurs  in  the 
writings  of  Josephus :  ^ 

"  Now  there  was  about  tliis  time  Jesus,  a  wise  man,  if  it  be  lawful  to  call 
him  a  man,  for  he  was  a  doer  of  wonderful  works,  a  teacher  of  such  men  as 
receive  the  truth  witli  pleasure.  lie  drew  over  to  him  both  many  of  the  Jews 
and  many  of  the  Gentiles.  He  was  (the)  Christ.  And  when  Pilate,  at  tlie 
suggestion  of  the  principal  men  amongst  us,  had  condemned  him  to  the  cross, 
those  that  loved  him  at  the  fii-st  did  not  forsake  him,  for  he  appeared  to  them 
alive  again  the  third  day,  as  tlie  divine  prophets  had  foretold  these  and  ten 
thousand  other  wonderful  things  concei-ning  him.  And  the  tribe  of  Chris- 
tians, so  named  from  liim,  are  not  extinct  at  this  day." 

GALILEE. 

We  turn  now  from  Juda3a  to  Galilee.    By  the  first  will  of  Herod, 
Antipas  was  to  be  his  successor;  but  a  change  of  the  will  gave 
precedence  to  Archclaus :  and  Augustus  Ca3sar 
confirmed  IIerod  Antipas  as  Tetrarch  of  Galilee,        ^^'^^'^  Antipaa, 
according  to  the  altered  will  of  his  father;  and    trarch"^" 
hence  he  is  mentioned  by  Matthew  and  Luke  as 

*  Josephus,  Ant,  book  xviii.  ch.  iii     I    J  Josephus,  Ant.,  bookxviii.  ch.  iiL  §3. 
f  Ann.  XV.  44.  ' 

5 


66  THE    niKTIl    AND    CIIILDIIOCD    01    JESUS. 

IIekod  the  TKTiiAucit.  The  name  of  "kiiii:;,"  given  liini  by  Mark, 
(vi.  14)  must  be  regarded  as  a  title  of  courtesy.  His  fii-st  wife 
was  the  daughter  of  Ai-etas,  king  of  Arabia  Petrjea.  "Wliile  liv- 
ing with  her  he  fell  in  love  with  iTei-odias,  the  daughter  of  Aris- 
tobulus,  mIio  was  his  own  half-brother.  She  was  then  the  wife 
of  Ilerod  Philip  I.  (another  half-brother  of  Ilerod  Antipas),  and 
by  him  had  had  one  daughter,  Salome.  He  was  living  in  retire- 
ment in  Rome,  llerodias  disliked  this  obscurity  and  forsook  him 
and  accepted  the  offer  of  Ilerod  Antipas  to  live  with  him.  This 
outraged  Aretas,  the  father  of  his  first  wife,  whom  he  had  divorced 
to  please  llerodias.  Aretas  made  war  upon  him  and  destroyed  his 
army,  and  was  restrained  only  by  a  movement  of  the  Emperor 
Tiberius,  who  ordered  Vitellius  to  march  against  Aretas,  which 
command  failed  of  fulfilment  because  of  the  death  of  Tiberius. 
But  the  Jews  regarded  this  disaster  to  Ilerod  Antipas  as  the  ven- 
geance of  heaven  for  the  murder  of  John  the  13aj)tist,  who  had 
rebuked  Ilerod  Anti}>as  and  llerodias  for  the  sinful  lives  they 
were  leading. 

This  Ilerod  had  qnarrelled  with  Pilate  the  procurator  in  Juda?a, 
it  is  supposed  because  of  those  "  Galileans  whose  blood  Pilate  had 

mingled    with    their  sacrifices,"    a   circumstance 

Quarrels     with  ..  ,.       j,  ,    ...      ^  ...  ,        ,,,, 

„.,  ^  mentioned   ni    Luke  (xiii.    1,    xxiii.    I'J).      i  liere 

Pilate.  ' 

seems  t(j  be  no  mention  made  elsewhere  of  this; 
but  the  Galileans  were  foremost  in  the  frays  which  occurred  at 
the  festivals,  and  these  difUculties  were  so  frequent  that  it  is  not 
to  be  wondered  that  one  of  them  escaped  the  notice  of  Josephus. 
Ilerod  would  natui-ally  resent  ]*ilatc's  ])unishing  his  subjects, 
whatever  might  liave  been  their  guilt;  not  to  mention  the  fact 
that  he  assumed  the  role  of  pati-on  of  the  Jews.  The  court  he 
paid  the  Jews  is  shown  by  his  attendance  upon  the  Passover  in 
Jeru.salem.  That  visit  gave  Pilate  an  oj^portunity  to  pr()])itiate 
him  by  acknowledging  his  jurisdiction  over  Galileans;  so  that 
when  he  learned  that  Jesus  was  a  Galilean  he  sent  him  to 
Ilerod  Antipas, 

liy  llerodias  he  was  instigated  to  a  movement  which  ended  in 
his  luin.     His  nei)hew,  Ileiod   Agrippa  I.   (under  whom,  yeara 

alter,   came  all    the   territory   which    had   been 

crcKiaB.        ruled  over  by  his  grandfather,  Ilerod  the  Great), 

«ras  a  favorite  with  Caligula, having  been  imprisoned  for  cxj)ressing 

a  wish  for  Caligula's   early  succession   to   the   imperial  throne. 


PUBLIC    AFFAIES   DUKmG    THE   CIIILDUOOD   OF   JESUS.  67 

Upon  him  Caligula  showered  favors.  "What  specially  moved 
Ilerod  Antipas  and  Ilerodias  was  that  Ilerod  Agrippa  had  at- 
tained to  a  royal  estate.  So  they  determined  to  go  to  jRome,  osten- 
sibly to  petition  for  the  royal  title,  but  really  to  intrigue  against 
Agrippa,  who,  on  his  side,  brought  accusation  against  his  uncle 
Antipas,  whom  the  Emperor  Caligula  banished  to  Gaul,  where  he 
died.  Ilerodias  showed  at  least  this  good  trait,  that  she  shared 
his  exile.  Josephus  puts  a  very  pretty  speech  into  her  mouth, 
making  her  say  to  Caius : 

"Thou  indeed,  O  Emperor!  actest  after  a  magnificent  manner,  and  as 
becomes  tliyself  in  what  thou  offerest  me;  but  the  kindness  which  I  have  for 
my  husband  hinders  me  from  partaking  of  the  favor  of  thy  gift;  for  it  is 
not  just  that  I,  who  liave  been  made  a  partner  in  his  prosperity,  sliould  for- 
sake him  in  his  misfortunes."     (Josephus,  Ant,  book  xviii.  chap,  viii.) 

The  character  of  this  prince  can  be  easily  gathered  from  the 
record.     He  was  not  so  great  a  t}Tant  as  his  father  Herod.     But 
he  was  unscrupulous.     He  shut  up  John  in  prison 
for   no  crime   nor  violation  of   the   peace,   but    ^^^^^<=*«/^     o^ 
because  that  faithful  teacher  reproved  him  for  ^^^^' 

his  adultery  with  Ilerodias,  and  for  his  general  wickedness  of 
life.  He  was  cunning.  Jesus,  generally  so  mild  and  careful  in 
his  speech,  calls  him  a  "  fox."  (Luke  xiii.  32.)  He  was  weak 
and  superstitious.  For  a  time  he  heard  John  gladly  (Mark  vi. 
20),  and  wished  to  see  Jesus,  that  he  might  witness  some  miracle. 
(Luke  xxiii.  8.)  Because  of  a  foolish  oath,  uttered  in  wine,  ho 
slew  John,  and  was  afterward  filled  with  remorse ;  and  although 
a  Sadducee,  not  believing  in  spirits  and  the  resurrection,  he  was 
frightened  when  he  heard  of  Jesus,  fearing  it  might  be  John  come 
back  from  the  dead.  (Mark  vi.  14.)  He  was  Avilling  to  have 
Jesus  destroyed,  but  contrived  to  roll  the  responsibility  upon  Pilate. 
He  was  unscrupulous,  capricious,  sensual,  superstitious,  and  weak. 

THE    CHURCH. 

The  office  of  the  High-Priest,  had  felt  the  general  unsettling 

effect  of  these  turbulent  times,  so  that  there  seems 

to  be  some  confusion  at  the  date  of  the  openiuir    J^^  High-Pnest- 
„  .    .  r  o     hood.       Caiaphas 

ot    the  pubhc  mmistry   of  Jesus.      Luke    say^    and  Annas, 
(iii.  2)  that  Annas  and  Caiaphas  were  high-priests. 
An  investigation   of   all  available  records  gives  us  the  follow- 
ing   result:     The   real    and    acting    High-Priest   was    Josepli, 


68  THE    RTKTII    AXT)    CHILDriOOD   OF   JESUS. 

Bunifimed  Cuiaplias  ;  and  liis  Vicar,  or  Deputy,  was  his  father-in 
law,  called  Annas  by  Luke,  Ananus  by  Josephus,  but  probably 
called  in  liis  own  time  and  place  Ilananiali.  Caiaphas  was  ai> 
pointed  to  the  oilice  by  the  jirocnrator,  Valerius  Grains,  abont 
A.D.  25,  and  held  it  throni:;!!  all  the  procnratoi-ship  of  Puntius  Pi- 
late, and  was  conseqnently  Iligh-Priest  throngh  the  whole  ])iiblic 
ministry  of  John  and  of  Jesns.  lie  married  the  daughter  of  a 
former  Iligh-Priest,  Annas,  who  still  possessed  great  inlinence, 
several  of  his  family  having  held  the  highest  sacerdotal  position. 

The  mention  of  these  two  jointly  by  Luke  has  made  some  per- 
plexity, which  has  given  rise  to  various  explanations,  of  which  it 
is  necessary  to  state  only  that  which  seems  satisfactory,  namely, 
that  of  Wieseler,  who,  in  his  Chronology^  and  more  recently  in 
an  article  in  Ilerzog's  Jieal-q/dopddie,  maintains  that  the  two, 
Annas  and  Caiai)has,  were  jointly  at  the  head  of  the  Jewish 
people,  the  latter  being  the  actual  Iligh-Priest,  and  Annas  being 
president  of  the  Sanhedrim.  In  this  latter  position  he  might  have 
acted  as  vicar  to  his  son-in-law,  in  an  oflice  called  in  the  Hebrew 
130,  Sagan,  and  mentioned  by  the  Talmudists.  This  is  the 
opinion  of  Kninr)!.  It  is  suggested  that  such  position  would  not 
be  unworthy  of  one  who  had  held  the  ofiice  of  Iligh-Priest,  since 
the  dignity  of  the  Sagaii  was  very  gi-eat.  Lightfoot  shows,  for  in- 
stance, that  he  might  on  urgent  occasions  enter  the  Holiest  of  Holies. 
{Ilor.  Ifch.  Luc.^  iii.  2.)  It  is  not  strange  that  having  been  actually 
a  High-Priest,  and  being  now  president  of  the  Sanhedrim,  ho 
should  still  be  called  by  the  name  of  the  lofty  oflice  he  had  filled. 

"We  shall  meet  Caiaphas  as  the  history  shall  progress.  It  may 
merely  be  mentioned  here  that  he  was  a  Sadducee,  and  used  his 
influence  o])prcssively,  the  Sudducees  usually  being  more  intolerant 
than  the  Pharisees:  and  frequently  it  has  been  remarked  that  no 
people  are  more  illiberal  than  those  who  {^^\\\\jpar exceUence^^xQ' 
name  of  Liberals,  and  that  no  sectaries  have  been  more  intoler- 
ant tha)j  those  who  have  had  no  creed. 

The  M'ord  SAxiiEnnrM — or  more  accurately  Sanhedrin,  coming 

from  the  Greek  awt^tov^  no  Hebrew  ctvmol(\gy 
The  Sanhedrim.      i       •        i  r         i-r      -i.      j     •         ^      *i      t: 

liavmg  been  found  \ox  it — designates  thebupremo 

Council   of   the    Jewish   jieople    as    it  existed   in   the   times  of 

Jesus  and  long  before.      In  the  Talmud  it  is  called  "  The   Great 

SanhetJrhn  f  in  the  ^lishna,  "  The  Houae  of  Judgment.'''' 

The  ^Mishna  traces  the  origiii  of  this  assembly  to  the  times  of 


PUBLIC   AFFAIRS   DUKINQ   TUE   CULLDHOOD   OF   JESUS. 


GO 


Moses,  who  was  directed  (Num.  xi.  IG,  17)  to  associate  with  him 
seventy  elders  in  the  government.     But  Vorstius 
{De  Si/iihedrlis,  §  25-40)  seems  to  show  that  the  *'"^* 

identity  of  this  Comicil  of  Moses  and  the  Sanhedrim  of  later  days 
was  a  mere  conjecture  of  the  rahhins,  as  we  find  no  trace  of  the 
continuance  of  the  Council  of  Moses  in  Deut.  xvii.  8, 10,  wheie 
it  surely  would  have  been  mentioned  if  then  existing,  nor  in  the 
age  of  Joshua  and  the  judges,  nor  in  the  times  of  the  kings ;  so 
that  that  council  seems  to  have  been  temporary.  The  Greek 
etymology  of  the  word  points  to  a  time  subsequent  to  Alexan- 
der's supremacy  in  JudiBa.*  It  has  been  conjectured  that  the 
yiuovoia  liSv  '/oidai'ow  of  2  Macc.  i.  10;  iv.  44;  xi.  27,  designates  the 
Sanhedrim.  If  so,  it  is  the  earliest  historical  trace  of  the  institu- 
tion. Many  learned  men  agree  in  believing  that  it  arose  after  the 
return  of  the  Jews  from  Babylon,  and  in  the  time  of  the  Seleu- 
cidae  or  of  the  Ilasmonean  princes.  The  fact  stated  by  Jose- 
phus,t  that  Herod,  when  procurator  of  Galilee,  e.g.  47,  was  called 
before  the  Sanhedrim  on  the  charge  that  he  had  usurped  the  func- 
tions of  that  body  in  putting  men  to  d(3ath,  shows  how  great  its 
power  was  at  that  day,  and  the  probability  that  it  was  notthen  of 
recent  origin. 

For  the   constitution  of  the  Sanhedrim  we  ai-e  compelled  to 
rely  upon  the  im;idontal  notices  in  the  New  Tcritament,  namely, 

Matt.  XX vi.  57,  5!)  ;  Mark  xv.  1 ;  Luke  xxii.  GO  ;   , 

„,_!    A    i.  01        T^  .1  •,  1     ,  ,  Its  constitution. 

and  Acts  v.  21.     1  rom  these  it  probably  appears 

that  the  body  consisted  of  the  Iligh-rriests  (and  those  who  had 

been    nigh-Priests)    and  'u^/mosU^  chief-priests,    that  is  to  say, 

the  heads  of  the  twenty -four  classes  into  which  the  priests  were 

divided;    7rofff.?tT«(;o(,  elders,   men  of    age   and  experience;    and 

yQcijifirtiHc^  scribes,  men  learned  in  the  law. 

The  number  was  probably  eeventy-one.  There  was  nearly  perfect 

uuaniuiity  of  o\m\\on  among  the  Jews,  and  that  was  expressed  in 

the  Mishna,  which  says  {Sanedr.  i.  61)  that  there  were  seventv- 

oue  judges.     Tlie  reason  assigned  for  this  number  is  not  sound, 

namely,  that  in  Num.  xi.  6,  Moses  is  required  to 

gather  seventy   elders,  who  with  himself  would        ^^  "^®' 

make  seventy-one,  as  we  have  shown  it  probable  that  no  connec- 


*  Livy  expressly  states  (xiv.  32)  : 
"  Prouunciatum  quod  at  statum  Mace- 
doniaa  pertinebat  senatores,  quos  syne- 


droa  vocant,  legendos  esse,  quorum  oon* 
silio  respublica  administraretur. " 
t^««.,xiv.  9,  §4. 


70  THE   BIETH    AJTD    CHILDHOOD    OF   JESUS. 

tion  existed  between  the  Council  of  Moses  and  the  Sanhedrim 
Our  reception  of  this  number  is  to  be  based  upon  the  tradition 
of  the  Jews,  which  has  its  probability  increased  by  the  su*;- 
gostion  that  the  modern  Council  would,  as  far  as  possible,  have 
I)cen  formed  upon  the  model  of  that  of  Moses. 

The  Presid-ent  was  styled  "  Nasi,"  and  was  chosen  on  account 
of  his  eminent  worth  and  wisdom,  and  was  supposed  to  occupy 

Ita  President  the  place  of  Moscs.  Sometimes  the  Iligh-Priest 
liad  this  honor.  At  the  condemnation  of  Jesus 
the  Iligh-Pricst  was  presiding,  as  we  leani  from  Matt.  xxvi.  62. 
The  Vice-President  was  called  "  Ab-Beth-Din,"  and  sat  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  President.  The  Babylonian  Geraara  states  that 
there  were  two  scribes,  one  to  record  the  votes  of  acquittal  and 
one  those  of  condemnation.  The  lictors,  or  attendants  of  the 
Sanhedrim,  are  called  vnr^Qiiat^  in  Matt.  xxvi.  58,  and  in  Mark  xiv. 
54.  While  in  session  the  Sanhedrim  sat  in  form  of  a  semicircle 
in  the  front  of  tlie  President. 

The  j)lace  of  the  meeting  of  the  Sanhedrim,  it  is  suj^posed,  was 

in  a  building  near  the  Temple ;  but  that  it  might  be  assembled 

elsewhere  we  learn   from  ]\Iatt.    xxvi,  3.  when 

meetmjr  ^^  seems  to  have  met  in  the  residence   of    the 

Iligh-Pricst. 

The  Jurisdiction  of  this  body  M'as  mainly  over  questions  of 

religion,  as  the  trial  of  a  tribe  for  idolatrv,  the  trial   of  false 

-^   .    ...  ^.        i)roi)het5,  and  of    the   Ilijrh-Pricst,*    and    other 
Ita  jurisdiction.     ^    ,  .    '^  ' 

pricsts.f   Jesus  was  arraigned  as  a  false  prophet,:}; 

and  Peter,  John,  Stephen,  and  Paul,  as  teachers  of  pestilential 
erroi-s.  Its  jurisdiction  seems  to  have  extended  beyond  Palestine. 
The  power  of  cajiital  punishment  was  taken  from  this  body  forty 
years  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. §  It  was  for  this  rea- 
son the  Jews  answered  Pilate :  "  It  'S  not  lawful  for  us  to  put  any 
man  to  death."  (John  xix.  31.)  The  Sanhedrim  arrested,  tried, 
convicted,  and  then  handed  the  condemned  over  to  the  secular 
[X)wer,  represented  by  the  Roman  procurator.  There  a])i>oai-s  an 
exception  (in  Acts  vii.  56,  etc.)  in  the  case  of  Stei)hcn :  but  that 
was    "  a    tumultuous    proceeding   or    an   illegal   assumj)tion   of 


*  Mishna,  SanJiedr.  L  §  That  is,  according  to   the  Jerusa 

f  Midil'dhy  V.  Jem  Qcmara,  quoted  by  Scldcn,    book 

X  John  li.  47.  ii.,  chap.  5,  11. 


PUBLIO   AFFAIKS    DURING   THE   CHILDHOOD   OF   JKSUS.  71 

power,"  as  the  execution  of  James  in  tlie  absence  of  tlic  procura- 
tor is  declared  by  Josephus*  to  have  been. 

The  religious  sects  of  the  day  were  tlie  Pliarisecs,  the  Sadducces, 
and  the  Essenes.  We  shall  soon  see  tliat  tlie  ministry  of  Jesus 
was  antagonistic  to  all  these,  and  in  studying  tliat  antagonism  we 
shall  more  clearly  understand  the  distinctive  tenets  and  tempers 
of  these  several  religionists.  It  is  sufficient  in  this  place  to  ren- 
der a  mere  synopsis. 

The  Pharisees  (se])aratists,  as  their  name  implies)  were  the  Puri- 
tans of  the  time,  claiming  superior  sanctity.  Tliey  taught  that 
tradition  was  as  binding  as  the  written  law ;  that  p,  . 
God  must  have  communicated  much  religious 
truth  to  Moses  orally,  as  the  people  generally  held,  and  had  from 
time  immemorial  held,  certain  doctrines  to  be  as  well  settled  as 
the  law,  althougli  they  are  not  mentioned  in  the  Pentateuch,  of 
which  prayer  and  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  are  notable  in- 
stances, and  that  this  oral  law  ^yas  as  binding  as  the  written  law. 
The  classical  passage  in  theMishnaf  on  this  subject  is  the  follow- 
ing: "Moses  received  the  (oral)  law  from  Sinai,  and  delivered 
it  to  Joshua,  and  Joshua  to  the  elders,  and  the  elders  to  the  pro- 
phets, and  the  prophets  to  the  men  of  the  Great  Synagogue." 
They  held  themselves  to  be  in  the  succession  and  to  have  the  right 
to  interjDret  and  apply  the  law.  They  had  become  the  most  ex- 
treme ritualists.  They  were  formalists.  They  had  smothered 
spiritual  religion  to  death  under  ceremonials.  They  laid  on  the 
conscience  "  burdens  too  heavy  for  men  to  bear." 

The  Saddacees  were  a  sect  owing  their  existence  to  a  reaction 

against  Pharisaic  teaching.   The  Sadducecs  held  that  the  oral  law 

was  not  at  all  bindinf;:;,  that  nothins:  was  bindino:       „  1 1 

°'  o  c>        Saclducees. 

except  the  written  law.  To  them  it  was  a  logical 
consequence  to  deny  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punislnneuts. 
As  in  the  written  law,  in  all  the  pleadings  of  the  great  lawgiver 
for  good  living,  and  in  all  his  threatenings  against  evil-doing, 
Moses  had  never  called  to  his  aid  the  consolation  of  the  doctrine 
of  future  rewards  nor  the  terror  of  future  punishments,  it  seemed 
to  them  inconceivable  that  he  should  have  believed  in  any  such 
doctrine.  They  proceeded  to  deny  the  immortality  of  tlie  sonl, 
and  then  the  existence  of  the  soul  itself.  They  believed  in 
neither  angel  nor  spirit. 

*  Antiq. ,  xx.  9,  §  1.  |      f  Quoted  in  Smith's  Dictionary. 


72  TIIK    BIUTIl    AXD    CHILDHOOD    OF    JESL'S. 

The  Essenes  represented  rather  a  tendency  than  a  sect     But 
they  grew  into  a  coiumunity.      They  separated  themselves  from 

_  the  distraction  of  business.     Thev  were  Pliarisees 

£6sene&  T  i         i     i  i 

in  doctrine,  in  general  terms;  but  they  held  to- 
wards tlie  Pharisees  very  much  the  relation  which  the  Pharisees 
maintained  toward  the  mass  of  the  common  people.  They  were 
the  Quakei-s  of  the  day  of  Jesus.  They  opposed  wai  and  slavery 
and  commerce.  They  were  monks,  ascetics,  mystics.  They  ex- 
erted little  influence  on  Christianity,  and  Jesus  made  no  special 
allusion  to  them.  His  life  and  doctrine  did  not  accord  with  their 
views  and  practices. 

The  Ilerodians  were  a  politico-religions  sect  or  party.  Herod 
the  Great  was  of  foreign  descent,  but  was  a  Jew  in  his  religious 
professions.  There  were  many  Jews  who  saw  no 
ero  lana  ^^^^  ^^  sustain  the  national  independence,  in  face 
of  the  Ronnm  power,  except  in  the  continuance  of  the  reign  of 
Herod  ;  and,  as  they  believed  that  the  preservation  of  their  nation- 
ality was  necessary  to  the  glory  of  their  destiny,  they  would  sup- 
port Herod,  in  whom  they  saw  a  protection  against  direct  heathen 
rule.  Othei-s  were  quite  willing  to  have  a  compromise  between 
the  old  Hebrew  faith  and  the  culture  of  the  Pagans,  such  as 
Herod  seemed  to  bo  making.  The  political  wing  of  the  Ilero- 
dians would  side  with  the  I'harisees,  and  the  religious  wing  with 
the  Sadducees.  But  the  Ilerodians  seem  never  to  have  attempted 
to  harmonize  the  doctrines  of  the  two  sects.  It  is,  perhaps,  more 
nearly  proper  to  call  tlie  Ilerodians  a  coalition  than  a  party  or  a 
sect. 


PART  11. 

INTEODUCTION  OF  JESUS  TO  HIS  PUBLIC 
MINISTEY. 

FEOM  A.D.  26  TO  A.D.  27— ABOUT  ONE  YEAH. 


CHAPTER    1. 

John's  rREAcirmo  and  ministky. 

John,  called  "  the  Baptist,"  performed  a  ministry  in  Judaea 
which  certainly  opened  the  way  for  the  public  work  of  Jesus, 
and  hence  he  is  spoken  of  as  the  Harbinger. 

Of  the  wonderful  circumstances  attendinir  the    .     ,.  ,    .".'. 

^  L  ;  Luke  ui. 

birth  of  this  vei-y  extraordinary  man  we  have 
already  spoken.  In  his  case,  as  in  that  of  his  cousin  Jesus,  a 
BJleuce  covers  the  years  of  his  youth.  Ilis  marvelh)us  birth,  and 
the  manner  in  which  he  obtained  his  name,  must  have  had  a  great 
effect  upon  the  character  of  the  child,  making  his  ver}'  boyhood 
and  youth  sacred  and  solenm.  lie  grew  up  in  the  study  of  the 
law,  grieved  at  the  spiritual  deadness  of  his  times,  and  the  hard 
conventionalities  wlii(;li  had  enervated  the  heart  of  the  nation. 
Upon  his  spirit  must  have  fallen,  also,  the  influence  of  the  gen- 
eral expectation  of  a  Mighty  One,  a  Messiah,  a  Deliverer.  His 
nation  had 'pondered  the  strange  intimations  of  the  prophets,  and 
the  uprising  of  Elijah  in  tlieir  midst  would  not  have  been  to 
them  a  surprising  event. 

If   Moses  be  excepted,  there  was  no   figure  among   all   the 
mighty  men  of  tlieir  earlier  history  who  filled  so  large  space  in 
the  Hebrew  mind,  and  filled  it  so  solemnly,  as 
Elijah.     To  their  imagination  he  was  colossal.    To 
the  modern  mind  he  is  "  the  grandest  and  most  romantic  charac- 


74  IKTKODUCTION   OF   JESUS   TO    HIS   rUTJLIC    MINISTRY. 

ter  that  Israel  ever  produced."  *  Ilis  history  fascinates  us.  "  Hie 
rare,  sudden,  and  brief  appearances, — his  undaunted  courage  and 
fiery  zeal, — the  brilliancy  of  his  ti-iumphs, — the  pathos  of  his  des- 
ixjiidency, — and  the  glory  of  his  de})arture, — threw  such  a  halo  of 
brightness  around  him  as  is  equalled  by  none  of  his  compeei-s  in 
the  sacred  story."  f  He  has  been  well  called  ^^ Prodi fjiosus  Thes-- 
lites''''  X — the  j)rodigious  Tishbite.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  very 
last  sentence  wiiieh  fell  from  the  lips  of  Prophecy,  before  they 
were  sealed  into  silence,  contained  the  prediction  of  the  reap- 
pearance of  Elijah  (Malachi  iv.  5,  G) ;  and  whenever  any  man 
of  extraordinary  power  appeared,  it  seemed  to  the  Jews,  in  their 
political  troubles  and  degradation,  that  Elijah  had  come. 

Such  was  their  expectation  when  this  holy  Xazarite,  John,  fol- 
lowing the  example  of  many  good  men  who  were  discom^aged  by 
the  degeneracy  of  the  times,  retired  to  the  desert 

John's      conse-  -i  iaiti  i  ^  •         iCi 

re<;ion  bevond  tlie  Jordan  and  gave  himselr  to 
cration.  °  '        .      ,  ,.       . 

the    self-discipline    of    meditation   and    prayer. 

After  years  of  stern  ti-aining  the  hour  of  his  manifestation  came, 

and  he  broke  upon  the  world  with  i)reaching  that  roused  the  nation. 

His  appearance  was  not  comely.  -  His  physique  had  none  of  tho 

plumpness,  his  complexion  none  of  the  richness,  which  comes 

from  generous  diet.    His  food  was  locusts  §  and  wild  honey.    His 

dress  was  removed  as  far  as  possible  from  the  elegance  of  fashion 

and  the  pomp  of  office ;  it  was  a  vestment  of  camel's  hair,  j  bound 

about  his  waist  by  a  leathern  girdle.     His  address  was  blunt  and 

brusque.     He  held  no  office  and  had  no  official  sanction.     Ho 

was  not  a  priest,  nor  a  rabbi.     As  De  Pressense  well  says :  "  It 

was  not  priests  or  doctoi-s  that  were  wanting;  the  very  spirit  of 


•  Stanley,  S.  and  P.,  328. 

f  Smith's  Diet.,  Art.  Elijah. 

X  Acta  Sanctor. 

%  The  axptty  permitted  to  be  eaten 
fLevit  xi.  22),  was  used  as  food  by  the 
lower  orders  in  Judoea,  and  mentioned 


Bajitista  jirobat."  Shaw  found  locusta 
eaten  by  the  floors  in  liarbary.  ( Travels, 
p.  1G4.)  See  1  Sam.  xiv.  25.  Here  again 
there  is  no  need  to  suppose  anything 
else  meant  but  honey  made  by  wild  bees. 
I  The  garment   of  camel's  hair  was 


by  Strabo  and  Pliny  as  eaten  by  the  not  the  camel's  skin  with  the  hair  on, 
Ethiopians,  and  by  many  other  authors  i  which  would  be  too  heavy  to  wear,  but 
OS  articles  of  food.  Jerome,  adv.  Jo-  i  raiment  woven  of  earners  hair,  such  as 
vinian,  2,  C,  says:  "  Apud  Orientales  ct  Josephus  speaks  of  (B.  J.  i.  24,  3). 
Libya)  populos  quia  per  dcsertam  et «  From  Zcch.  xiii.  4,  it  seems  that  such  a 
calidam  eremi  vastitatem  locustarem  I  dress  was  known  as  the  prophetic  garb: 
nubcs  reperiuntur,  locustis  vesci  moris  i  "  Neither  shall  they  (the  prophets)  weiU 
est :  hoc  verum  esse  Joannes  quoque  '  a  rough  garment  to  deceive." 


John's  pkeacuing  and  ministrt.  75 

Judaism  was  stifled  under  rites  and  traditions.     It  was  this  spirit 

that  had  to  be  reanimated  and  freed  from  all  that  oppressed  it." 

For  this  work  John  needed,  as  he  took,  a  fi-ee,  broad  si)ace. 

His   ministry   is   remarkable   for  the  absence  of  two  thinij^s, 

namel}^   miracles   and   an   organizaticjn.     He   pretended   to    no 

juiracle  ;  he  formed  no  school.     Of  the  multitudes 

,  ^     1  •  •       1  •     1  •  '11  John's  ministry, 

who  came  to  mm,  some  remamed  m  his  neiglibor- 

hood  and  gained  what  benefit  they  could  from  his  society  and  his 

teaching.     But  he  did  not  add  another  sect  to  the  Pharisees,  the 

Sadducees,  and  the  Essenes.     lie  was  simply  a  preacher,  a  herald. 

As  to  his  st//le,  two  things  are  to  be  noticed : 

1.  His  earnestness.  lie  believed  that  he  had  a  great  message 
to  his  generation.  lie  could  not  forbear.  lie  had  no  specially 
favorable  position  for  its  deliver}',  but  it  was  in 

him  and  it  grew,  and  it  became  too  large  and  is  s  y  e. 

strong  for  him  to  hold,  and  there  was  room  in  the  wilderness  and 
he  went  there  "  crying."  One  can  fancy  that  he  cried  and  cried 
until  a  stray  traveller  across  the  wilderness  heard  him,  listened, 
went  and  reported  the  sound ;  and  another  came  and  heard,  and 
rejiorted  the  strange  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness;  and  they 
that  went  alone  hung  timidly  on  the  outskirts  of  the  desert,  and 
held  their  hands  behind  their  ears  to  catch  the  flying  sounds,  and 
trembled  as  they  heard  the  cry,  "  Kepent !  Kepent ! "  then  drew 
near  in  groups  and  beheld  the  strange  wild  man  who,  when  he 
saw  them,  opened  his  great  eyes  wide  upon  them,  and  cried,  "  He- 
pent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand."  Frightened,  they 
fled.  But  there  is  a  fascination  in  earnestness.  The  tones  of  the 
prophet's  voice  rang  in  their  ears  whether  they  waked  or  slept, 
and  they  could  not  stay  away.  And  when  they  went  again  he 
cried,  "Bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance."  -lie  was  in  full 
earnest.  He  believed  that  before  he  came  Isaiah  heard  him  with 
his  own  prophetic  ears,  and  exclaimed,  "  Hark !  a  voice  is  crying 
in  the  wilderness !  " 

2.  The  message  was  indiscriminate.  The  crowds  of  common 
people  drew  the  great  and  learned  to  this  powerful  preacher. 
He  had  no  compliments  for  the  rabbis,  no  gallant  speeches 
for  the  ladies,  no  politic  utterances  for  the  powerful.  He  saw 
before  him  men  and  women,  full  of  sin,  concealed  from  them- 
selves by  their  conventionalities,  and  he  thundered  the  truth 
at  them  indisci-iminately.     They  had  Abraham  to  their  father 


76  INTRODUCTION    OF   JESUS   TO    mS   PUBLIC   MINISTRT. 

and  needed  no  special  moral  illumination,  certainly  no  spiritual 

regeneration — so  they  thought  of  themselves.     But  he  helievcd 

that  they  did  need  spiritual  regeneration,  and  helieved  that  that 

regeneration  was  the  most  important  thing  in  all  the  world. 

The  matter  of  his  preaching  we  gather  from  the  few  notices  in 

the  Evangelists. 

\. '^  °       ^        Matthew  reports  him  as  saving,  "  Repent  ye : 
preaching.  ^  ^      >      r^?  ... 

for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand.  (iii.  2.) 
"  But  when  he  saw  many  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  come  to 
his  baptism,  he  said  unto  them,  '  O  generation  of 
"  vipers,  who  hath  warned  you  to  flee  from  the 
wi-ath  to  come?  Bring  forth  therefore  fruits 
meet  for  rciientance :  and  think  not  to  say  within  youi-selves.  We 
have  Abraham  to  our  father:  for  I  say  unto  you,  that  God  is  able 
of  these  stones  to  raise  up  children  unto  Abraham.  And  now 
also  the  axe  is  laid  unto  the  root  of  the  trees:  therefore  every 
tree  which  bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit  is  hewn  down,  and  cast 
into  the  fire.  I  indeed  baptize  you  with  water  unto  repentance : 
but  he  that  cometh  after  me  is  mightier  than  I,  whose  shoes  I  am 
not  worthy  to  bear :  he  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  with  fire :  whose  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly 
puige  his  floor,  and  gather  his  wheat  into  the  garner;  but  he  will 
burn  up  the  chaif  with  unquenchable  Are.'  "     (iii.  7-13.) 

Mark  says   that   he    preached,  saying,   "There  cometh  one 
mightier  than  I  after  me,  the  latchet  of  whose  shoes  I  am  not 
worthy  to  stoop   down   and   unloose.     I   indeed 
■     have  baptized  you  with  water :  but  he  shall  bap- 
tize you  with  the  Holy  Ghost."     (i.  7,  8.) 

Lnl'e  reports  that  he  said  to  the  multitude  that  came  forth  to 
be  baptized  of  him,  "  '  O  generation  of  vipers,  who  hath  warned 
you  to  flee  frtnn  the  wrath  to  come  %  Biing  forth 
u-esrepo  thercfoi-e  fruits  worthy  of  reiicntan(;e,  and  begin 
not  to  say  within  yourselves,  AVe  ha\e  Abraham  to  (>?^/' father : 
for  1  say  unto  you,  That  God  is  able  of  these  stones  to  raise  up 
children  unto  Abraham.  And  now  also  the  axe  is  laid  unto  the 
root  (»f  the  trees  :  every  tree  thei-eforo  which  bringeth  not  forth 
good  fruit  is  hewn  down,  and  cast  into  the  fire.'  And  the  ])eople 
asked  him,  saying,  'What  shall  we  do  then?'  lie  answered 
and  said  unto  theui,  '  lie  that  hath  two  coats,  let  him  imjtart  tc 
him  that  hath  none ;  and  he  that  hath  meat,  let  him  do  likewise.' 


John's  peeaciiing  and  otnistrt.  77 

Tlien  came  also  publicans  to  be  baptized,  and  said  unto  him, 
'Master,  what  shall  we  do?'  And  he  said  unto  them,  'Exact 
no  more  than  that  which  is  appointed  you.'  And  the  soldiers 
likewise  demanded  of  him,  saying,  '  And  what  shall  we  do  ? ' 
And  he  said  unto  them,  '  Do  violence  to  no  man,  neither  accuse 
any  falsely ;  and  be  content  with  your  wages.'  And  as  the 
people  were  in  expectation,  and  all  men  mused  in  their  hearts  of 
John,  whether  he  Avere  the  Christ,  or  not ;  John  answered,  sayin^y 
unto  them  all,  '  I  indeed  baptize  you  with  water  ;  but  one  migh- 
tier than  I  Cometh,  the  latchet  of  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to 
unloose :  he  shall  baptize  you  with  tlie  Holy  Ghost  and  witli  fire : 
whose  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly  purge  his  floor, 
and  will  gather  the  wheat  into  his  garner ;  but  the  chaff  he  will 
burn  with  fire  unquenchable.'  "     (iii.  7-17.) 

John  the  Evangelist,  speaking  of  John  the  Baptist,  says :— - 
"  And  this  is  the  record  of  John  when  the  Jews  sent  priests  and 
Levites  from  Jerusalem  to  ask  him,  '  AVlio  art 
thou  ? '  And  he  confessed,  and  denied  not ;  but  *^°^°  *''^  ^^'^°' 
confessed,  '  I  am  not  the  Christ.'  And  they  ^^  ^^  ^  ^^''°^  ' 
asked  him,  MYliat  then?  Art  thou  Elias?'  And  he  saith,  '  1 
am  not.'  '  Art  thou  that  Prophet  ? '  And  he  answered,  '  Xo.' 
Then  said  they  unto  him,  'Who  art  thou?  that  we  may  give  an 
answer  to  them  that  sent  us.  What  sayest  thou  of  thyself?' 
He  said,  '  I  am  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  Make 
straight  the  way  of  the  Lord,  as  said  the  prophet  Esaias.' — And 
they  which  were  sent  were  of  the  Pharisees.  And  tlicv  ask-ed 
him,  and  said  unto  him,  '  Why  baptizest  thou  then,  if  thoii  I.c  not 
that  Christ,  nor  Elias,  neither  that  Prophet?'  Jolm  aiiswcred 
them,  saying, 'I  baptize  with  water:  but  there  standcth  one 
among  you,  whom  ye  know  not :  he  it  is,  who  coming  afrei-  me 
is  pi-ef erred  before  me,  whose  shoe's  latchet  I  am  not  woi-fhv  to 
unloose.' "     (i.  19-27.) 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  startling  preacher  not  only  tiaini.ltMl 
under  foot  all  prejudices  as  to  appearance  and  style,  but  als..  rliat 
he  S])ared  no  prejudice  of  national  pride  or  eccle- 
siastical  precedent  or  ancient  creed  or  modern       Substance  of  his 
rationalism.     Let  us  analyze  these  very  brief  re- 
ports of  his  discoui-ses  and  see  what  the  substance  was. 

1.  His  most  impressive  discoui-ses  seemed  to  be  of  repentance. 
This  ho  pressed  upon  the  people  of  all  classes  vehemently.     It  was 


78  INTRODUCTION   OF   JESUS   TO    HIS   PUEIJC    illNISTRT. 

not  to  be  a  mere  outward  reformation,  an  abandonment  C)f  noto 
rions  sin — nor  simply  the  observance  of  strid 
rules  of  life,  mere  external  purification.  lie  knew 
iiotliiMi^  of  the  dogma  t)f  sin  resident  in  the  flesh,  and  of  the 
thciiry  of  purifying  the  life  by  lacerating  the  body,  or  by  reduc- 
ing it  by  ascetic  observaiutes.  He  had  a  mission  to  othere,  not  a 
liuiiiiliating  work  to  perform  on  himself,  like  the  Jewish  masses 
that  were  around  him  in  the  desert.  lie  tore  conventionalities 
and  ci-eeds  and  orthodoxies  to  shreds,  and  flung  them  to  the  winds, 
lie  went  at  once  into  tlie  inmost  man,  and  insisted  that  his  hear- 
ci"s  should  make  a  total  change  of  their  minds  in  every  dejiart- 
ment — in  intellections,  in  emotions,  in  volitions.  lie  knew  that  if 
this  intenuU  rectification  could  be  secured  everything  necessary 
in  the  outward  life  would  follow,  "  fruits  meet  for  repentance." 
So  when  the  peo})le  asked  for  more  distinct  instruction  he  gave 
it  with«nit  vagueness.  lie  had  the  art  of  discovering  just  where 
the  fester  was  in  the  sore,  and  the  great  surgical  talent  of  bold 
yet  skilful  probing.  Even  the  publicans — that  most  hated 
class — were  drawn  to  him.  lie  told  them  plainly  that  they 
should  exact  no  more  than  they  were  authorized  to  require.  Thie 
was  their  besetting  sin,  greatly  nourished  by  their  position,  which 
gave  them  so  much  op])ortunity  to  enrich  themselves  by  op]u-ca- 
sing  othci-8  without  being  called  to  account. — There  were  soldiere 
in  the  neighborhood.  And  they  flocked  to  hear  this  strange 
preacher,  and  asked  for  instruction.  He  warned  them  against 
their  well-known  vices,  charging  them  to  assault  no  one ;  nor 
accuse  any  of  the  people  to  their  superior  on  frivolous  pre- 
tences ;  nor  be  discontented  with  their  wages. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  John,  radical  as  he  was,  and  reformer, 
made  no  assault  ujxin  the  existing  institutions  of  society.  He  was 
a  radical  not  in  the  sense  of  tearing  everj'thiug  up  by  the  roots, 
but  of  imjiroving  all  growing  things  by  purifying  the  roots.  In 
this  ])articular  we  shall  see  that  Jesus  resembled  him. 

2.  lie  preached  against  the  formalism  and  the  scepticism  of  tlie 

times,  the  phariseeism  and  sadduceeism  that  divided  the  ruling 

miiuls  of  his  nation.     This  led  hiin  to  deal  roughly 

Against  formal-  ^^.|jjj  ^^^^  cherished  traditional  religion  of  his  peo- 
Ism     and     Bcepti-       ,  it     i      i        ^^^L^  •   ,.•        r       n  •  i 

pie.     Jle  had  as  little  appreciation  lor  this  as  he 

.    had  for  sacerdotal  succession.     Men  are  not  to  bo 

drilled  and  marched  in  platoons.     The  business  of  life  is  individ- 


John's  rEEACHiNO  and  ministry.  79 

ual  culture  in  holiness.  No  man  does  a  great  tiling  in  any  proces- 
sion or  succession.  He  must  step  out.  lie  is  not  to  fancy,  because 
it  is  a  fact  that  he  is  descended  from  Abraham,  that  he  is  all  that  he 
should  be.  The  stern  preacher  looked  at  the  shingle  of  pebbles  and 
stones  at  his  feet,  and  laughed  their  traditional  claims  to  scorn  by 
exclaiming,  "  Children  of  Abraham  are  you?  God  can  of  these 
stones  raise  up  children  to  Abraham."  It  is  difficult  to  conceive 
at  this  distance  and  with  our  culture  how  shocking  such  a 
statement  must  have  sounded  in  Jewish  ears.  As  members  of 
the  theocracy  they  held  that  they  had  a  prescriptive  right  to  a 
place  in  the  kingdom  of  the  coming  Messiah  when  he  should 
arrive.  And  they  believed  that  that  kingdom  would  be  restricted 
to  their  nation.  There  was  a  broad  dash  of  liberalism  in  John's 
discourses.  It  hit  the  formal  Pharisee  and  the  nnspiritnal  Sad- 
ducee  equally  hard  to  be  told  that  God  could,  by  his  Spirit,  out  of 
stones  raise  up  children  to  Abraham  ;  as  if  he  had  said,  "  God  is 
able  to  transform  the  most  uncultivated  portions  of  the  human 
race  into  a  people  of  highest  spiritual  character  and  prospects." 

3.  He  announced  an  approaching  kingdom,  and  called  it  "  the 
kino-dom  of  the  heavens."  If  the  kino'dom  were  to  be  such  as 
they  and  their  fathers  had  expected,  there  had 
then  been  no  need  of  "change  of  mind,"  repent-  cot^gr^gdon^ 
ance.  They  longed  for  a  kingdom  of  earth,  whose 
mighty  Ruler  should  be  to  them  a  deliverer  from  every  foreign 
yoke.  lie  was  to  be  revealed  from  heaven  with  great  wonders, 
resuscitate  the  race  of  Abraham,  subjugate  the  Roman  power  to  the 
Jewish  theocracy,  carry  a  war  of  triumph  against  all  the  Gentiles — 
all  nations  tliat  were  not  Jews — and  then  establish  a  personal  reigr. 
of  a  thousand  years,  in  which  the  Jewish  people  were  to  rcacjL 
a  condition  of  nnimaginable  splendor.  John  plainly  told  them 
that  that  was  all  nonsense.  That,  so  far  from  that  being  the  case, 
the  axe  was  already  laid  to  the  root  of  the  tree  of  their  nation 
and  religion,  and  that  in  a  little  while,  if  no  sign  of  an  inward 
life  appeared,  tluit  whole  tree,  deep  as  its  roots  had  struck,  and 
wide  as  its  branches  had  waved,  would  be  cut  down.  It  Avaa 
inward  spiritual  life  which  God  required  in  every  man.  The 
kingdom  was  to  be  a  spiritual  kingdom,  in  which  the  will  of  each 
man  was  to  be  conformable  to  the  will  of  God,  a  kingdom  which 
was  to  cover  earth  with  lieaven  and  obliterate  the  distinction  of 
eacri^d  and  profane. 


80 


INTRODrCnON   OF   JESUS    TO    IIIS    PUBLIC    MINISTRY. 


4.  He  declared  the  nearness  of  tliat  kingdom,  and  made  the 
Btartling  announcement  to  his  hearei-s    that  the  liuler   in   that 

kingdom  was  then  actually  standing,  unknown, 

Announces  the     •      /i     •  •  i  ^  i      tt  -n    ^    .^     ^  t^    ^ 

_     ,    .,      in  their  very  midst  I     lie  mai^nmed  that  Iluler, 
presence    of    the  ''  _  f^  ' 

itiiier.  and  spoke  of    himself  in  contrast  as  quite  the 

most  humble  of  pei-sons.  He  was  not  worthy  to 
antic  and  carry  the  shoes*  of  that  Potentate.  That  Ruler  was 
mightier  than  he.  He  l)a})tized  only  with  water;  the  Coming  One 
should  ba])tize  with  fire.  He  was  no  one, — not  Christ, — not  Elias, 
— nothing — but  a  V<tice.  The  committee  that  waited  on  liim  from 
the  Sanhedrim  catechised  him  closely  as  to  the  nature  of  hia 
pe7'so}i,  that  which  is  most  important  to  narrow  ])eople.  He  made 
no  allusion  to  the  subject  of  their  inquiries  in  his  replies,  but 
always  spoke  of  his  ojfiee  and  'icoi'l;  as  being,  to  the  broad  view 
of  a  lil)eral  mind,  a  much  more  important  subject.  The  Coming 
One  stood  with  his  fan  in  his  hand.  He  should  blow  away  from 
the  threshing-floor  of  earth  all  chaff,  all  that — whatsoever  it  was 
— which  had  been  useful  in  the  rearing  of  the  real  wheat,  but 
being  no  longer  useful,  whether  it  be  ceremonial  or  philosophic, 
he  would  burn  in  a  fire  which  none  that  loved  the  chaff  could  by 
any  means  extinguish.  Chaff  should  not  be.  That  was  settled. 
So,  have  done  with  chaff  and  a})preciate  wheat.  Address  your- 
selves, he  seemed  to  say,  to  practical  living  of  lives  of  inward 
purity,  of  justice,  mere}',  and  humility.  Be  ready  for  this  king- 
dom of  lieaven  which  lies  all  about  you,  like  a  sea  about  an 
island  below  its  level,  an  island  from  which  the  inrush  of  the  sea 
is  prevented  by  dikes.  ^Make  a  crevasse  in  all  your  old  high 
piled  traditionary  prejudices,  and  the  kingdom  of  lieaven  will 
sweep  in. 

That  seemed  to  be  the  substance  of  the  matter  of  his  preach- 

To  preaching  lie  united  a  rite  of  baptism.     Perhaps  the  origin 
of  baptism  can  never  be  discovered.     The  wash- 
ap  ism.         j^^^  ^^  ^j^^  outer  man  seems  always  and  cvery- 
wliere  to  have  been  considered  as  somehow  emblematic  cf  the  })urifi 


*  The  expression,  "  whoso  shoe's 
latehet  I  nm  not  worthj'  to  unloose," 
has  its  force  intensified  by  comparison 
with  a  passage  in  the  Talmud :   "Every 


ofTico  a  servant  will  do  for  his  master 
a  scholar  should  perform  for  his  teach- 
er, excepting  lnosing  his  sandal  thong,' 
— Tract,  KiiUluachin,  xxii.  2, 


JOHN  S    PKEACniNG    AND    ISHNISTRY. 


81 


cation  of  the  spirit.*  Much  discussion  has  been  had  by  tlie  learned 
on  the  question  wlietlicr  John's  ba])tisin  was  equivalent  to  the  bap- 
tism of  proselytes ;  but  it  has  not  been  settled  whether  that  was 
introduced  before  or  after  the  ministry  of  John.  But  through  all 
the  Mosaic  law  and  ritual  there  ran  the  idea  of  a  connection  be- 
tween the  filth  of  the  body  and  the  impurity  of  the  soul,  and  the 
Jewish  mind  Avas  familiar  with  the  thought  of  effects  attributed 
to  a  rite  which  involved  the  application  of  water  for  the  removal 
of  nnhealth}'  taints.  The  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  are  represented 
as  coming  to  the  baptism  of  John, — but  not  the  Essenes.  A  large 
part  of  their  religion  consisted  in  frequent  ablution  of  the  body. 
And  so,  when  John  began  to  preach  spiritual  holiness,  it  is  not  won- 
derful that  he  should  adopt  and  administer  the  rite  of  baptism. 
]jut  it  was  not  Chi-istian  baptism,  of  course,  as  Christianity  was 
not  yet  inaugnrated.  It  did  not  rise  to  the  height  of  a  sacrament. 
Jjut  it  must  have  had  a  deeper  significance  than  any  baptism  pre- 
viously known  to  the  Jews,  and  John's  specific  instruction  nnist 
have  unfolded  that  deeper  meaning. 

A  very  great  use  of  John's  baptism — perhaps  it  was  so  designed 
— was  that  it  broke  through  all  priestism,  all  churchism,  all  ritual- 
ism. He  was  a  private  person,  lie  was,  as  to  his  ministry,  in  no 
"succession."  lie  had  no  ecclesiastical  position,  no  "  authority." 
But  he  baptized.  Therite,  as  he  administered  it,  was  ])rivate.  lie 
was  breaking  up  the  soil  for  a  new  kingdom  which  was  to  be  very 
free  and  spiritual,  for  a  new  foi'm  of  the  ever-during  chm-ch  that 
Avas  to  have  no  priesthood,  no  close  corporation  of  authorized  dis- 
pensers of  truth  or  pardon.  And  so  he  baptized.  lie  that  had  no 
more  "  right"  than  any  other  man,  used  an  ordinance  indicative 
of  spiritual  ]iurification. 

After  all,  the  ministry  of  John — brief,  vehement,  attractive,  and 
powerful  as  it  was — seemed  to  have  had  little  permanent  effect 
upon  his  generation.    It  was  like  a  rushing  mountain  torrent  that 


*  Milman  says  (Hist.  Christianitjf, 
Book  i. ,  cliap.  iii. )  :  "  The  sacred 
Ganges  cleanses  all  moral  pollution  from 
the  Indian  ;  among  the  Greeks  and  Ho- 
nians  even  the  murderer  might,  it  was 
supposed,  wash  the  blood  datn  from  Iiin 
hands  ;  and  (in  many  of  their  religious 
rites)  lustrations  or  ablutions,  either  in 

6 


the  running  stream  or  in  the  sea,  puri- 
fied the  candidate  for  divine  favor,  and 
made  him  fit  to  approach  the  shrines  of 
the  gods."  He  quotes  the  lines  of 
Ovid:  — 

"  Ah  nimium  faciles,  qui  tristia  crimina 
Cffidis, 
Tolli  flumineu  posse  pntatis  aqua.' 


82  INTRODUCnON    OF   JESCS   TO   HIS   rUELTC   MINISTRY. 

moved  some  stones  and  floatwood,  and  cut  a  channel  deeper,  but 
soon  passed  away.  "  For  a  season  "  tlie  nuisa 
His  ministry  not  of  tlic  people  rejoicsd  in  liiiii ;  and  such  a  hold 
fecTvT''^'^  ^^"  ^^^^  ^^^  secured  upon  the  popular  mind  that  the 
Pharisees  did  not  dare  to  deny  the  divine  an* 
thority  of  his  mission  when  they  were -publicly  questioned  by 
Jesus.  Cut  the  people's  passion  is  not  steady.  They  were  falling 
away  from  the  high  excitement  to  which  the  sudden  thunders  of 
John's  arousing  preaching  had  flung  them.  Bishop  Ellicott  elo- 
quently says :  "  We  may  witli  reason  believe  that  the  harbinger's 
message  might  have  arrested,  aroused,  and  awakened  ;  but  that 
the  general  influence  of  that  baptism  of  water  was  comparatively 
limited,  and  that  its  memory  would  soon  have  died  away  if  lie 
that  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire  had  not  invested 
it  with  a  new  and  more  vital  significance.  John  struck  the  first 
chords,  but  the  sounds  would  have  soon  died  out  into  silence  if  a 
mightier  hand  had  not  swept  the  yet  vibrating  strings." — Histor- 
ical Lectures^  p.  105. 

In  following  regularly  the  career  of  Jesus  we  shall  come  upon 
an  occasion  when  he  cave  his  estimate  of  the  character  of  John. 


CnAPTER    II. 

JESUS   DESIGNATED   AT  HIS   BAPTISM   BY  JOHN. 

Jesus  how  comes  forward  from  his  long  obscurity.  "We  have 
ficen  liiiii  only  once  before  since  his  infancy.  Now  he  comes  tc 
the  Joidan  to  be  ba])tized  of  John.     Let  us  col-    , 

'■  Jesus  reappears. . 

late  the  records.  Matt.  iLi;  Mark i. 

Matthew"* s  account  (iii.  13)  is  this:  "Then  cometh  Jesus  from 
Galilee  to  Jordan  nnto  John,  to  be  baptized  of  him.  Bnt  John 
foi-bade  liim,  saying:  'I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  thee,  and 
couiest  thou  to  me?'  And  Jcsns  answering  said  unto  him,  'Suffer 
it  to  be  so  now:  for  thus  it  becometh  us  to  fnlfil  ail  righteousness.' 
Then  he  snffci'ed  him.  And  Jcsns,  when  he  was  baptized,  went 
nj)  sti'aightway  out  of  the  water:  and,  lo,  the  lieavens  were  opened 
nnto  him,  and  he  saw  tlie  Spirit  of  God  descending  like  a  dove, 
and  ligliting  upon  him:  and  lo  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying, ' This 
is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased.' " 

Mark  (i.  0)  says:  "It  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  that  Jesiia 
came  from  ^azaretli  of  Galilee,  and  was  bajitized  of  John  in  Jor- 
dan. And  straightway  conn'ng  up  ont  of  the  water,  he  saw  tlie 
heavens  opened,  and  the  Spirit  like  a  dove  descending  upon  him: 
and  there  came  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  '  Thou  art  my  be- 
loved Son,  in  wliom  I  am  well  pleased.'  " 

Litl'e's  narrative  (iii.  21)  is  this:  "Now  wlien  all  the  people  were 
baptized,  it  came  to  i)ass,  that  Jesus  also  being  baj)tized,  and  pray- 
ing, the  heaven  was  opened,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  in 
a  bodily  slia[)e  like  a  dove  upon  him,  and  a  voice  came  from 
heaven,  which  said,  'Tliou  art  my  beloved  Son;  in  thee  lam  well 
pleased.'" 

i.uke  adds  (verse  23):  "And  Jesus  himself  began  to  be  about 
thiity  years  of  age." 

John  does  not  give  a  narrative  of  the  ceremony  of  the  baptism, 
but  records  the  testimony  of  Jolm  the  Baptist  (i.  29). 

Here  is  the  fact  that  Jesus  was  baptized  of  Jolm  in  Jordan.  To 
Uiis  all  the  four  New  Testament  historians  testify.     They  give  nc 


84  INTRODCCnON    OF   JESUS   TO    HIS    PUBLIC   SONTSTKY. 

intimation  of  the  place.     That  was  not  important.     In  the  open- 
ini^  of  the  public  ministry  of  Jesus  vrb  may  take 
Jcsns  comes  to    occasion  to  say  that  nowhere  do  we  find  these  four 
John.  wintei*s  striving  to  make  out  a  case,  striving  tc 

agree  in  details  of  nan-ative,  or  ministering  any- 
thing to  superstition.  No  portrait,  no  autogra])h,  no  description  ol 
the  physique  of  Jesus  is  preserved  by  them.  They  do  not  attempt 
to  invest  any  place  in  which  he  did  anything  with  a  sacrcdnesa 
which  should  make  it  the  focus  of  superstition.  But  they  tell 
their  story  with  the  artlessness  of  guileless  children,  and  leave  the 
impression  to  deepen  and  brighten  in  the  mind  of  the  reader. 
We  shall  strive  to  deal  with  the  case  in  the  same  spirit  of  simple 
unaffected  reverence  for  Nature  and  Supernature,  feeling  that  we 
have  no  more  right  to  ignore  the  one  than  to  set  aside  the  other. 

The  fact  that  Jesus  submitted  voluntarily  to  John's  baptism  is 
wholly  unaccountable  on  certain  dogmas  long  assumed  to  be  un- 
questionable.   The  commentators  who  adopt  these 
Why  Jesus  wns    (i,,n,,^-jas  follow  one  another  in  a  drcarv  march 
baptized.  •/>.        "        i  •  i 

around  what  they  suppose  to  be  a  diniculty,  M'hich 

they  really  make  into  a  difficulty  for  other  minds,  but  Mhich  they 

do  not  remove.     The  simple  statement  of  John  himself  ought  to 

throw  much  light  on  the  subject.     lie  says,  ^^tAat  he  skouhl  he 

made  knovni   to   Israel;    therefore   am   I   come  baptizing   with 

•water."     That  seems  quite  exi)licit.     The  hope  of  a  Messiah  was 

intensifying  its   element  of  expectation  when  John's   ministry 

opened.     lie  felt  the  depths  of  his  great  nature  stirred  with  a 

call  to  arouse  his  people  to  a  preparation  of  heart  for  the  great 

Advent.     lie  did  not   entertain   those   thoroughly  spiritualistic 

views  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom  which  have  since-obtained.     lie 

believed  in  his  pci"sonal  reign,  a  great  sjiiritual  imi»rovement,  a 

discrimination,  a  dividing,  a  burning  up  the  chaff  of  his  own 

nation,  a  cleansing  of  the  Jewish  peojjle  for  the  establislnnent  of 

a  purified  theocracy  to  be  administered  by  The  Christ  in  i)roper 

person. 

It  was  not  simply  the  kingdom  he  was  to  announce,  but  the 

king.     Something  in  this  man's  soul  told  him  that  in  the  course 

of  his  ministry  of  heralding   the    kingdom    the 

Certain  mistakes.  ,  .  ,       ,  ,   ,  i    i   ^    ""i  •  i  '  /       i       i  i 

kmg  shoula  bo  revealed  to  lum,  and  he  slionid 

point  out  that  being  to  his 2^^<>2^^e,  and  that  there  his  ministry  wjw 

virtually  to  cease.     lJp(jn  the   inauguration  of  Jesus,  John  was 


JESUS   DESIGNATED   AT   ITIS   BAPTISM   BY   JOHN.  85 

functus  officio.  Jesus  did  not  come  to  John  for  instruction,  surely 
E\ery  reader  of  the  history,  who  reads  it  even  in  the  most  com- 
mon Iiuinan  way,  must  see  that  as  a  teacher  the  man  Jesus  wag 
superior  to  the  man  John.  lie  did  not  come  to  liim  to  be  bap- 
tized with  a  baptism  of  repentance,  change  of  mind,  for  he  liad 
held  these  views  of  the  spiritual  theocracy  as  long  as  John  had. 
lie  was  at  least  John's  fellow-prophet  of  the  coming  kingdom. 
lie  had  thrown  no  obstacles  in  the  way.  lie  was  not  a  priest,  a 
con\entionalist,  a  ritualist,  a  fossilized  conservative  of  decent 
hcterodoxes.  It  was  not  a  sacrament  that  John  was  to  administer 
to  him.  It  was  not  an  induction  into  a  priestly  office.  The  bap 
tism  administered  by  John  to  Jesus  had  no  precedent  and  was 
iKjt  a  precedent.  It  was  a  singular  act  and  fact  in  human  his- 
tory. The  Man  who  was  to  be  the  Ruler  of  the  human  mind  in 
the  aires  to  come,  and  was  to  ascend  to  the  hii-'hest  throne  in  tho 
kingdom  of  thought;  the  Man  who  was  to  be  the  Ruler  of  the 
human  heart  in  the  ages  to  come,  so  that  no  one  was  to  be  so 
deeply,  highly,  tenderly,  reverently  loved  as  He, — this  man  was 
the  Son  of  Mary.  He  had  been  ordained  to  this  place  in  tho 
harmonious  arrangement  of  the  universe,  and  hence  is  called  the 
CiiKiSTUS.  The  time  for  his  inauguration  had  come.  lie  was  to 
be  revealed  to  the  world  through  the  ministry  of  John. 

One  needs  to  be  very  tender  and  thoughtful  as  one  studies  this 
great  passage;  great  not  only  in  the  history  of  Jesus,  but  in  the 
history  of  the  world;  for  the  history  of  all  humanity  was  from 
this  time  forth  to  be  changed  by  liim.  Whatever  there  is  of  fact 
should  be  studied  with  historical  discrimination,  and  whatever 
there  is  of  })oetr3',  wonder,  aAve,  and  beauty,  should,  if  possible, 
be  studied  with  poetic  appreciation. 

It  has  been  well  said  that — 

"It  is  of  manifest  importance  that  what  we  see  we  should  see  clearly.    We 
are  not  indeed  to  require,  as  an  absolute  condition  of  faith,  that  wc  should  be 
able  to  see,  or  even  to  image  distinctly  to  the  mind,  the 
i\\\\\X  in  wliich  we  are  to  believe.     Because  there  are  thincfs        ^'T""'.  \  "  '  '"'**"'' 

■^  '^      mcntAl  picture. 

which,  from  tlieir  very  nature,  do  not  admit  of  being  pic- 
tured even  to  the  imagination,  such  as  God  or  one's  own  soul.  (See  Edlnhunjh 
Rev.,  vol.  xlvi.,  p.  339,  Eng.  ed.)  But  when  the  matter  proposed  is  confessedly 
an  object  of  sense,  a  scene  that  addresses  the  eye,  clear  vision  is  supremely 
desirable.  TVc  may  not  ask  to  see  those  things  which  eye  hath  never  seen  and 
can  never  see.  But  of  that  wliich  professes  visibility,  let  us  have  tlie  distiuct- 
est  sight     Accordingly,  it  is  necessary  to  a  due  faith  in  tlie  Baptism  of  Jesua, 


86  nrrEODucnoN  of  jesus  to  nis  pctjlic  ministet. 

with  its  attendant  circumstances  as  a  fact,  that  it  should  be  distinctly  repre 
scnted  to  tljc  mind.  With  this  understanding,  and  a  single  desire  to  a|>})ro 
hend  the  actual  state  of  the  cjise,  what  it  was  tliat  occurred  on  tliis  occasior*, 
let  us  cxaiuinc  the  above  account." — Je*ua  and  his  Biogi-aphert,  by  Furucss,  p. 
147. 

Jesus  came  voluntarily  to    John's  baptism  uninvited.      TTad 
John  seen  liini  before?     Possibly  several  times:  they  were  kins- 
men.    Probably  seldom:   they  lived   apart  in  a 

John's  previous  .,  i    •        i     •       i 

acquaintance.  country   not  very  easily  traversed  in  their  day. 

Possibly  never.  There  is  no  history.  John  says 
(John  i.  31),  "  I  knew  him  not."  This  may  mean  one  of  two 
things :  either  that  he  had  no  knowledge  of  the  person  of  Jesus, 
BO  that  he  should  recoccnize  him  on  si^ht,  or  that  he  did  not  know 
tliat  this  was  the  wonderful  Being  whose  arrival  his  great  life- 
work  was  to  announce  ;  did  not  know  that  he  was  the  ''^Krhome- 
noSy^  the  Coming  Man,  until  certain  wonderful  phenomena  made 
the  whole  ])lain  to  his  mind. 

The  submission  of  Jesus  to  the  baptism  of  John  was  another 
blow  at    churchisin,  pricstism,  and  all  that  form    of    thouglit 

which  attempts  to  run  the  streams  of  God's  gra- 
A  blow  at  church-       .  ,,  ,  i     •     ,•      i  i      .         t' 

.  ciousness  through  ecclesiastical  aqueducts.    Jesus 

was  a  layman.  So  was  John.  Jesus  Avas  about 
to  begin  the  Ministry  of  Grace,  to  assume  the  kinglincss  of  the 
Power  of  Purity,  lie  did  not  order  the  conduct  of  the  ])()inp 
of  the  inauguration  at  lm])eri:d  Home,  nor  at  Saceixlotal  Jerusa- 
lem. Not  in  palace,  not  in  temple  !  He  went  out  into  the  t'j>cu 
air,  under  the  open  sky,  beside  the  running  stream.  He  would 
not  have  lictoi-s  and  chamberlains  and  priests  about  him.  A 
rough,  unlearned  layman,  exhorting  the  people  to  be  ready  for 
him,  that  was  a  sufficient  herald.  lie  was  going  to  lay  the  world 
open  to  goodness  and  to  God.  lie  was  going  to  rend  the  veil  of 
the  temple  and  of  all  tenij)les.  lie  wjis  going  to  abolish  heredi- 
tary religions  and  tear  away  whatever  stood  between  God  and 
man,  whether  it  were  temple  veil  or  erroneous  thought,  a  chauci'l 
rail  or  a  dogma,  or  a  rubric  or  a  canon, — M'hatever  stood  between 
the  Father  and  the  Child  he  was  to  destroy.  He  was  never  to  use  tlie 
phi-ase  "  The  Church  "  in  all  his  ministry.  His  kingdom  was  to 
be  inclusive,  not  exclusive.  His  people  were  to  be  every  man  a  king 
and  every  man  a  priest,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy  genenition  that 
should  know  no  distinction  between  "  clergyman  "  and  "  layman." 


JESUS   DESIGNATED   AT   HIS   BAPTISM    BY   JOHN.  S7 

Wlien  Jesus  approaclied  John  for  baptism,  the  latter  hesitated. 
If  he  had  never  seen  him  before,  or  not  since  early  childhood 
there  was  something  in  the  appearance  of  Jesus 
which  arrested  his  attention.      lie  was  not  like    «.   ,     ^-     t 

to  baptize  Jesus. 

the  people  who  nsually  flocked  to  his  niinistj-y. 

There  must  have  been  a  remarkable  absence  of  traces  of  world- 

liness, — world-care,  world-sorrow,  world-pasoion, — on  the  brow  of 

this  rare  young  man,  who  had  groAvn  up  under  influences  so  pure 

from  a  birth  so  marvellous,     lie  must  have  looked  like  one  who 

had  always  been  in  "  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens,"  the  coming  of 

which  John  was  preaching.     Why  should  he  be  baptized  ?     With 

all  his  vehemence  and  power,  the  great-hearted  John  was  modest. 

When  he  looked  at  Jesus  he  declined  to  baptize  him,  and  said, 

"  I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  you :  and  do  you  come  to  me  ?  " 

The  repl}'  of  Jesus  was  simple  and  decisive:  "Suffer  it  now: 

for  thus  it  becomes  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness."     As  though  he 

had   said,    "AVhatever  you  perceive  which  yon    .„    ,     ,  _ 

.  .  .   .  Reply  or  Jesus, 

tlimk  IS  against  your  baptizing  me^  proceed  Avith 

the  rite,  and  you  shall  then  know  something  beyond.     If  you  are 

divinely  moved  to  believe  that  in  the  regular  discharge  of  your 

ministry  of  preparation  the  Anointed  One  is  to  be  revealed  to 

you,  your  obvious  duty  is  to  go  forward  baptizing  every  comer 

until  HE  come.     If  there  be  anything  in  me,  in  all  my  previoiis 

groAvth,  in  all  the  development  of  my  soul,  that  predicts  for  me 

and  to  myself  a  great  and  solemn  destiny,  I  must  not  refuse  ji 

baptism  of    heralding  the  kingdom  of    the  heavens.      If   your 

M'ork  be  of  God,  O  humble  layman,  and  I  have  come  from  God, 

I  must  make  no  divergence,  and  no  opposition,  but  go  through 

■with  it,  and  then  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  I  shall  be  revealed  to 

you,  and  shall  be  certified  in  my  o^\^l  soul  of  that  calling  of  which 

from  earliest  childhood  I  have  had  growing  intimations." 

IIow  nnich  of  this  Jesus  said,  or  whether  he  said  merely  whul 
is  recorded  in  the  text,  and  looked  the  rest,  we  cannot  know.  But 
John  knew  the  history  of  his  birth  and  the  marvels  thereon  at- 
tending.    And  he  baptized  him. 

It  was  a  momentous  crisis  for  both  parties.     John  was  to  have 
a  sign  of  the  Messiah  when  the  ]\Iessiah  should 
appear.     Jesus  was  to  come  to  the  fulness  of  the      Momentous 
perception  of   his  place    in   the  world    and  the 
world's  history.     Others  went  doA\Ti  to  the  water  confessing,  and 


88  nO'RODUCTrON    of   JKSUS    to    his    public    JnXISTRT. 

came   up  ehoutiiig.      lie   descended  in   solemn  silence,  and    as 

cended  from  the  river  with  face  npturncd  in  woi-ship. 

Then  occurred  a  phenomenon  mentioned  by  all  the  historians. 

Something  like  a  dove  de-<icended  uj)o>i  Jesus.      That  much  is 

„,     ,         ,.       patent,  what  else  we  may  discover  hv  rereadin«» 
The  descending    \  '  ...  ';  ,  ,  ,       , 

jQyg  the  i)assai!;cs.     We  must  either  accept  tliese  books 

as  histories  or  reject  them.    I  acce})t.    They  must 

then  be  dealt  Avith  as  other  histories,  and  what  is  marvellous  must 

no  more  be  explained  away  than  what  is  connnonplace.     "WHiat 

was  this  that  appeared  "like  a  dove?"     All  the  four  historians 

use  that  same  phrase,  whatever  may  be  their  variations  elsewhere. 

I  believe  it  was  actually  a  dove.     If  I  were  to  read  four  accounts 

of  the  coronation  of  a  kinpr,  in  all  which  there  was  represented 

that  sometiiing  "  like  a  dove  "  descended  upon  him,  I  should  say 

"  It  was  a  dove."     I  say  so  here. 

Kow,  let  us  brini^  the  scene  and  the  persoiui<^es  clearly  before 

us.   We  are  standing  beside  Jordan.     Here  is  a  powerful,  masterly 

_  ,        ,  T  man  proclaimiuf;  a  cominic  kino-dom.      And  here 

John  and  Jesus.  *  ^^  o         d 

is  a  man  who  is  to  take  the  lead  of  all  the  world's 
men,  upon  wlioni  as  never  upon  any  other  there  had  come  gifts 
of  insight,  purity,  and  elevation  of  character.  John  does  not 
know  this  of  Jesus,  as  later  men  shall  know  it.  lie  knows  him 
a  child  miraculously  born,  in  whose  early  history  there  had 
been  passages  not  common  in  human  biography.  He  is  looking 
daily  for  the  Christ  of-  God,  the  Anointed  of  Jehovali.  lie  feels 
that  Jesus  is  his  superior.  On  sight  he  acknowledges  that  superi- 
ority. "NVliat  must  have  been  the  face  of  that  man  whose  ]>res- 
cnce  hushes  the  outspoken  John,  that  John  whom  mobs  of  sol- 
diers and  peasants,  and  crowds  of  rabbis,  and  connnittccs  (^f 
Sanhedrims  only  roused  into  intenser  flame  of  hatred  against  sin  ! 
lie  that  is  higher  than  John  is  on  the  i)innacle  of  all  that  is  hu- 
man. The  man  that  overawes  John  has  the  mastery  of  humanity. 
AVith  what  intense  excitement  must  John  have  gazed  uix^n 
Jesus!     Aiul  when  .Tesus  came  up  from  the  water,  praying,  ti-ans- 

flgured  with  his  own  intense  intellectual  and  ?i>ir- 
Johnthediscov-  .^'^.^  excitement,  it  was  a  moment  of  rapt  awe 
erer  of  Jesus.  ,      ,  .        ,         .  ,  i  i     i 

to  both.     At  that  instant  a  dove  descended  on 

Jesns.  Whence,  no  one  saw.  It  seemed  to  come  from  heaven. 
John  had  had  the  assuraiu-e  that  a  sign  should  be  given  him  w1um\ 
tlic  Messiah  rose  to  his  vision.     lie  was  advancing  along  the  lino 


JESUS    DKSKiNATED   AT   HIS   BATTISM    BY   JOHN.  89 

of  his  ministry  when  this  remarkable  state  of  affairs  was  come 
upon,  namely  ;  a  man  of  -wondrons  sanctity  of  appearance  comes 
to  his  baptism ;  John  feels  that  this  is  his  superior,  and  is'  com- 
pelled to  acknowledge  it ;  the  candidate  makes  no  confession  ;  he 
comes  from  the  water  in  a  state  of  great  spiritual  exaltation ;  a 
dove  from  parts  unseen  descends  upon  him.  It  was  to  John  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  the  great  Jehovah  designating  the  expected  and 
Anointed  Deliverer,  according  to  previous  intimations.  Now,  if 
the  presence  of  Jesus  could  have  produced  such  an  uprising  of 
the  mind  of  John,  there  must  have  been  something  divinely  pow- 
erful in  Jesus.  It  was  John  Avho  was  selected  to  discover  the 
Messiah  and  to  declare  him  to  his  generation. 

There  was  not  only  the  appearance  of  a  dove  out  of  the  opening 
heavens,  but  the  sound  of  a  voice.     The  voice  was  not  a  mere 
ruir.ble,  as  of  thunder.     There  could  have  been 
no  thunder-storm.     It  was  clear  in  a  rare  degree, 
for  the  " heavens "  were  "opened."     The  sound  was  articulate. 
It  was  the  vouchsafed  sign.     John  heard  it :  "  This  is  my  lelovcd   * 
Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  lileasedP     Jesus  heard  it:  "  Thou  art 
vxy  leloved  So7i,  in  whom  I  am  well  jpleasedP 

Any  theory  may  be  set  forth,  but  here  are  the  facts.  It  may 
be  said  that  it  was  an  intense  state  of  mental  excitement  which 
made  these  men  hear  what  they  supposed  to  be  a 
voice.  Suppose  that.  If  God  speak  to  you  ar-  , 
ticulately,  just  as  a  human  being  does,  or  prefer 
so  to  cpiicken  your  inward  being  that  you  receive  thereon  precise- 
ly such  impressions  as  come  to  you  ordinarily  and  normally 
through  your  senses,  it  is  to  you  precisely  the  same.  There  is  no 
difference  in  the  result.  All  great  souls  that  have  dedicated 
themselves  to  great  deeds  of  self-abnegation  and  heroism  have 
felt,  seen,  heard  powerful  communications  from  the  Gi-eat  Cre- 
ator. Impressions  are  frequently  made  directly  upon  the  mind 
without  intervention  of  the  organs  of  sense;  and  they  seem  just 
Buch  as  men  are  accustomed  to  receive  through  those  organs ;  and 
then  they  are  spoken  of  as  visions  or  voices,  as  the  case  may  be.  It 
is  not  a  cpiestion  of  such  vast  concern  in  which  way  came  this  con- 
firmation to  John.  He  was  not  a  cold,  hard  materialist.  He  was 
a  man  of  high-wrought  spirituality.  And  Jesus  was  the  finest 
piece  of  human  organism  of  which  any  history  gives  ns  any  ac- 
count.    These  men  met  in  a  circle  of  circumstances  described  by 


90 


DfTRODUCTION   OF   JESUS   TO    HIS    PUBLIC   MIXISTKY. 


one  of  tlicin.  Jcjlinsays:  '-^  I  saw ^  and  hare  record  that  this  is 
the  So}i  of  GodP  If  he  was  satisfied,  surely  we  (>ii«rlit  to  be.  It 
is  as  iinpliildpopliic  to  be  incredulous  as  to  be  superstitious.  Men 
have  no  reward  when  they  exert  their  intellects  to  reason  thcni- 
Bclves  out  of  their  faith.  Faith  of  what  can  be  believed  is  aa 
ini])ortant  as  science  of  what  can  be  known. 
Jesus  thus  inaugurated  his  public  ministry. 


CHAPTER  IlL 


THE   TEilPTATION. 


Immediately  after  tlic  exciting  scene  of  his  baptism,  Jesns  en- 
tered upon  a  fearful  season  of  spiritual  trial  and  depression.  It 
is  usually  known  as  The  Temptation.  The  history  is  given  by 
Matthew  and  Luke,  a  brief  statement  being  made  by  Mark  also. 

Mattheio' H  \\'ii\\-A.\A\Q.  vs,  this:  "Then  was  Jesus  led  up  of  the 
Spirit  into  the  wildei-ness  to  be  tempted  of  the  devil.     And  M'hen 
lie  had  fasted  forty  days  and  forty  nights,  after- 
ward he  liuni>:ered.     And  when  the  tempter  came 

"  ^  count. 

to  him,  he  said,  '  If  thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  com- 
mand that  these  stones  be  made  bread.'  But  he  answered  and 
said,  '  It  is  written,  Man  shall  not  live  on  bread  alone,  but  on 
every  word  proceeding  through  the  mouth  of  God.'  Then  the 
de\il  taketh  him  up  into  the  holj^  city,  and  setteth  him  on  the 
battlement  of  the  temple,  and  saith  to  him,  '  If  thou  art  the  Son 
of  God,  cast  thyself  down:  for  it  is  written,  lie  shall  give  his 
angels  charge  concerning  thee :  and  upon  their  hands  they  shall 
bear  thee  up,  lest  at  any  time  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone.' 
Jesus  said  unto  him,  'It  is  written  again.  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the 
Lord  thy  God.'  Again,  the  devil  taketh  him  up  into  an  exceeding 
high  mountain,  and  showeth  him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and 
the  glory  of  them  ;  and  said  to  him,  '  All  these  things  M'ill  I  give 
thee,  if  falling  down  thou  wilt  do  me  homage.'  Then  saith  Jesus 
unto  him,  '  Go  away,  Satan :  for  it  is  written.  Thou  shalt  do  hom- 
age to  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou  worship.'  Then 
the  devil  leaveth  him,  and,  behold,  angels  came  and  ministered 
unto  him."     (Matt.  iv.  1-11.) 

All  that  Mark  records  is  in  ch,  i.  vv.  12,  13 :  "  And  immedi- 
ately the  Spirit  driveth  him  into  the  wilderness. 

And  he  was  there  in  the  wilderness  forty  days       J^V ^^^'^       ' 

•'        •'       and  LuKO  BL 

tempted  of  Satan ;  and  was  with  the  wild  beasts  ; 
and  the  angels  ministered  unto  him." 


92  INTRODUCTION    OF   JESUS   TO    HIS   TUBLIC   MINISTRY. 

aS'^.  Lulxie  (iv.  1-13)  gives  an  account  of  this  transaction  ■which 
is  substantially  the  same  as  that  of  Matthew. 

It  cannot  now  be  known  in  what  i)lace  this  passage  in  the  his- 
tory of  Jesus  occurred.     Tradition  assigns  it  to  one  of  the  moun- 
tains opposite  Jericho,  called  now  Quarantania, 
Place  of  the     f ,.(j„i  the  forty  days  of  fasting,  a  name  probably 
given  it  111  the  tunes  of  the  Crusades.     jLhonisun 
{Land  and  JBook^  vol.  ii.  p.  450)  thus  describes  it: — 

"Directly  west,  at  a  distance  of  a  mile  and  a  half,  is  the  high  and  piTcii)i- 
tous  mountain  called  Quarantania,  from  a  tradition  that  our  Sa\nour  liere 
fixsted  forty  days  and  nights,  and  also  that  this  is  the  'liigh  mountain'  from 
whose  top  the  tempter  exhiljited  '  all  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  and  tho 
glory  of  them.'  Tiie  side  facing  the  plain  is  as  perpendicular  and  apparently 
as  higli  as  the  rock  of  Gibiultar,  and  ui)on  the  very  summit  are  still  vibible 
the  ruins  of  an  ancient  ct)nvent.  ^Midway  l)elow  arc  caverns  hewn  in  the  i)er- 
pcndicular  rock,  where  hermits  formerly  retired  to  fast  and  pray,  in  imitation 
of  the  'forty  days,'  and  it  is  said  that  even  at  the  present  time  there  is  to  be 
found  au  occasional  Copt  or  Abyssiiiiou  languislmig  out  his  Quaraiiiania  in 
this  doleful  place." 

The  general  reader  would  be  amazed  to  see  the  immense  amount 
of  literature  there  is  upon  the  subject  of  the  Temptation  of  Jesus. 
Through  milch  of  it  we  have  })ainfully  waded,  to  come  back  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  simjilest  way  is  to  read  the  history  in  the 
light  of  common  sense,  and  derive  what  lessons  our  present  scien- 
tilic  culture  may  enable  us  to  educe. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  narrative  is  substantially  made  by  Jesus. 
The  historians  could  have  gathered  it  from  no  other  source.  Un- 
less they  made  gi-eat  blundei-s  in  understanding 

T  e  narrative      j^j^  statements,  or  ill  recordiii''  them,  we  have  the 

ma<le  by  Jesus.  i     ,,,-.,     ,■  .  ^  .  •     i 

wliolc  airair  ijerore  us  as  it  appeared  to  the  miiiu 

of  Jesus,  (piitc  as  nearly  indeed  as  language  can  convoy  thought 
from  one  mind  to  anotlier. 

It  in:iy  bi;  instructive  to  see  how  many  views  ha\"e  been  taken 

of  this  portion  of  the  history  of  Jesus.     They  show  how  men 

allow  themselves  to  interpret  facts   by  dogmas, 

Exp  ana  cry         .^^^^j  ^.j^.^^^  ^j^j^  j^  (luite  as  common  among  sceptics 

tbcorics.  ,  ,    ,  ... 

as  aiiKjiig  the  credulous, — no  more  characteristic 

of  the  one  than  of  the  other,  although  gcnci'ally  chai-gcd  vehc 
mently  upon  the  latter  by  the  former. 

1.  It  has  been  regarded  as  an  external  occurrence,  and,  as  such, 


THE   TEMTTATION. 


93 


(a)  as  real,  the  literal  apparition  of  Satan  in  the  form  of  a  man  or 
of  an  angel;*  (h)  as  a  myth,t  in  which  tradition  invests  the  sym- 
bolical idea  of  a  contest  between  Messiah  and  Satan ;  or  (c)  as  a 
narrative  in  syml)olical  language,  the  real  tempter  being  a  man.:j: 

2.  It  has  been  regarded  as  an  inter^ial  occurrence;  in  other 
words,  a  vision:  and,  as  such  (a),  as  excited  in  the  brain  of  Jesus 
by  the  Devil  ;§  {h)  as  created  by  God;||  (c)  as  produced  by  natu- 
ral causes,*lf  or  {d),  as  "a  significant  morning  dream."  ** 

3.  It  has  been  considered  an  inward  ethical  transaction,  or  a 
psychologiGal  occurrence  ;  and,  as  such  {a),  a  conflict  in  the  imag- 
ination of  Jesus ;  ff  (1))  an  inward  conflict  excited  by  the  Devil ;  \X 
(g)  a  subjective  (inward)  transaction,  to  which  the  New  Testament 
historians  gave  an  ol")jective  (outward)  form;  or  (d),  ns  a  frag- 
mentary, symbolical  representation  of  transactions  in  the  inner 
life  of  Jesus,  grouped  into  one  statement.  §§ 

4.  It  has  been  considered  as  a  parable,  to  instruct  the  disciples 
of  Jesus  as  to  their  spiritual  perils  and  remedies.  |||| 

5.  It  has  been  pronounced  a  mylh.^*^ 

This  classification  and  these  references  are  given  so  that  if 
there  be  any  readers  having  time,  patience,  and  curiosity  enough, 
they  may  make  a  study  of  this  subject  for  themselves.  To  many 
minds  the  refutation  of  these  positions  must  have  occurred  as 
they  have  been  stated.     In  all  of  them  there  are  difiiculties. 

The  theories  which  involve  the  appearance  of  Satan  in  bodily 
form,  whether  of  man  or  angel,  are  open  to  the  objections  (1),  That 


*  This  is,  I  tliink,  the  view  of  most  of 
the  commentators  who  consider  them- 
selves orthodox. 

f  I  need  hardly  say  that  this  is  the 
view  of  Dr.  Strauss. 

X  The  man  being,  as  some  hold,  a 
member  of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim.  Ben- 
gel  says :  ' '  The  tempter  did  not  wish  it 
to  be  known  that  he  was  Satan,  yet 
Christ,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  inter- 
view, calls  him  Satan,  after  that  Satan 
had  plainly  betrayed  his  satanity."  He 
adds:  "  The  tempter  seems  to  have  ap- 
peared under  the  fonn  of  a  7pa/i/iaT6iW, 
a  scribe,  since  oiu-  Lord  thrice  replies  to 
him  by  the  word  yfyfiaTrrai,  it  is  written.'''' 
See  Gnomen  N.  T.,  vol.  i.  p.  149. 

§  This  view  was  held  by  Origen,  Cy- 


prian, Theodoras  of  Mopsuestia,    Ols- 
hausen,  and  Hiibner. 

II  Set  forth  by  Farmer  in  his  '■'■Inquiry 
into  the  Nature  and  Deftign  of  ChrixVa 
Temptation  in  the  Wilderness^  Lon- 
don, 17G1. 

^  Prof.  Paulus  and  many  others. 

**  Bleyer,  in  the  Studlen  u.  Kritiken 
for  1831,  p.  319. 

f  f  Eichhom,  Weisse,  and  other's. 

XX  Krabbe. 

§§  This  is  Neander's  view.  It  may  be 
regarded  as  a  specimen  of  what  Strauss 
well  calls  "  the  palliative  theology." 

II I  The  opinion  of  Schlciermacher, 
Baumgarten-Crusius,  etc. 

T[T[  Strauss,  Meyer,  De  Wctte,  and  aU 
that  school  of  course  give  this  solution 


94 


INTRODUCTION   OF   JESUS   TO    HIS    rUBLIC   IknNISTRY. 


Satan  iiowliere  else  is  so  represented  by  tliese  historians,*  which, 
I   acknowledge,   may  be  very  feeble  as  an  olv 

°    ^    icction,  l)ut  is  noticeable  in  this  connection ;  and 
form  "theory.  ,^,    m,  i  •      i  •     •  •,  ,        •  i     i 

(2),  lliat  tins  theory  is  incompatible  with  the  nar- 
rative; as,  for  instance,  the  taking  of  Jesns  to  the  pinnactle  of  the 
Temple  and  to  the  top  of  the  mountain,  and  showing  him  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world  in  a  moment,  which  no  meml)er  of  the 
Sanhedrim  and  no  "8crii)e"  would  have  essayed  to  do.  The  jier- 
gon  who  could  have  done  so  would  have  assumed  the  role  of  the 
^Messiah  himself,  made  aerial  excursion  in  the  prosen(;c  of  the 
multitude,  and  won  all  the  eclat  of  a  thaumaturgist.  Moreover 
(3),  According  to  this  view,  the  Devil  knew  that  the  pei-son  he  was 
tempting  was  divine;  and  this  fact  greatly  embarrasses  the  idea 
of  a  personal  conflict  between  the  two.  So  that  it  seems  we  must 
give  up  that  thefny. 

The  idea  of  any  myth  forming  itself  in  the  Augustan  age,  be- 
tween the  times  of  Livy  and  Tacitus,  and  especially  that  of  a 
theologic  myth  forming  itself  among  the  Jews,  at 
the  time  of  their  history  which  is  so  near  its  close 
as  this,  is  perfectly  preposterous.  One  may  safely  challenge,  I 
humbly  think,  any  man  of  any  amount  of  learning  to  point  out 
any  myth,  or  sign  of  a  myth,  which  had  its  origin  in  any  notable 
centre  of  political  influence  in  any  portion  of  the  Ilomaii  Empire 
after  the  accession  of  Augustus  to  the  imperial  throne.  One  may 
challenge  the  whole  school  of  myth-philosophci-s  to  indicate  any- 
thing, aside  from  the  history  of  Jesus,  which  gives  evidence  of 
mythical  tendency  even  among  the  people  of  the  Jews,  at  any 
time  of  their  history  after  the  beginning  of  the  third  century 
before  the  Christian  era.  AVliy  then  should  the  history  of  Jesus, 
and  that  alone,  be  interpreted  against  all  known  laws  of  mental 
progress?  Does  any  man  ever  apply  the  myth  theory  to  the  times 
of  Julius  Cfcsar  or  Pompey?  A  myth  is  the  product  of  the  child- 
hood of  a  people,  and  never  survives  the  maturity  of  a  nation,  as 
a  matter  of  belief,  any  more  than  the  traditionary  stories  of  fai- 
ries, wherewith  we  still  allow  the  children  of  Europe  and  America 
to  be  amused,  have  power  over  the  consciences  of  the  i)eo]>le. 


The  myth  theory. 


*  If  the  reader  recalls  John  \\.  70,  he 
most  be  reminded  that  JeRun  calls  Judas 
Sia^uAoT,  which  is  the  generic  substan- 
tive, "a  devil,"  in  the  sense  of  "devil- 


ish." I  do  not  recollect  any  ca.sc  of  a 
mon  being  called  A  8iaj3oAo5,  (he  devil. 
Alford  {Gr.  Test,  in  loca)  says  that  nc 
such  case  can  be  adduced. 


TnE   TEMPTATION.  95 

Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  the  tlieologic  m^-tlis  wliich  tlieir 
early  ancestors  liad  originated  were  fast  losing  all  respect  among 
the  nntfnUivated  masses  and  the  lower  orders,  as  thev  had  long 
before  ceased  to  be  regarded  by  the  learned  and  the  tasteful  as 
■worth  more  tlian  merely  the  poetical  element  that  was  in  them 
Tlie  Jcwisli  nation  never  were  much  given  to  that  form  of  thought 
Pei'haps  the  infancy  of  no  commnnity  known  to  history  was  fi'cer 
from  myths  than  the  early  life  of  the  Hebrew  people.  How  im- 
practicable, then,  must  it  have  been  to  generate  a  mytli  under 
llerod  and  Pontius  Pilate,  in  Judaia,  just  before  or  soon  after  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  by  people  who  had  been  bred  Jews  and 
were  scattered  over  the  Poman  Empire! 

These  general  remarks,  applying  to  the  biography  of  Jesus  in 
the  mass,  are  equally  forceful  as  to  any  particular  passage  in  his 
histoiy.  "We  must  give  up  the  myths.  Those  M-ho  earnestly  held 
to  them  a  few  years  ago  are  forced  by  the  advancing  spirit  of 
critical  investigation  to  abandon  them. 

As  for  the  theories  Avhich  involve  visions  and  "  significant  morn- 
ing dreams,"   perhaps  nothing  shorter  or  l)cttcr  can  be  said  than 

Lann-e's  sentence:  ^''Decisive  ethical  conflicts  do 

The    "dream 
not  take  place  in  the  form  of  dreams ;  "  a  state-    ^^^^ 

ment  which  will  probably  be  confirmed  by  the 

consciousness  of  many  a  reader. 

Let  all  dogmas  be  laid  aside  and  the  record  of  these  historians 
be  examined  to  see  what  they  teach  any  fair-minded  reader. 

In  general  they  give  us  the  knowledge  of  what  Jesus  thought 
of  a  supreme  passage  in  his  own  mental  and  spiritual  history. 
As  no  man  who  existed  before  his  time,  or  has  risen  since,  has  so 
influenced  the  intellectual  and  moral  condition  of  the  world,  this 
piece  of  autobiography  becomes  to  ns  a  history  of  unspeakable  im- 
portance. We  wish  to  ascertain  his  views  of  the  subjects  involved, 
and  compare  them  with  what  we  believe  to  be  ascertained  laws  of 
psychology. 

It  is  first  to  be  noticed  that  this  important  and  testing  occur- 
rence enters  his  history  just  at  the  moment  we  should  naturally 

look  for  it.    He  was  a  man.  Marvellous  and  won-  . , .  , 

--,.,.,  -  ,     ,  „  Sense  of  hishu- 

deiTul,  m  birth  and  growth,  he  was  a  man.   Irom    canity  in  Jesus 

perhaps  an  earlier  period  than  even  the  beginning 

of  conscious  self-inspection  there  had  been  a  sense  of  spiritual 

idiosyncras}^  present  ^^dth  him.      It  may  have  been  at  first  the 


96  INTRODUCnON    OF   JESUS   TO    HIS    I'LHIJC    -AflMSTRr. 

prliinincr,  then  tlie  dawn,  tlicn  tlie  growing  Uglit.  It  consisted 
witli  a  perfect  Inunan  consciousness.  The  sense  of  manness,  of 
hunianncss,  never  left  liini.  It  was  as  present  to  him  as  it  ever 
was  to  any  other  human  being.  His  Avhole  history  sliows  tliat ; 
and  from  a  review  of  liis  whole  life  we  must  recall  that  fact  in 
tlie  study  of  his  preparation  for  his  life-work.  lie  had  an  increas- 
ing conviction  that  he  was  set  in  the  universe  for  some  uni(pie 
work.  He  had  a  growing  ability  for  that  work.  "  He  grew  in 
wisdom."  As  he  approached  the  hour  in  the  world's  history  and 
his  own  when  his  mission  was  to  be  ostensibly  and  operatively 
bejrun,  he  felt  within  himself  the  keen  and  masterini]'  desire  to 
enter  upon  and  accomplish  his  work. 

The  baptism  was  a  crisis.     John  was  to  have  therein  a  sign  of 

the  Messiah,  the  Sent  One,  the  real  Man  of  Destiny,  the  Anointed 

Deliverer.     If  he  were  that  One, — and  his  belief 

Excitement  of    ,yj^^g^  J^ave  grown  with  his  growth, — what  should 

Jesus  at  his  bap-  ,       "",  xii-  ip.ti  u 

j^jjj  occur  when  he  presented  lumselr  to  Jolm  would 

settle  the  question  definitely.  It  would  also  be 
his  own  voluntary  dedication  to  the  loftiest  and  the  largest  work 
ever  enterprised  by  man.  The  phenomena  at  the  baptism  con- 
spired with  his  own  sentiments  to  produce  in  him  the  most  in 
tensely  exciting  and  exalting  state  of  feeling  consistent  with  the 
continuance  of  life.  Through  that  state  he  had  just  passed.  It 
was  his  Itul)icon.  It  was  his  voluntary  devotion  to  what  he  never 
could  afterward  abandon  without  spiritual  shipwreck  and  self- 
ruin.  Every  other  great  soul  has  passed  through  precisely  in 
kind  that  crisis  of  the  mind  and  spirit  proportioned  to  each 
man's  soul  and  work.  Jesus  is  admitted  by  all  healthy  minds  to 
have  been  the  greatest  sonl  in  all  our  human  brotherluKxl,  and  the 
work  he  was  about  to  undertake,  whether  he  should  succeed  in 
accomplishing  it  or  not,  to  be  the  greatest  of  all  the  enterprise? 
known  in  the  record  of  holy  daring.  He  was  making  for  himself 
an  investiture  of  himself  with  the  oflice  and  dignity  of  i-oyal  i-ule 
over  all  humanity.  The  excitement  had  been  indescribably  be- 
cause inconceivabl}'  intense. 

Then  followed  in  his  what  has  followed  in  ever}'  other  known 
human  history-, — a  collapse,  a  depression,  an  awful  desolation,  a 

.^       „     *         plmiire  from  the  altitudes  of  human  sensations, 
The  collapse.         '        '^    .  ,       .  .        ,  ...  i       i       i 

j)erceptions,  and  spiritual  conditions  to  the  depths 

'hat  lie  separated  by  thin  ani  weak  Uooring  from  the  bottonilcse 


TIIE   TEMPTATION.  97 

pit  of  despair.  Every  man  that  has  gone  upon  a  huge  work  has 
had  these  alternations, — transitions  from  the  high  excitement  of 
emprise  to  the  depths  of  doubts  and  misgivings, — that  dread  in- 
terval of  chill  between  commitment  to  a  cause  and  the  fii"st  blow, 
— the  season,  brief  by  the  clock  but  long  by  the  heart,  which  the 
soldier  passes  through  between  the  formation  of  the  line  of  battle 
and  the  roar  of  the  first  artillery  discharge  which  announces  the 
befrinninn:  of  the  action  which  must  then  be  fought  throusjh  to  the 
result  of  victory  or  defeat. 

Such  seems  to  have  been  the  passage  of  the  temptation.  Full 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Jesus  returned  from  Jordan,  where  he  had 
been  baptized,  and  was  led  by  God's  Spirit  into  a 

•11  1  1  ii  \li         i'l  Peccability    of 

Wilderness,  where  he  was  to  endure  another  trial    ^ 

'  Jesus. 

and  have  shown  whether  he  could  as  well  preserve 
his  unsinningness  in  depression  as  in  exaltation,  when  hell  ftiocked 
him  as  well  as  when  heaven  eulogized  him.  This  was  absolutely 
necessary  for  him.  It  was  possible  for  Jesus  to  sin : '-  quite  as 
possible  as  for  Adam,  or  Moses,  or  you,  or  me,  or  any  other  man. 
Any  other  view  reduces  this  portion  of  his  history  to  such  a  fable 
or  parable  as  avouUI  be  more  ridiculous  than  any  farce  we  ever 
read  ;  for  even  in  the  fable  Jesus  would  be  represented  as  liable 
to  a  spiritual  lapse,  which  is  inconsistent  with  any  dogma  of  his 
impeccability.  He  might  have  attempted  an  indulgence  of  him- 
self in  what  M-as  attractive  but  sinful.  It  would  have  ruined  him. 
But  if  he  could  not,  then  he  was  no  man  in  any  reasonal)le  sense 
of  that  word  ;  then  he  had  no  freedom  of  will,  and  could  not  have 
been  CTen  virtuous ;  then  his  history  is  of  no  kind  of  moral  sig- 
nificance or  spiritual  import  to  any  man  whatever;  then  he  was  a 
monster,  being  not  God,  not  angel,  not  demon,  not  man,  an  ano- 
malous drift,  floating  lawlessly  and  disorderly  among  the  things 
of  God,  an  entity  having  no  reference  to  God  whatever.  This  is 
not  to  be  supposed. 

Jesus  was  tempted  just  as  any  other  man,  and  tells-  the  story  of 
his  tem]:)tation  just  as  any  other  intelligent  person  would  narrate 
the  fearful  passage  of  his  supreme  spiritual  trial.     His   narrative 

*  The  old  distinction  is  of  the  non  '  to  Adam  and  to  Jesus.  Neither  had  any 
posse  pcccarc  and  the  posse  non  peccnre  ; 
the  former,  the  inherent  inability  to  sin, 
belongs  to  God  alone  ;  the  latter,  the 
inherent  ability  to  keep  from  sinning, 
7 


traditional  bad  blood.  That  is  their 
chief  human  distinction  from  other  men. 
This  is  th.e  schoLastic  view. 


9fi  INTRODUCTION    OF   j::SrS    TO    HIS    rUDLIC    >nNISTKT. 

follows  known   psyclidldiric   l:iws.    "  Tniniediatcly,"    lie    tells   nfl, 

the  S[)irit  wliii-h  luiJ  led  him  to  John,  to  the  i)aii;- 

His    narrative    jj     Joicjan,  to  the  oj)C]nng heaven,  to  the  deseend- 

(riven  humanly.  .  ,  .1        t    •        i  ^'   .•  i     1  • 

mg  dove,  to  the  divme  benediction,  compels  linn, 

'•drives"  him  into  the  wilderness  "  to  be  tempted  of  the  devil," 
Just  so  any  ant()biogra})lier  would  state  it.  It  was  the  actual  con- 
flict of  Jesus  with  the  Power  of  Evil. 

The  excitement  of  the  Jordan  scene  was  followed  by  a  fast  of 

forty  days  and  forty  nights.     "We  are  not  i)repared  to  say  that 

this  was  literallv  a  period  of  forty  times  tweiity- 

^Jast  of    forty    j^^^^^.  j^^^^^^.^      ,,  y^^^,^^.  ^.^^.^  „  j^  ^  licbraism  for  an 

indefinitely  long  time.  We  have  no  record,  out- 
side tlie  Bible,  so  far  as  I  know,  (»f  any  fast  having  been  continued 
this  long  and  life  retained.  And  if  Jesus  was  miraculously  sus- 
tained, it  takes  much  from  the  power  of  moral  instruction  which 
this  passage  otherwise  contains. 

As  in  the  cases  of  Moses  (Exod.  xxxiv.  28)  and  Elias  (1  Kings 
xix.  8),  this  period  was  tilled  with  a  spiritual  ecstasy  and  a  trial 
of  his  powers  which  susjiendcd  the  ordinary  wants  of  the  l)(»dy. 
AVlien  at  last  hunger  broke  through  upon  him,  and  exhaustion 
ensued,  Satan  is  represented  as  having  come  to  him  presenting 
the  tests  of  his  virtue  which  seai-ched  him  through  all  those  open- 
ings of  the  human  I)cing  as  yet  discovered  on  the  side  of  (h.'^irc, 
namely,  the  desire  of  pleasure,  the  desire  of  jiraise,  and  the  desire 
of  ])ower, — an  approach  through  the  body,  through  the  intellect, 
and  through  the  soul,  to  the  inner  man,  the  si)irit,  the  real  T, — or, 
as  the  writer  of  the  First  Ejjistle  General  of  John  (ii.  IG)  classifies 
them,  "  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  the  pride  of 
life."     The  tem]>tation  through /vv^/*  was  reserved. 

In  the  history  of  Jesus  we  shall  come  upon  some  other  teaching 

ill  regard  to  Satan.    Here,  for  the  fii-st  time  in  that 

Satan.  i-^  xi-  •  •  li  ii* 

lii.<tory,  this  name  is  assigned  tti  a  pei-sonal  hemg. 

In    advance,    there    is   nothing    preposterous,    nothing    ridicu- 
lous, nothing  unreasonable,  we  may  even  say  nothing  improba- 
ble in  the  Rupj^osition    that    there    is    an    entifv 
Nothing prcpoe-    ^.„^i,,^^.^.,|   ^^.j,,,   i„t^.iii.,encc  and   moral  qualities, 

specially  and  actively  evil;  intelligently  and 
persistently  evil;  thoroughly  anil  <('aselessly  evil.  The  probabil- 
ities, apart  from  any  special  revelation  from  .Mmighty  (Jod,  are 
in  favor  of  the  existence  of  such  a  pci-son,  although  it  is  mani 


•niE   TEinTATION.  99 

fcsfly  ont  of  tlie  poM'cr  of  the  linmaii  reason  to  determine  the 

coiKlitidiis  of  his  existence  or  the  modes  of  his  action,  while  pro- 

Luhle  characteristics  could  be  reasonably  conjectured. 

Every  intelligent  man  who  devotes  any  time  to  self-inspection . 

finds  tliat  his  violations  of  any  code,  which  he  believes  to  be  the 

mural  law,  come  either  from  certain  emotions  of 
1  .  •  .  ',11  J.  i  n  1  Undcsi'nied  pre» 

his  own  inner  nature — excited  he  cannot  tell  how,  .?         , 

, '  sure  on  the  soul. 

B[>()ntaneous  so  far  as  he  knows — acting  upon  his 
will,  making  such  a  pressure  upon  that  will  as  amounts  to  a  temp- 
tation ;  or,  that  such  excitation  of  the  emotions  and  such  pres- 
sure upon  the  M'ill  is  from  something  without.  In  the  latter  case 
it  is  some  perception  of  some  object  which  he  sees,  or  of  some 
sound  A\liich  he  hears,  or  some  report  of  some  of  the  senses,  unde- 
signed^  coming  incidentally  upon  him,  or  designed,  brought  to  bear 
upon  him  by  some  intelligent  being.  Among  the  undesigned  se- 
ductions to  evil,  or  what  may  at  least  be  called  evil  influences,  are 
those  attractions  or  repulsions  created  in  the  individual  man  by  the 
"  spirit  of  the  age,"  a  general  air  and  temperature  generated  by 
all  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  motions  about  him,  and  coming 
upon  his  soul  not  from  any  individual's  design  to  be  specially 
hurtful  to  him,  but  just  as  deleterious  air  destroys  where  no  man 
is  attempting  to  poison  another. 

But  we  are  conscious  of  sinister  and  wicked  designs  upon  us 
coneocted  and  openited  by  wicked  men.  Some  men  are  adroit, 
some  skilful,  some   surpassingly   influential   for 

evil.     Some  of  these  are  really  so  acute  in  their  ° 

.  sure, 

perceptions,  so  rapid  in  their  motions,  and  so  per- 
sistent in  their  efforts,  that  to  speak  of  them  as  compassing  sea  and 
land  seems  hardly  an  exaggeration.  Aitists  of  the  pen  sometimes 
paint  these  far-sighted,  near-sighted,  telescopic, microscopic, almost 
ubiquitous  weavers  of  the  webs  of  deceit  and  treachery,  and  paint 
thoui  with  a  power  that  appals  us.*  The  body  is  at  once  a  help 
and  encumbrance  to  these  spirits.  We  easily  reach  the  proba- 
bility that  there  are  spirits  without  the  clog  of  flesh  who  operate 
upon  one  another,  and  upon  the  spirits  of  men,  having  learned  the 
[ip[)roachcs  to  the  soul  through  the  flesh,  some  of  them  having 
probably  been  in  the  flesh.  As  among  men  there  are  those  who 
gain  the  mastery,  and  "get  the  stai-t,"  and  take  the  lead  in  the 

*  Perhaps  Sue's  Le  Juif  Errant  might  be  cited  as  famishing  an  example. 


100  ENTKODUCnON    OF  JESUS   TO    HIS    PUBLIC   SDNISTKY. 

march  "of  tliis  majestic  worl(],"  so  amon*^  tliein  it  is  iK^t  difficult 

to  believe  there  may  be  spirits  ambitious  of  chieftainship  and 

capable  of  lifting  themselves  over  the   masses  to  a  throne  of 

power,   and   of   establishing    jnincipalities   in   spii-itual    places. 

^Vlioso  could  reach  the  czai-ship  in  this  rule,  or  secure  and  keep 

skill  to  ht^ld  the  generaFs  post  in  this  Proimgajida,  would  be  77ie 

Devil,  Satanas,  Satan. 

These  are  merely  the  probabilities  reached  by  reas<^)iiings  on 

the  facts  of  human  nature  and  S(x;iety  ;  but  are  not  proofs  of  the 

existence  of  a  Pei-sonal  Spirit  of  Evil.     That  is 
Rational  proba-  r   ,i  ,  •      .  \  •   \  i 

, .,.  .       .  ,,  one  or  those  subiects  upon  wluch  men  can  have 

bihties  of  the  ex-  .  . 

istence  of  Satan.      ''<^  positive  knowledge  beyond  what  the  Father  of 

all  spirits  should  choose  to  reveal.  But  if'  there 
l»e  such  a  being,  the  ])robability  is  that  some  revelation  of  his 
existence  wouUl  be  made,  if  God  ever  reveals  anything  to  man. 

The  statement  that  Jesus  employed  the  superstition  of  liis  coun- 
trymen to  advance  his  own  go(^d  aiid  i)raisew()rthy  design  of  ac- 
quiring inlluence  over  them  ivr  their  benelit — a 
Satan  of  New    ^.^j.^  iiii^vyi.tljy  course  for  any  ffreat  man  to  pur- 
Testament       not  *'    .  •   ,,     .  •   .     .     .1  1     <• 
,     . .                    sue — IS  cftj)eciaily  mapiM'opriate  to  the  case  beiore 

us.  His  narrative  of  his  temptation,  together 
with  liis  other  teachings,  actually  made  a  revelation  to  the  Jewish 
mind.  They  had  no  conce}>tion  of  such  a  being  as  the  Satan  of 
the  New  Testament. 

The  statement  that  the  Jews  obtained  their  idea  of  Satan  from 
the  East  during  the  "  Cajjtivity,"  is  wholly  nnsustained  by  any- 
thing known  of  their  literature.     Their  conce|> 

Jewish    idea  of     ,.  r  ^    .  in  i-i       xi       t>        •        •  i 

,.  ^        .  w  •     1    tioi»  oi  oatan  was  whollv  uiiuUe  the  1  oi-sum  idea 
Satan  not  obtained  • 

In  the  Captivity.  "f  "^*^  1  rmce  of  bin.  Ihat  old  JManicha^an  doc- 
trine traced  the  existence  of  evil  to  one  creator, 
as  it  did  the  existence  of  good  to  anotlier,  and  these  creatoi-s  were 
equally  })<)werfiil ;  their  Satan  was  always  as  grand  and  inthion- 
tial  a  ]terson  as  their  (iod.  No  man  can  read  Jewish  sacred  lite- 
rature without  seeing  how  totally  ab.scnt  is  this  idea.  It  seems 
never  to  have  had  a  })lace  among  them.  Among  the  writei"s  of  the 
Old  TcstaiiHMit  the //^//;/t' seldom  o(r(;ui"S,  and  the?^v>/v/iiot  very  fn;- 
quently.  AV^hcrc  tlu;  name  is  used  the  person  so  designated  has  no 
attribute  of  grandeur  or  tciribleness  or  extensive  ]M>w('r.  lie  is 
always  at  the  control  oCh-hovah.  This  is  <|uite  dilTerent  from  tlio 
doctrine  of  Ahriinan  and  Oriuuzd,  tlie  I'ersian  co-ordinate  deities 


THE     TEMTTATION.  101 

The  name  f)ccurs  first  in  the  hook  "  Joh"  (i*.  G ;  ii.  1-7),  in  paa- 
sages  so  familiar  that  they  need  not  he  quoted.     But  it  is  worth 
wliile  to  remind  the  reader  tliat  in  this  powerful 
(li-amatie  sketch  Satan   is   not   represented  with 
any  characteristic  of  splendor  or  terror.     lie  is  a 
mischievous  vagabond,  who  is  allowed  by  Almighty  God  to  exeit 
his  influence  for  evil  upon  the  body  and  the  estate  of  Job,  but 
not  upon  his  soul.     He  is  cliained,  and  the  chain  is  not  long.     It 
is  to  l>e  recollected  that  this  book  was  most  probably  written 
before  the  Captivity. 

In  the  next  place,  we  find  the  following  in  Ps.  cix.  G:  "Set 
thou  a  wicked  man  over  him:  and  let  Satan  stand  at  his  right 
hand."     This,  fairly  translated,  seems  to  be  only  a 
statement  of  God's  law  of  retribution,  in  which    Q^r^A 
the  word  Satan  may  be  translated  "  adversary,"  * 
so  that  it  simply  says  that  when  one  has  behaved  wickedly  towards 
his  friend,  "  A  wicked  man  shall  be  set  over  /dm,  and  an  adver- 
eaiy  shall  stand  at  his  right  hand."      But  if  the  word  be  taken  as 
the  name  of  the  Chief  of  Evil,  to  which  there  seems  to  be  no  ob- 
jection, here  is  marked  inferiority.    Satan  is  limited  and  subordi- 
nate, a  being  totally  different  from  the  Ahriman  of  the  East  and 
the  Satan  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  third  citation  is  in  1  Clu'on.  xxi.  1 :    "And  Satan  stood  up 
against  Isi-ael,  and  provoked  David  to  numl)er  Israel."    Supposing 
this  to  be  the  personal  Devil,  the  remark  in  the 
last  sentence  of  the  preceding  paragraph  equally    ,,    ^,  .    ., 
applies. 

The  onl}'  other  passage,  so  far  as  I  know,  in  which  tlie  word  is 
translated  "  Satan  "  in  our  version,  is  in  Zechariah  iii.  1 :  "And  he 
showed  me  Joshua  the  high-priest  standing  before 
the  auircl  of  the  Lord,  and  Satan  standinc:  at  his    „    ,     .  , 
right  hand  to  resist  him.     This  is  a  dream  or  vision. 
As  such  I  admit  it  may  safely  be  taken  as  the  writer's  idea  of  Satan, 
as  even  embodying  the  popular  idea.     It  was  written  after  the  Cap 
tivity.    Can  any  man  find  in  this,  and  in  the  text  from  Chronicles, 
the  slightest  trace  of  Persian  origin  ?     And  this  is  all,  except  a  few 
passages  such  as  2  Samuel  xix.  22,  and  1  Kings  v.  4,  in  which 
the  word  satan  is  admittedly  properly  translated  "adversary." 

*  I  believe  the  Septuagint  generally,  I  "  adversary." 
p^rhaos  invaiiably,  translates  the  word  I 


102  IXTEODUCnON   OF  JESCS   TO   HIS   rUDLIC   SnXISTKT. 

Tlie  Jews,  tlicn,  did  not  find  their  conception  of  Satan  in  the 
Captivity.  They  never  adopted  tlie  Oriental  mytli<)lo<;y.  Nor 
did  Jesus  adopt  their  notions.  Tlie  Satan  of  his  teueliin^  is  a 
revelation,  as  Ave  shall  see  as  we  make  progress  with  this  hi&r.ory. 
We  shall  find  that  Satan  is  a  pei*son  six>ken  of  as  thoroughly 
individualized  in  the  mind  of  Jesus,  and  subsequently  of  liis  fol- 
lowers, and  his  existence  repeatedly  referred  to,  "  asserted  or  im- 
plied as  a  familiar  and  important  truth." 

Jesus  helieved  himself  to  have  been  assailed  by  Satan,  and  as 
we  know  n(jthing  to  the  c(jntrary,  we  believe  so  t(H).  13ut  he  no- 
where states,  and  we  have  no  right  to  affirm,  <••■••- 

,.      ,  tainlv  no  riMit  to  consider  it  an  article  of  faith, 

lieveu.  "  f  ' 

that  Satan  appeared  to  him  in  bodily  form  as 
a  man,  a  "  member  of  the  Sanhedrim,"  or  a  "  Scribe."  "When  a 
cunning  evil  man  discovers  a  pure  and  gi'cat  spirit  about  to  en- 
gage in  a  great  work,  he  offers  resistance  and  presents  obstacles. 
Tlie  attractions  of  the  universe  bring  them  face  to  face,  as  a  neg- 
atively electrified  body  is  drawn  towards  one  that  is  positively 
electrified.  Satan  found  Jesus  as  he  finds  you  and  me,  and  he 
instantly  opened  an  attack  on  his  virtue. 

Whether  Jesus  saw  Satan  or  not,  and  held  this  colloquy  in  ar- 
ticulate words,  or  had  the  suggestion  presented  to  liim,  and  from 

his  inmost  s})irit  made  the  response,  we  cannot 

WTiich    theory     ,  -k-^       •      -^    •  i.      i.         rri  •   -..      i   i  • 

,       ,       ,.,„    ,     know.     JNor  IS  it  im])ortant.       I  lie  s))iiitual  Jns- 
has    less  uitncul-  ^  n  •  i  i 

jjgg  tory  of  Jesus  comes  forward  as  well  on  either  the- 

ory ;  and  on  either  we  have  all  the  lessons  neces- 
sary for  our  instruction.  The  latter  is  free,  however,  fi-om  the 
embarrassments  of  the  former,  a^  before  mentioned,  such  as  the 
bodily  visible  tempter  taking  the  person  of  Jesus  to  the  battle- 
ments of  the  Temple  and  the  top  of  the  mountain.  I>ut  if  Al- 
mighty God  gave  Satan  temporary  power  to  do  these  things,  as 
he  is  represented  in  the  l>(K)k  ''  Jol) "  to  have  done,  it  need 
give  trouble  only  to  such  historians  as  strive  to  read  the  history  of 
God's  world  with  G(k1  totally  ignored.  The  writer  of  these  pages 
believes  as  much  in  the  existence  of  God  as  he  does  in  the  exis- 
tence of  man. 

Tlie  fii-st  temptation  of  Jesus  was  thnmgh  the  body,  by  "  the 
lust  of  the  ficsh."  The  TcmpttM-  said:  "If  y<>n  be  the  Son  of 
God,  command  that  these  stones  be  made  bicad."  It  was  well  jnit. 
Jesus  had  just  received  at  J(»rdan  a  marvellous  confirmation  oj 


THE   TEMPTATION.  103 

his  opinion  of  himself  as  the  Son  of  God.  If  lie  was  the  Son 
of  God  he  was  the  Messiah.  If  the  Messiah,  he 
could  work  miracles.  Here  was  a  case  where  a  '^^^  ^^^^  temp- 
miracle  seemed  needed.  But  it  was  a  temptation  ^^  the  i\esh  " 
to  place  himself  out  of  the  harmony  of  the  mii- 
versal  oidei*,  and  to  do  so  for  a  selfish  ])ui-pose.  lie  replied  in  tha 
langnao;e  of  the  holy  books  :  "  It  is  written,  Man  shall  not  live  hy 
bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  niouth 
of  God."  It  was  a  human  and  a  manly  response.  Wliatever  may 
have  been  his  inmost  tlioughts  of  himself,  whatexer  profound  and 
inscrutable  self-consciousness,  he  always  knew  hiuiself  to  be  a 
man.  lie  meets  the  tem])ter  on  the  i)latform  of  common  hu- 
manity, and  there  fights  out  the  Imttle  of  virtue.  The  passage  he 
quotes  in  reply  is  froui  Deuteronomy  viii.  3,  and  occurs  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Tomptation  of  the  people  of  Israel,  in  which  tempta- 
tion they  fell,  even  as  Adam  fell  when  he  was  tempted.  It  im- 
plies, not  that  men  are  to  put  aside  the  ordinary  fo(xl  of  the  body, 
but  that  when  a  man  is  in  the  discharge  of  duty  he  may  depend 
upon  God's  providential  arrangements.  "  Word  "  does  not  occur 
in' the  original.  It  is  "eveiy — [thing] — that  proceedeth  from 
God's  mouth,"  every  expression  of  His  will.  Even  \Ahen  men 
eat  "  bread,"  the}'  do  not  live  by  bread  alone.  There  is  a  vitality 
maintained  by  the  Father  of  spirits  in  men  which  nuikes  the 
bread  productive  of  growth  or  reparative  of  decay. 

Jesus  might  have  yielded  to  the  temptation.  Then  had  he 
parted  with  his  Messiahship,  his  ordination  to  the  leadership  of 
those  sti"iving  to  be  bravely  good.  lie  would  no  longer  have  been 
a  Deliverer.     lie  would  himself  have  been  a  captive  of  his  lusts. 

The  second  temptation*  addressed  the  spirit  of  Jesus  through 
the  intellect,  "the  lust  of  the  eye."     Jesus  was  present  bodily  or 
by  vivid  mental   representation,  it  matters   not 
which,  in  Jerusalem,  and  "  on  the  pinnacle  of       Second  tempta- 
,  ,     „      rpi  •  i.    •       £  i.     t^'on:  '"the  lust  of 

the  temple        ihe  precise  spot  is  oi  course  not    .^         „ 

ascertainable,  but  a  probable  suggestion f  is  that 
Jesus  was  placed  on  the  lofty  porch  which  overhung  the  -valley 
.')f  the  Kedroii,  where  the  steep  side  of  the  valley  was  added  tc 
the  height  of  the  temple-wall,  as  described  by  Josephus,:|:  and 

*  It  will  be  perceived  that  I  follow  I      f  Smith's  X.  T.  Jlist. 
the  order  of  Luke  rather  than  of  Mat-         %  Ant.,  xv.     1,  §  5. 
thew,  as  being  more  logicaL  j 


104  DrrRODucTiox  of  jesus  to  his  Pur.Lic  imasxRY. 

made  a  depth  down  \vliich  it  was  terrific  to  gaze.  Then  the 
fcmpter  said,  "  Gust  tliyself  down."  lie  followed  np  tlie  sug- 
gestion by  an  ahbreviatcd  but  verbatim  quotation  from  the  sacred 
book,  namely  the  91st  Psahn :  "It  is  written,  lie  shall  give  His 
angels  charge  over  thee,  to  keep  thee ;  and  in  their  hands  they 
shall  bear  thee  up,  lest  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone."  An 
assurance  jj^iven  to  the  children  of  the  Almiichtv  God  in  general 
must  a  fortiori  apply  to  the  Son  of  God,  one  who  had  been  i)ro- 
iiounced  so  by  a  voice  out  of  the  heavens.  "  Now,  then,"  said 
the  tempter,  "  perform  a  brilliant  miracle.  Fling  thyself  from 
this  height,  and  when  thou  touchest  the  ground  the  people  will 
flock  to  thee,  and  without  question  hail  thee  as  the  Messiah."  It 
addressed  itself  principally  to  the  inuigination  of  Jesus.  It  was 
one  form  of  miracle  which  the  Messiah,  such  as  the  Jews  looked 
for,  was  traditionally  expected  to  perform.  Jesus  replied,  "  It  is 
written  again,  *  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God."  f  To 
obey  the  seductive  suggestion  would  have  been  so  grateful  to  a 
selfish  vanity.  But  he  repels  it.  The  Divine  Providence  must 
never  be  invoked  for  selfish  ends. 

The  third  form  of  temptation  assailed  Jesus  through  the  pas- 

Bions, — "  the  pride  of  life,"  ambition,  "the  last  infirmity  of  noble 

minds,"     Satan  made  to  pass  before  the  mind  of 

Third    tempta-    j^.gi,g  ^  panorama  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  world, 
tion:   "the  pride      ,.  ii-i  tt  e         ii 

of  life  "  their  power  and  their  glory,     ile  proiessed  to  be 

owner  and  master  of  these.  lie  tendered  them 
to  Jesus  on  the  solitary  condition  that  Jesus  should  pay  him 
homage.  As  if  he  had  said :  You  came  to  be  the  Messiali.  You 
can  a(-complisli  your  message  better  by  a  partnership  with  me. 
You  can  at  once  go  to  the  head  of  the  world.  You  are  the  Son 
of  God  :  join  me :  acknowledge  my  world-sovereignty,  and  then 
I  will  remove  all  obstructions  from  your  path  to  supreme  power 
and  gloi-y  !  It  was  a  proposition  to  use  physical  force  for  the 
accomplishment  of  moral  results — to  turn  from  the  path  of  suffer- 
ing and  labor  and  martyrdom  for  the  truth.  It  was  the  State 
proposing  an  alliance  with  the  Cliurch,  for  the  accomplishment 
of  a  good  end  by  sinister  means.  But  it  involved  homage  to  Evil, 
tribute  t  >  the  Chief  of  Evil. 

"Whatever  may  be  said  of  tlie  other  temptatit^ns,  this  must  be 

*  The  word  nahv,  translated  "again,"  I  rather  "  in  another  place." 
ioes  not  signify  "  ou  the  contrarj-,"  but  I      f  Dcut.  vi.  10. 


XnE   TEMPTATION.  105 

admitted  to  have  been  internal.  The  pliysical  conditions  of  the 
planet  are  such  that  there  cannot  possibly  ho  an  elevation  from 
which  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  could  be  seen,  and  there  is 
no  conceivable  position  in  which  their  "power"  and  "glory" 
could  have  been  visible. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  this  temptation  assailed  Jesus  on  the 
Messiah  side  of  his  natui'e  and  expectations.  lie  now,  if  never 
before,  believed  himself  to  be  the  Messiah.  lie 
was  about  to  exhibit  himself  as  such  to  his  nation.  Assault  on  the 
The  people  of  the  Jews,  as  he  knew,  held  that  j„g,^ 
the  Messiah  upon  his  arrival  should  first  break 
the  Roman  yoke,  and  then,  by  a  series  of  conquests,  military  and 
moral,  reduce  all  the  nations  to  the  rule  of  the  Jews  and  to  the 
religion  of  Judaism.  Why  should  not  Jesus  satisfy  this  natural 
expectation?  Why  not  abandon  the  method  of  leavening  the 
world  by  the  sure  but  very  slow  process  of  the  operation  of  truth, 
and  transmute  it  at  once  by  a  single  stroke  of  divine  power,  such 
as  he  could  have  exercised  if  he  were  the  Son  of  God  ?  The  very 
attempt  would  have  been  homage  to  Satan,  a  bending  of  the  knee 
to  Evil.  lie  was  willing  for  this  wonderfully  endowed  young  man 
to  exercise  all  the  authority  and  enjoy  all  the  gloiy  of  the  most 
splendid  viceroyalty  of  the  world,  while  he  retained  supreme 
dominion. 

The  reph'  of  Jesus  is  :  "  Get  thee  hence,  Satan,  for  it  is  writ- 
ten, Thou  shalt  do  homage  to  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only 
shalt  thou  worship."  The  answer  shows  that  Jesus  now  certainly 
recognized  the  instigator  of  his  evil  thoughts.  The  suggestion 
of  idolatry  of  a  very  foul  kind,  the  worship  of  the  Spirit  of  Evil, 
unveils  the  Satanic  character  of  the  tempter,  and  Jesus  repels 
him. 

There  is  an  expression  in  Luke  (iv.  6)  worth  notice.  Satan 
says :  "  All  this  power  will  I  give  thee,  and  the  glory  of  them ; 

for  that  is  delivered  to  me,  and  to  whomsoever  I 

•n  T     •        -i-  ?J      rpi     i.  i.        1-1  •   1      i-i.      i.'  Satan's  admission. 

Will  i  give  it.       lliat  to  which  special  attention 

is  called  is  the  acknowledgment  of  his  inferiority  by  the  Chief 

of  Evil   Spirits,  amid   intense  braggadocio.      lie  had  not  this 

dominion  of  personal  natural  right,  but  had  been  peiTuitted  to 

enter  upon  it.     The  whole  statement  is  a  falsehood,  when  asserted 

by  the  Evil  One  ;  but  the  subservience  and  limit  which  he  admits 

IB  a  characteristic  of  the  Satan  of  whom  Jesus  speaks,  which  dis* 


106  INTEODUCTIOX    OF   JESUS   TO    HIS    rUBLIC    ^n:>^STIlT. 

tinguishcs  him  from  tlic  Alirimaii  of  tlie  l^ra^i^iau  mytholo^, 
from  which  Jesus  and  the  Jews  are  said  to  have  derived  their 
notion  of  Satan,  and  is  very  important  in  this  l>cginning  of  our 
examination  of  wliat  Jesus  teaches  as  to  the  Cliief  of  Evil. 

Anotlier  <::eneral  lemark  nmst  be  made.     It  is  o])servahle  that 

Jesus  never  attempts  to  rebut  temptation  witli  logic,     lie  has  no 

argument  with  Satan.     lie  confronts  liim  with 

Jesus  repels  with    j|^^  ^y^^^.^^  ^^^  (,^,j_     ^^  quotes  tlie  sacred  b.>oks  of 

Scripture.  rm    •        ^  •  ^  1         /M   1    HI 

ins  people,  ihis  homage  \ydia  to  tlie  (>)la  iesta- 
ment  Scriptures  by  a  mind  endowed  naturally  with  greater  gifts 
than  that  of  Moses,  oi-  David,  or  any  of  the  prophets,  or  any  other 
human  being,  gives  those  books  an  exalted  and  endui-ing  impor- 
tance. 

The  history  tells  ns  that  when  the   tempter    departed  angels 

"came  and  ministered"  to  Jesus.     AVe  have  seen  the  statement 

of  the  announcement  of  his  birth  by  angels,  both 

IS  ry  o   an-    ^^^^^^.^  ^^^^  after  it  Occurred.     Their  innnediate 
gels. 

attendance  upon  Jesus  brings  them  nearer  to  this 

biography,  and  as  this  portion  is  taken  to  be  autobiogra})hic,  it  is 
the  first  mention  made  by  Jesus  of  these  superior  beings.  It  is 
the  proper  place  to  institute  an  incpiiry  into  the  positi(jn  which  they 
held  in  Jewish  literature  and  thought  before  the  birth  of  Jesus, 
as  preparatory  to  what  he  himself  teaches  upon  the  subject. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  how  little  is  given  in  the  Old  Testament 
writin<rs  to  irratifv  the  curiosity  of  man.  Of  that  with  which  he  is 
supposed  t<>  have  immediate  and  great  concern  there  is  nnich 
stated.  The  heavenly  world,  the  residence  of  good  s])ii-its,  is  fre- 
quently spoken  of,  and  many  things  told  of  its  inhabitants,  not  && 
doctrines  of  religion  but  as  facts. 

They  are  jegarded  as  the  highest  order  of  created  intelligences, 
all  other  creatures  being  below  them  in  dignity  and  station.     The 

projjhet  Isaiah  says:     "In   the  year  that  king 
nges    e   ig  -    ^     •  |     |j^.j  j  saw  also  Jehovah  sittiiii!;  upon  a 
est  of  creatures.  .        . 

throne,  high  and  lifted  up,  and  his  tiain  iilled  the 

Tem}tlc.  Ahove  it  stood  the  seraphim:  each  one  had  six  wings. 
And  one  cried  to  another,  and  said,  II<»ly,  holy,  holy,  is  Jehovah 
of  hosts  !  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  liis  glory  ! ''  This  nearness  to 
the  central  throne  of  the  universe  is  set  forth  also  in  Ezekicl,  ami 
Daniel.     The  former  says  (x.  1):    "  Then  I  U)oked,  and,  behuldj 


THE   TEMTTATION.  107 

in  the  firmament  that  was  above  the  head  of  the  chernbhn,  there 
appeared  over  them  as  it  were  a  sapphire-stone,  as  the  appearance 
of  the  likeness  of  a  throne."  Also  (in  xxviii.  14) :  "  Thou  art  the 
anointed  cherub  that  covereth  ;  and  I  have  set  thee  so:  thou  Avast 
npon  the  holy  mountain  of  God;  thou  hast  walked  up  an<l  dowu 
in  midst  of  the  stones  of  fire."  In  Daniel  x.  13,  the  angel  Michael 
is  called  "one  of  the  chief  princes  ;  "  and  in  xii.  1,  "  the  great 
prince."  In  2  Chron.  xnii.  IS,  it  is  written:  "Again  he  said, 
Therefore  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord  :  I  saw  the  Lord  sitting  upon 
Ilis  throne,  and  all  the  host  of  heaven  standing  on  His  right  hand 
and  on  His  left."  In  2  Kings  xix.  15,  Jehovah  is  represented  as 
dwelling  among  the  cherubim. 

They  are  represented  as  powerful  creatures.  In  Psalm  clii.  20, 
David  exclaims:  "Bless  the  Lord,  ye  angels  that  excel  in 
streno-th."      Evidence  of   their  strength  is  &n\^- 

!=  1         •       1  They  are   pow- 

posed  to  be  given  in  the  statements  that  m  three  ^^.^^  creatures. 
days  an  angel,  as  an  agent  of  God,  destroyed 
Beventy  thousand  persons  out  of  Israel  and  Judali  (2  Sam.  xxiv.) ; 
and  that  in  one  night  an  angel  destroyed  the  army  of  Semniche- 
rib,  numbering  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand  men  (2  Kings 
xix.).  But  in  the  latter  case  certainly  the  "  Angel  of  Jehovah" 
is  meant,  and  of  him  we  shall  find  more  hereafter. 

Their  activity  is  set  forth  in  such  expressions  as  (Ps.  civ.  4) : 
"  Who  maketh  Ilis  angels  spij-its,  and  his  ministers  a  flame  of  fire." 
Many  things  are  ascribed  to  cherubim  and  sera-  ^j^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^ 
pliim.  In  the  ninth  chapter  of  Daniel  we  are 
told  that  during  the  time  it  required  to  utter  a  prayer  the  angel 
Gabriel  came  to  him  from  the  supreme  heaven.  Dr.  Dwight 
Bays  {Si/ste))i  of  Theolof///,  vol.  i.) :  "  This  is  a  rapidity  exceeding 
all  the  comprehension  of  the  most  active  imagination ;  surpass- 
ing the  amazing  swiftness  of  light." 

Their  intelligence  was  set  forth  in  the  ascription  to  them  of 
"  eyes,"  and,  as  in  Ezekiel,  of  the  "  face  of  man,"  the  usual  orien- 
tal svmbol  of  intelligence.  The  name  "  cherub  "  ^j,^^.^  intelligence, 
means  "  fulness  of  knowledge."  In  the  speech 
of  Mephibosheth  to  David  the  wisdom  of  the  angels  is  implied  : 
"  But  my  lord  the  king  is  as  an  angel  of  God  :  do  therefore  what 
is  good  in  thine  eyes."     (2  Sam.  xix.  27.) 

In  every  mention  of  them,  or  allusion  to  them,  their  holiness 
Bcems  to  be  implied,  as  in  Daniel  iv.  13,  23 ;  viii.  13 ;  and  Genesis 


108  INTRODUCTION   OF   JESUS    TO    HIS   TUULIC    MINISTIIY. 

xxA'iii.  12.     More  tliaii  in  any  precise  statement  does  the  air  of 

^   .  ,    .  tliis  thonirlit  pervade  all  the  JeA-isli  holy  books. 

Their  holiness.  ,  ,"        ^      ,.  ,        ,  ,         ,  ,/.        ^    ' 

M-ntteii  by  men  diversely  educated  and  In  nig  far 

apart. 

Their  nnml)crs  are  described  as  immense.  In  Genesis  xxxii.  2, 
Jacob  is  said  to  have  called  the    place    Mahanaim,  siirnifying 

Their  numbers  "  ^^^^  hosts  or  camps,"  for  when  he  met  the  an- 
gels of  God  he  said,  "  This  is  Jehovah's  host." 
The  same  idea  is  in  1  Chron.  xii.  22  :  "  For  at  that  time,  day  by 
day,  they  came  nnto  David  to  help  him,  until  it  was  a  great  hc.t, 
like  the  host  of  God."  The  Supreme  Being  is  repeatedly  called 
"Jehovah,  God  of  Hosts."  David,  in  Psalm  Ixviii.,  exclaims : 
"  The  chariots  of  God  are  twenty  thousand,  even  thousanc  s  of 
angels." 

But  whatever  spirituality,  intelligence,   power,   activity,   and 

holiness  are  ascribed  to  them,  there  is  always  implied  an  infinite 

distance  between  them  and  Jehovah.      The  well- 
Infinitely  below    ,  .      T  1     •      -I  o     •  1     ,  • 
Q  ,                        known  passage  m  Job  iv.  lb,  is  very  emphatic : 

"  His  angels  he  charged  with  folly."  "  AVe  some- 
times find  anjrels,  in  their  terrene  manifestations,  eating  and 
drinking  (Gen.  xviii.  8 ;  xix.  3) ;  but  in  Judg.  xiii.  15,  10,  the 
angel  who  appeared  to  Manoah  declined,  in  a  very  jxiinted  man- 
ner, to  accept  his  hospitality.  The  manner  in  which  the  Jews  ob- 
viated the  apparent  discrepancy,  and  the  sense  in  which  they  un- 
dei-stood  such  passages,  ajipear  fn^m  the  apocryphal  book  of  Tobit 
(xii.  19),  where  the  angel  is  made  to  say:  'It  seems  to  you,  in- 
deed, as  though  I  did  eat  and  drink  with  you  ;  but  I  use  invisible 
food  which  no  man  can  see.'  This  intimates  that  they  were  sujv 
posed  to  simulate  when  they  apjieared  to  partake  of  man's  food, 
but  that  yet  they  had  food  of  their  own  proper  to  their  natures. 
Milton,  who  was  deeply  read  in  the  'angelic'  literature,  derides 
these  questions  {Par.  Lost^  v.  433-439).  But  if  angels  do  not 
need  food ;  if  their  spiritual  bodies  are  \\\\\cvc\\\\y  iacajyahle  oi 
waste  or  death,  it  seems  not  likely  that  they  gratuitously  perfonu 
an  act  designed,  in  all  its  known  relations,  to  promote  growth,  to 
repair  waste,  and  to  sustain  existence."  (See  McClint(  ck  and 
Strong's  Cyc.^  in  loco.) 

Theie  are  only  dim  suggestions  of  their  cmplo}nnent  in  heaven 
(as  in  1  Kings  xxii.  19  ;  Isa.  vi.  1-3';  Dan.  vii.  9,  10),  intimating 
most  profomid  worehip  and  adoration.     But  they  arc  everywhere 


THE   TEMPTATION".  109 

spoken  of  as  the  agents  of  God's  providence  when  he  discharges 
the  functions  of  Supreme  Moral  Governor  in 
punishing  the  wicked  and  directing  the  good  and  ° 
sustaining  tlie  despondent ;  as  when  they  destroyed  the  first-horn 
of  Egypt  (Exod.  xii.  23),  guided  Abraham's  servant  (Gen.  xxiv. 
7,  40),  and  cheered  Jacob  at  Bethel  (Gen.  xxviii.  12).  In  the 
earlier  histoiy,  the  intercourse  of  the  angels  with  men,  repeatedly 
hallowing  familiar  domestic  life,  is  destitute  of  awfulness.  This 
is  illustrated  by  the  story  told  in  Genesis  xviii.  For  a  season  they 
are  not  so  frequently  mentioned ;  but  in  the  times  of  the  Judges, 
when  the  people  were  deprived  of  prophetic  guidance,  and  in  the 
time  of  the  Captivity,  when  they  were  especially  exposed  to  the 
influences  of  heathenism,  these  angelic  visitations  reai)pear,  and 
seem  to  have  constituted  God's  special  agency  for  communicating 
with  His  chosen  people.  They  then  inspired  awe.  More  and 
more  that  feeling  deepened.  "With  Abraham's  dignified  and  nat- 
ural entertainment  of  the  angels,  as  so  graj^hically  given  in  Gen- 
esis xviii.,  contrast  Gideon's  apprehension  (Judges  vi.  22),  and  the 
fright  of  the  sons  of  Oman  (1  Chron.  xxi.  20),  and  David's  fear 
(1  Chron.  xxi.  30),  and  the  quaking  and  flight  of  Daniel's  friends 
(Dan.  X.  7),  and  Daniel's  own  speechlessness  and  swooning  (Dan. 
X.  S,  15,  17).  This  sentiment,  as  we  shall  see,  prevailed  in  the 
popular  mind  in  the  times  of  Jesus,  and  always  })revails  in  times 
of  materialistic  tendencies  and  among  peoples  made  gross  by  de- 
votion to  mere  animal  results. 

In  this  connection  there  is  a  presentation  in  the  Old  Testament 
writings  which  has  of  late  years  attracted  great  attention.  Among 
the  angelic  revelations  we  find  the  phrases,  ~x^^ 
c;-n"^x,  IhdaJc  Elohiin,  and  ^r^\:^''^  -sbjs,  Malak  Ye-    jgi^ovah  "°^ 
hovah — the  Angel  of  God,  and  the  Angel  of  Jeho- 
vah— repeatedly  occurring,  especially  the  latter.     Whatsoever  or 
whosoever  may  be  meant  by  this,  it  is  certainly  a  personage 
very  different  from  others  who  are  ordinarily  called  angels.     For 
no  dogmatic  ]>urpose,  but  simply  to  show  what  views  were  held 
among  learned  and  unlearned  Jews  when  Jesus  aj)peared,  we  pro- 
pose to  present  a  condensed  history  of  this  word,  for  which  Ave 
shall  be  largely  indebted  to  Ilengstenberg's  Chrlstologi/. 

In  Genesis  xvi.  7-13,  the  Angel  of  Jehovah  is  said  to  have 
found  Ilagar,  and  a  prei-ogative  of  the  Supreme  Creator  is  as- 
cribed to  him,  namely,  the  vast  increase  of  her  posterity.     Ilagai 


110  nsTnoDccnoN  of  jesus  to  nis  ruELic  MnasTKT. 

recoginzL'd  liim   as   God,  and  expressed  surprise  that  slie  liad 

seen  God  and  lived.      In    the  account    aheady 

Instances  in  Gen-    j.(.fej.j.(.(2  to,  in  (iencsis  xviii.,  one  of  Abraham's 

three  guests,  distinu^uished  by  the  dignity  of  liis 

person,  announces  himself  as  the  Angel  of  Jehovah.     In  (Jenesis 

xxii,  Abraham  receives  a  command  from  God  {Elohim  is  the  word 

here)  to  offer  np  his  son.     In  the  act  of  obedience  he  is  stojii)ed  by 

^Malak  Jehovah,  the  Angel  of  Jehovah,  who  says  :  "Xow  1  know 

that  thou  fearestGod,since  thou  ha.st  not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only 

son  from  rneP    Abraham  called  the  jilufe  JrJiovah-jlreh, "  Jehovah 

Mill  provide,"  which  shows  that  he  belie  vcd  that  he  had  seen  Jehovah. 

In  Exodus  iii.  the  An(jd  of  Jehovah  appears  to  ^Moses  in  the 

flamiii"-  bush,  and  ascribes  to  himself  all  the  attributes  of  the 

true  God.     Moses  covers  his  face,  being  afraid  to 

Instances  in  Ex-     ,,  /-»7tt'i  ••a1\  ir 

l(K)k  upon  God.     In  Lx<du8  xxxii.  the  Angel  or 

Jehovah  refuses  to  be  any  more  the  guide  of  the 

people  Israel,  after  their  sin  in  worshii>ping  the  golden  calf,     lie 

aft(;rwards  relents. 

Ill  Judges  ii.  the  Angel  of  Jehovah  appeal's  to  the  Israelites  in 

a  place  which  is  afterwards  called  Jiochim,  and  makes  himself 

,     ^   ,  known  as  their  deliverer  from  Ef'vi>t.      In  chap- 

In  Judges.  X      r'  •  1  A-  -HI 

ter  VI.  he  appeal's  to  Gideon,  and  in  verse  14  he 

is  called  nnrpiulifiedly  Jehovah,  In  verse  22  Gideon  expresses  a 
fear  lest  he  might  die,  having  seen  the  Angel  of  Jehovah.  IJe- 
iiig  pacified  by  the  august  13eing,  ho  erects  an  altar  wliidi  ho 
calls  "  Jehovah-shaloin,"  JchoraJi\s  Peace.  In  chapter  xiii.  is 
the  interesting  story  of  Manoah,  When  the  wonder-working  vis- 
itor disajtpeared  in  the  flame,  "  then  Manoali  was  convinced  that 
he  was  the  Angel  of  Jehovah;''"'  and  in  ver.  22  he  says  to  his  wife  : 
'*  We  shall  surely  die,  because  we  have  seen  6W." 

In  2  ]\ingR  xix.  tlic  Angel  of   Jehovah  destroyed  the  Assy- 
,    „.  rian  liost,  which  threatened   destruction   to   the 

In  Kings.  ' 

theoiM'acy. 
In  Isaiah  Ixiii.  0,  the  Angel  of  Jehovah  is  called  "the  angel  of 
,    ^    .  ,  His  iiresence,"  that  is,  the  aiifjel  of  His  face. 

In  iHOiah.  '  , 

In   Zcchariah  "  Malak  Yehovah"  is  very  fre- 
quently menti<»ned.    The  projthet  receives  all  his  revelations  from 

,    „    ,     .  ,       this  wonderful  IJeing.      In   chapter  ii.  (12-15)  lio 
In  Zechanah.  .  .  ,      ,  r  t  i  i       r  i  t  i  / 

is  distinguishe<l  from  .Icliovah  or  Hosts,  by  wli<»m 

ho  represents  himself  assent.  Yet  the  [)ri'[»het  seems  to  give  him  the 


THE    TEin'T.VTION. 


Ill 


name  of  Jehovah  of  Hosts  in  chapter  vi.  15.  The  Sth  verse  of  chap- 
ter xi  i.  is  remarkable.  There  ATalaJv  Yehovah,  the  An<^el  of  Jehovah, 
is  spoken  of  as  being  ecpial  in  dignity  and  gh)ry  with  Elohim,  God. 

CV)mi)ai'C  Psahu  xxxiv.  7  with  Psahn  xxxv.  5,  where  the  protec- 
tion of  tlie  good  and  the  pnnishment  of  the  wick- 
ed are  ascribed  to  the  Angel  of  Jehovah,  an  ad- 
ministration of  moral  government  Mhich  is  elsewhere  ascribed  to 
Jehovah  himself. ^'^ 

These  remarkable  passages  show  that  while  the  Jews  held  the 
doctrine  that  there  was  one  nncreated  Supreme  Being,  God,  Jeho- 
vah. Eloliim,  Uncreated  One,  Creator,  they  believed  that  there 
was  One  wl*o  was  the  Revealer  of  the  Jehovah,  Head  of  the  World, 
Kuler  of  the  Princes  of  the  Angels,  INfetratron,  ^rediatv)r.  Tiiat 
they  could  not  have  borrowed  the  remarkable  idea  from  the  Per- 
sians is  apparent  from  the  fact  that  it  pervades  all  their  books  re- 
garded as  sacred,  those  written  before  as  well  as  those  M'ritten 
after  they  had  been  submitted  to  the  intbience  of  Orientalism. f 

To  Jesus,  when  he  fainted  in  his  bodily  collapse  after  his  fast, 

and  his   mental   exhaustion  after   the    severe    spiritual    conflicts 

through  which  he  passed  in  his  ten\ptation,  there 

came  ani>'els,  ministering  to  him  what  he  needed,    ,    ^  ^^    minis  er 

^  °  r>      1    1  to  Jesus. 

— whatever  was  necessary  to  refresh  him  in  body 

and  in  soul — food,  and  tenderness,  and  sympathy. 


*  It  must  be  noticed  that  in  all  the 
passAges  cited  above  the  oriyiual  is  re- 
ferred to,  and  not  the  English  version, 
which,  however,  is  ordinarily  quite  close 
enough  for  all  practical  puri)oses. 

f  Ilengstenborg  uses  the  facts  in  this 
case  to  show  that  this  angel  of  Jeho- 
vah wa.s  Christ,  a  Ileing  equal  in  dignity 
and  glory  with  the  great  God. 

A  remarkable  little  book  by  Prof. 
MacWhorter,  of  Yale  College,  is  enti- 
tled "  Yahvfih  Christ;  or.  The  Bleniorial 
Name."  It  holds  (1),  That  the  name  is 
not  Jehovah,  signifying  I  AM,  but  Yah- 
veh,  Thk  Onk  to  Ct).ME.  equivalent  to 
the  Greek  6  Epxiatvos,  IIo  Erkonieuos, 
TilK  Onk  Co.mi.no,  the  difference  being 
in  the  vowels,  the  Jewish  prejudice  mak- 
ing the  former  reading,  while  the  latter  is 
storrect.     (.2),  That  the  right  reading  is. 


"  The  Angel  Jeho\ah,"  not  "  The  Angel 
of  Jehovah,"  the  latter  word  being  appo- 
sitional ;  and  that  this  Memorial  Name 
is  complete  in  Christ. 

Ileadei"s  who  wish  to  examine  this 
subject  more  thoroughly  are  referred 
to  C/irtJitohffp  of  01(1  Testament,  by 
Ilengsteuberg,  vol.  i,  chapter  3,  in 
which  he  will  find  a  very  able  and 
learned  treati.se  on  the  Jfetratron.  with 
an  interesting  comparison  of  Jewish  and 
Persian  teaching  on  these  questions ; 
also.  Prof.  MacWhorter's  book  ju^t 
mentioned ;  and  Uililidthccn  S*icra,  vol. 
for  18r)!).  p.  80,").  an  article  on  "The 
./Vngel  of  Jehovah ; "  also,  Blh.  Sar. , 
Jan.,  18.")7,  p  08.  These  we  have  used 
only  so  far  as  they  bore  upon  the  object 
we  have  in  view  in  this  biography  of 
Jesus. 


CnAPTER    lY. 


THE   FIRST   DISCIPLES. 


In  the  mean  time  the  Sanhedrim  at  Jernsalcm  hearing  of  John's 

proceedings  sent  a  dej)iitation  of  priests  and  Levites  to  catechise 

liim  as  to  the  office  which  lie  supposed  liimself  to 
om 

the  Sanhedrim. 


be  iilling.     The  first  question,  as  history  stands  in 


the  lii-st  cliapter  of  John,  was  general,  "  W\\o  are 
you  ? "  But  he  knew  the  ^lessianic  expectancy,  and  promptly  and 
frankly  said,  "  I  am  not  the  Messiah,  the  Christ,  the  oi'dained 
One."  They  held  the  tradition  that  the  Messiah  was  to  be  pre- 
ceded by  a  powerful  prophet,  endowed  as  Elijah  was — ]>crhaps 
by  Elijah  himself.  This  was  the  usual  interpretation  of  Malachi 
iv.  5.  So  they  asked  John  if  he  was  Elijah.  He  asserted  that 
he  was  not  Elijah,  nor  the  prophet  whose  coming  had  been  pre- 
dicted by  Moses  in  Deuteronomy  xviii.  15,  a  prediction  which  the 
Jews  intei-preted  to  signify  the  resurrection  of  Jeremiah,  or  some 
other  ancient  prophet,  who  was  not  the  Messiah,  as  appears  from 
Matt.  xvi.  14. 

Tlie  wliole  passage  from  John  i.  10-28,  has  already  been  given 

at  p.  77.     The  interview  with  the  committee  of  the  Sanhedrim 

appeai-s  to  have  taken  place  as  the  terrible  trial  of 

John's  testimony    x  •       xi  -i  i  i  •  '^  i 

^    .  T  u    •    Jesus  m  the  wilderness  was  reacluuf;  its  conclu- 

to  Jesus.     John  i.      ^  _  ® 

sion.  "NYe  learn  from  John  i.  29,  that  "  the  next 
day  John  saw  Jesus  coming  unto  him,  and  said,  '  Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world !  This  is 
he  of  whom  I  said,  After  me  coraeth  a  man  which  is  preferred 
before  me;  for  he  was  before  me.  And  I  knew  him  not:  but 
.hat  he  should  be  made  manifest  to  Israel,  therefore  am  I  come 
baptiziug  with  water.'  And  John  bare  record,  saying,  '1  saw  the 
Spirit  descending  from  heaven  like  a  dove,  and  it  abode  upon 
him.  And  I  knew  him  not:  but  he  that  sent  me  to  l)aptize  with 
water,  the  same  siiid  unto  me,  Upon  whom  thou  shalt  see  the 
Spirit  descending,  and  I'cnuiining  on  him,  the  same  is  he  which 


TnE    FIRST   DISCIPLES.  113 

baptizeth  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  I  saw,  and  bare  record  that 
this  is  the  Son  of  God.' " 

This  is  substantially  the  testimony  of  John  the  Baptist:  "Yon- 
der is  the  Man  who  is  '  Ho  Erkomenos,'  the  '  Coining  One,'  of 
whom  1,  spoke  yesterday.  I  did  not  myself  at  first  recognize 
him,  but  lie  who.  commissioned  me  to  baptize  gave  me  a  token 
whereby  I  should  be  able  to  recognize  Jehovah's  Anointed,  and  I 
do  declare  that  those  signs  were  displayed  at  his  baptism,  and  I 
now  discharge  the  other  function  of  my  ofhce  by  announcing  him 
the  very  Messiah !  "  Why  Jesus  afforded  John  the  opportunity 
to  bear  this  testimony  we  cannot  tell.  If  the  temptation  took 
place  on  the  Quarantania,  according  to  tradition,  then  Jesus  must 
have  gone  a  little  out  of  his  way  to  have  another  interview  with 
the  Baptist.  If  the  mountains  of  Moab  were  the  scene,  then, 
on  his  homeward  journey,  Jesus  would  pass  near  the  place  where 
John  was  baptizing. 

But  John's  speech,  whatever  may  have  been  its  general  effect 

upon  the  minds  of  his  scholars,  does  not  seem  to  have  penetrated 

any  one  in  a  special  manner.     The  next  dav  Je- 

-^  .  '■  T  ^1         Ti  •  1  ^     ^  ■"        i?         "The  Lamb  of 

sus  agam  was  seen,  and  tlien  John  saul  to  two  ot    q  ^  ,, 

his  disciples  who  were  standing  near,  "  Behold 
the  Lain!)  of  God  !  "  Something  in  the  manner  of  their  teacher 
arrested  their  attention.  They  certainly  could  not  have  formed 
any  very  distinct  theologic  or  metaphysical  idea  from  this  descrip- 
tion. It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  Baptist  himself  knew  what 
his  words  meant.  They  were  an  utterance  of  the  heart,  in  an 
ecstatic  moment,  springing  past  the  intellect  into  speech.  John 
probably  did  not  attach  to  them  the  idea  of  vicarious  suffering, 
which  is  a  Christian  thought;  and  John  probably  had  only  Judaic 
ideas. 

But  whatever  may  have  been  their  meaning,  the  two  disci- 
ples who  heard  John's  words  followed  Jesus  as  he  walked.  He 
turned  and  saw  them,  and  spoke  graciously  to 
them.  "  "Wliat  do  you  seek?  "  As  if  he  had  said,  ^°  ^^^'^  ^^' 
"Do  you  wish  to  ask  anything  of  me?"  They  called  him 
"Babbi,"  giving  him  the  Hebrew  designation  of  teacher,  ac- 
knowledging him  to  be  their  superior.  They  inquired  his  place 
of  lodging,  doubtless  that  they  might  have  a  private  interview, 
which,  if  satisfactory,  would  lead  them  to  attach  themselves  to 
him  permanently.  Jesus  invited  them  to  accompany  him,  which 
8 


114  INTRODUCTION    OF   JESUS    TO    HIS    TUBIJC   MINISTRY. 

thcj  did,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  the  day  with  him,  it  Lein^' 
ahoiit  four  o'clock  in  tlie  afternoon  wlien  tlicy  began  the  conver- 
sation.    (See  Jolin  i.  39.) 

These  two  men  were  Andrew  of  Bethsaida  and  John  the  Evan- 
gelist. The  latter  is  not  positively  named  in  the  narrative,  bnt  a 
Andrew  and  John,  f-omparison  of  statements  in  John's  gcspel  makes 
it  quite  ]>lain  who  is  meant.*  Of  the  former  wc 
do  not  know  very  much,  except  that  he  always  seemed  to  have 
a  high  place  amoiii;  the  apostles  of  Jesus.  Ills  Ijrother  Simon 
was  a  more  mai-ked  character,  as  Ave  shall  sec.  There  are  various 
traditions  concerning  Andrew.  Eusebius  says  that  he  preached  in 
Scythia ;  Jerome  and  Thcodoret,  that  his  ministry  was  in  Achaia; 
Kicc])horus,  that  it  was  in  Asia  Minor  and  Thrace.  lie  is  said 
to  have  been  cruel (iod  in  Patrae,  in  Achaia,  on  a  cross  decus- 
sate (X),  lience  called  St.  Andrew's  Cross.  An  apocry])hal 
book  called  "Acts  of  Andrew"  is  mentioned  by  some  ancient 
writers. 

Andrew  and  John  sitting  with  Jesus  make  a  group  worth  paus- 
ing to  contemplate.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  design  of  this 
marvellously  endowed  young  teacher,  this  is  the  beginm'ng  of  a 
ministry  which  is  to  spiritualize  the  philoso})hies  of  the  world. 
This  was  a  society  com])ORed  of  earnest  seekers  after  the  true  and 
the  holy,  with  a  true  and  holy  teacher.  From  this  hut  (m  the 
Jf)rdan  went  forth  a  conquering  power  beside  whose  achieve- 
ments the  deeds  of  the  Alexandei-s  and  Caesars  and  Napoleons 
grow  ])alc  and  insignificant. 

A  third  disciple  was  almost  immediately  added  to  this  company, 

namely,  Simon,  Audi-cw's  brother.     When  Andrew  left  Jesus  he 

found  his  brother,  and  so  powerfully  had  the  iiri- 
Rimon,    after-  .  '  i  J  i 

wards  called  Pe-  ^'^^^  discoui-se  of  Jcsus  impressed  him  that  he 
ter.  did  not  hesitate  to  declare    to   him,   "  AVe  have 

found  the  Messiah!"  Simon  was  not  naturally 
disposed  to  bo  a  sceptic.  His  temperament  was  ardent.  lie  had 
]>robably  l»een  a  disciple  of  John,  and  was  one  of  the  devout  Jews 
who  were  earnestly  looking  for  the  Lord's  Christ,  the  Anointed 

*  Alford's  rensons  are  (a),  Tliat  tlie  j  and  (c),  That  the  other  disciple  certainly 
Evanjjclist  never  names  himself  in  his  j  would  have  been  named  if  the  writ^^r 
gospel ;  (b).  That  this  account  is  so  mi-    had  not  ha<l  some  special  reason  for  sap- 
nuto  (mentioning  specifications^  that  it    pressing  the  name, 
mast  have  been  made  by  an  e^-e-witncss ;  I 


THE   FI-RST   DISCITLES.  115 

of  Jnhovali,  the  great  Deliverer, — looking  no  doubt  not  very  spir 
itually,  rather  with  eyes  full  of  Jewish  pi-ejudice,  and  iioping  for 
material  splendors  and  conquests,  nevertheless  looking  and  ex- 
pecting, and  deeply  stirred  by  the  ministry  of  the  Baptist.  Ag 
soon  as  he  came  into  the  presence  of  Jesus,  and  received  the 
searching  glance  of  the  new  Master,  lie  was  saluted  by  name. 
"  Your  name  is  Simon.  It  shall  be  Cephas."  The  latter  is 
Syro-Chaldec,  signifying  Hock,  and  is  etpiivalcnt  to  the  Greek 
name  Peter,  by  which  the  Apostle  was  afterward  commonly  known. 
The  next  day  Jesus  started  for  his  home  in  Galilee,  and  met 
Philip,  whom  he  invited  to  add  himself  to  the  companionhood  of 

those  whom  he  was  jjatherin":  about  him  to  be  his  t,,.,. 

C3  o  Philip. 

confidential  friends,  and  the  nucleus  of  that  dis- 
ciplehood  which  he  intended  to  make  the  depository  and  agency 
of  his  teaching  and  influence.  Philip  was  of  Bethsaida,  the  city 
of  Andrew  and  Peter,  and  appears  to  have  lieen  of  the  number 
of  Galiheau  peasants  whom  John's  preacliing  had  attracted. 
There  seems  to  have  been  a  previous  friendship  between  him  and 
the  sons  of  Jonas  and  of  Zebedee,  and  this  band  of  young  men  may 
have  been  in  devout  fellowship  and  looking  for  the  Messiah.  Jesus 
probably  had  seen  him  before,  if  "  finding"  here  implies  seeking. 

It  is  quite  natural  to  sup])ose  that  the  open  eye  of  Jesus  took  in 
the  men  whom  he  met  from  time  to  time  at  feasts  or  usual  social 
gatherings,  and  marked  those  whose  characteristics  struck  him  as 
favorable.  Philip  was  affectionate,  sim})le-liearted,  and  childlike. 
We  shall  see  these  characteristics  as  the  history  advances.  lie  is 
usually  named  at  the  head  of  the  second  four,  as  Peter  is  of  the 
first  four,  disciples;  and  when  the  Apostles  were  selected  he  was 
one.  From  Acts  i.  13  we  learn  that  ho  was  with  the  company  of 
disciples  aftef  the  Ascension,  and  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  All 
other  trace  of  him  is  somewhat  uncertain.  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria says  that  he  had  a  wife  and  children ;  and  he  is  accounted 
among  the  martyrs.  Polycrates,  bishop  of  E[)hesus,  speaks  of 
him  as  having  "fallen  asleep"  in  the  Phrygian  Ilierapolis.  (Enseb., 
IT.  K,m.  31.)  A  certain  apocryphal  book,  entitled  "Acta  Philippi," 
contains  many  monstrous  and  foolish  things  attributed  to  Pliilip. 

Philip  accepted  the  invitation,  and  was  as  much  convinced  of 
the  Messiahship  of  Jesus  as  the  other  disciples. 
In  his  turn  he  went  out  and  found  Kathanacl, 
and  told  him,  saying,  "We  have  found  him  of  whom  Moses  in 


116  IKTRODrCTION   OF   JESUS    TO    HIS    PUBLIC    MINISTRY. 

tlic  law  and  the  prophets  did  write,*  Jesus  of  Xazareth,  the  son 
of  Josopli."  This  ad(h-ess  seems  to  imply  that  tliese  two  men  had 
liad  previous  coiivci-sation  ahout  the  E.\i)ected  One.  All  this  cir- 
cle of  ac(piaintances  ajipeai-s  to  have  been  on  the  l(K)k-out.  In  hig 
joy  at  the  discovery  he  i,'oes  with  ciiild-like  i;ushin^Mie>s  to  com- 
municate the  gCK)d  news  to  liis  friend.  His  allusion  to  Moses  was 
|)rol)al)ly  made  M'ith  the  passage  in  Deuteronomy  xviii.  18  in  his 
mind.  His  calling  Jesus  the  son  of  Joseph  proves  oidy  that  Jo- 
seph -was  commonly  i-cputed  to  be  his  father,  as  we  naturally  sup- 
pose would  be  the  case,  even  amid  the  circumstances  which  these 
historians  say  surrounded  his  birth.  It  does  not  prove  that  Jo 
seph  was  his  father. 

To  the  enthusiastic  announcement  by  Philip,  Xathanacl  re- 
])lied:  ''Can  there  any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth?" 
Nathanael  was  a  Galihean:  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  he  intended 
to  throw  reproach  upon  his  own  ])rovince  in  general,  nor  upon 
Nazareth  in  particular.  His  question  means  simply  what  it  seems 
lo  mean,  namely,  that  Nazareth  was  so  insignificant  a  place  that 
it  was  not  reasonable  to  exjiect  the  Messiah  to  spring  therefrom. 
It  is  a  remai-kable  fact  that  neither  in  the  books  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament n(»r  in  Josephus  is  any  mention  made  of  Nazareth ;  of  so 
little  histoi-ical  importance  Avas  this  place. 

Pliilip's  reply  is,  like  most  simple  utterances  of  guileless  souls, 
wonderfully  j)hilosophical :  "Come  and  see."  Si)ii-itnal  discov- 
eries, as  all  thinkers  know,  arc  exceedingly  difficult  to  report. 
Each  one  must  for  himself  pass  through  the  i)rocesses  of  thought 
and  emotion  Mhicli  are  necessary  for  spiritual  growth.  No  man 
can,  upon  the  representation  of  aiujther,  believe  in  the  adapted 
ness  of  any  sinrit  to  his  own  spirit.  He  must  try  it  for  himself. 
In  nothing  do  we  need  to  be  more  practical  and  to  exercise  more 
connnon  sense  than  in  the  ailaii-s  of  relijrion. 

Nathanael  readily  went.  As  he  a])proached,  Jesus  said  to  tlie 
bystanders,  "  I'diold  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  is  no  guile !  " 
These   are  jdain   woids    that    need    no   explanation.      Nathanael 

*  Reference  is  made  to  Ps.  ii.  C-9 ;  I  these  pamagea  critically  may  differ  in 
Isa.  ix.  6;  xi.  l-T),  10;  Ijii.  2-12;  Jer.  their  estimates  of  their  Messianic  val- 
xxiii.  o,  0;  xxxiii.  l.T  ;  Ezekiel  xxxiv.  ue,  but  can  hardly  fail  to  find  in  thcra 
2'.i ;  Dan.  ix.  25  ;  Mic.  v.  2  ;  Ila^.  ii.  7  ;  snflicient  basis  for  the  expectations  of 
Zechariah  iii.  8;  ix.  9;  xiii.  7;  Mai.  '  the.se  men  and  the  Jcwi.sh  people  pen- 
iii.  1 ;    ir.   2.      Readers   who   examine  .  erally. 


TIIK    FIRST    DISCU'LES. 


117 


Bccins  to  liave  ovcrhciird  this  speech,  and,  Avithout  presiinihig  to 
nppropriate  to  himself  the  line  quality  mentioned,  saw  that  the 
remark  naturally  intimated  a  i)revious  knowledi^e.  lie  frankly 
asked  Jesus:  "Whence  did  you  know  me  T'  And  Jesus  replied  : 
"  Before  Thilip  saw  you,  when  you  were  under  the  fig-tree,  I  saw 
YOU."  Kathanael  exclaimed  :  "  Rabbi,  you  are  the  Sou  of  (rod  ! 
You  are  the  King  of  Israel !  " 

This  sudden  admission  on  Nathauael's  part,  of  the  claim  of 
Messiahship  made  for  Jesus  by  Philip,  seems  a  little  strange. 
A\^hat  Jesus  said—ii  we  have  it  all  recorded  here— amounts  to 
very  little,  lie  might  easily  have  seen  him  sitting  in  meditation 
under  his  fig-tree.  There  nmst  have  been  something  more  implied 
in  look  or  tone,  or  both,  that  went  directly  to  Nathanael's  heart, 
lie  was  somehow  searched.  There  came  into  his  soul  a  feeling 
of  the  presence  of  a  superior  spirit.  By  word  or  deed  Jesus 
made  him  feel  that  he  knew  what  was  in  Nathanael's  mind  when 
he  sat  under  the  fig-tree.  The  sight  of  his  person  was  no  proof 
of  divine  or  even  extraordinary  power. 

The  reply  of  Jesus  is  remarkable  :  "  Because  I  said  unto  you 
that  1  saw  you  under  the  fig-tree,  do  you  believe  ?  You  shall 
Bee  greater  things  than  these."  And  to  the  company  present  he 
added :  "  Yerily,  verily,*  I  say  unto  you,  hereafter  ye  shall  see 
heaven  open,  and  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending 
upon  the  Son  of  Man."  So  far  as  we  know,  this  was  never  liter- 
ally fulfilled  to  those  to  whom  it  was  spoken.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  the  disciples  frequently  saw  around  Jesus,  as  he  talked, 
or  prayed,  or  wrought,  or  slept,  appearances  of  angelic  creatures. 
But  this  is  mere  conjecture.  They  never  said  so.  It  is  poetry 
and  not  history.  The  words,  then,  nmst  have  been  synd)olic:  if 
literal,  the  fulfihnent  would  most  surely  have  been  recorded.  They 
do  symbolize  that  series  of  wonderful  deeds  wherewith  afterwards 
his  life  became  adorned  and  made  the  most  marvellous  of  human 
histories;  and  that  spiritualizing  of  human  modes  of  thought  by 
Jesus,  in  which  heaven  has  been  opened  ;  and  that  more  active  fiux 
and  reflux  of  celestial  powers  which  have  marked  the  Christian  era 
But  now  for  the  first  time  Jesus  applies  to  himself  that  name 
which  seems  to  have  been  his  favorite  mode  of  self-designation, 
"  The  Son  of  Man."     Others  spoke  of  him  usually  by  the  name 

♦This  afti'jv,  anr'iv,  translated  "  vcr-  I  similar  asseverations  the  other  biogra- 
ily,   verily,"    ia  peculiar  to  John.     In  I  phers  use  a/</]»' only  once. 


118  IKTRODUCTION   OF  JESUS   TO    HIS    PUBLIC   inXISTRT. 

which  Nutlianael  had  employod— "  Son  of  God."     In  Natha.iacTa 

case  we  must  siii)iK)se  the  speaker  to  have  had  little 
"The    Son    of  4.*  f  i.i  •  r  ^i         i  t»i  •!• 

j^jjjjj  „  c()iicei)tion  or  the  meaning  ot  the  phrase.     1  lulip 

Iiad  probably  told  him  that  John  had  called  Jesus 
"  Son  of  God,"  and  it  was  to  liis  mind  significant  vaguely  of 
somethiug  very  great  and  gh)ri()us,  but  how  great  and  how  "-lorious 
he  knew  not,  taking  it  f(jr  granted,  however,  that  it  included  all 
Messianic  functions  and  nuignificence.  But  Jesus  almost  invari- 
ably *  calls  himself  "The  Son  of  Man,"  a  name  never  through 
his  whole  life  applied  to  him  l)y  any  other  person. f 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  in  the  original  the  article  is  very  rarely 
omitted.:}:  lie  styles  himself,  with  obvious  intention  to  make 
the  name  personally  distinguishing,  "  Mc  Son  of  Man."  It  was  a 
title  not  common  anuMig  the  Jews,  and  not  understood  by  them 
mIicu  Jesus  employed  it  and  applied  it  to  himself. 

TJie  i)hi-ase  occurs  in  the  Old  Testament,  where  it  appears  to 
have  had  its  origin.  It  is  in  Daniel  vii.  13,  where  it  has  been 
noticed  that  the  word  is  not  I3en-ish  or  Ben-Adam,  but  l>ar-I']nosh, 
M'hich  repi-esents  humanity  in  its  greatest  frailty  and  humility. 
Ezekiel  is  repeatedly  called  Son  of  Man,  but  never  calls  himself 
so.  It  may  have  been  to  keep  him  from  undue  exaltation  on 
account  of  his  many  great  and  glorious  visions.  But  he  is  not 
called  the  Son  of  Man.  The  Old  Testament  writers  may  be  said 
to  have  used  the  phrase  to  designate,  generally,  humanity  in  its 
highest  ideal.  It  was  certainly  not  a  cust(^mary  designation  of 
the  Messiah,  else  some  false  Messiah  would  have  used  it.  More- 
over, the  people  would  sometimes  at  least  have  applied  it  to 
Jesus,  as  they  frequently  did  the  name  "  Son  of  David,"  which 
latter  name  Jesus  accepted,  and  ui>on  which  he  was  accustomed 
to  base  an  ai-gument  for  the  superior  dignity  of  the  Messiah. 
(See  Matt.  ix.  l>7 ;  xii.  23 ;  xv.  22  ;  xx.  30,  31  ;  xxi.  I),  15  ;  xxii. 
42,  4.5.) 

It  was  as  the  "  Son  of  David  "  that  the  people  implored  his 


•  In. John's  "Gospel,"  however,  Josus  '  of  (lying  Stephen.  Sec  also  Rev.  i. 
is  frequently  represented  aseallinghim-     13. 

Belf  the  "  Sou  of  God,"  with  a  pregnant        %  I  now  discover  only  one  pa.ss.Tgt;  in 
meaning.  which  it  is  omitted,  namely,  John  v.  27, 

\  In  Acts  vii.  50  it  occurs,  and  has  i)erhaps  for  a  reason  we  may  present 
Bjiecial  reference  to  the  bodily  appear-  i  when  we  reach  the  disoushiou  of  tb« 
auce  of  Jesus,  as  it  SL-emed  to  the  eyes  |  passage. 


THE   FIRST   DISCIPLES.  119 

help,  and  as  the  "  Son  of  David  "  he  did  help  them.     The  prophets 
had  foretold  that  the  Messiah  was  to  come  of 
David's  line,  and  freqnently  nscd  the  name  of    j.    . ,  „ 
David  to  imply  the  Messiah.     The  Jews  cher- 
ished the  name  and  fame  of  David  as  their  most  glorious  mon- 
arch, the  king  who  hud  done  most  to  extend  their  dominions. 
And  so  they  natnrally  came  to  associate  ideas  of  secular  splendor 
and  conquest  with  the  thought  of  the  Messiah. 

Perhaps  it  was  on  this  account  that  Jesus,  when  he  wished  to 
connect  his  person  with  the  Messianic  idea,  preferred  to  call  him- 
self "The  Son  of  Man."  It  lifted  him  from  the  sphere  of  secu- 
lar to  that  of  spiritual  and  everlasting  life;  it  enlarged  him  from 
the  representative  of  one  family — a  royal  family — to  the  repre- 
sentati\e  of  all  humanity.  It  realised  Messiah,  it  idealized  man. 
And  the  missicm  of  Jesus  was  to  break  bands — bands  of  church- 
ism,  bands  of  monarchy,  bands  of  caste,  prejudice,  conventional- 
ities. In  his  work  he  was  to  bring  himself  down  to  all  the 
weaknesses,  wants,  and  sympathies  of  man  :  in  the  results  of  that 
work  he  was  to  lift  man  up  to  himself. 

In  regard  to  Wathanael,  it  may  be  further  stated  that  he  is 
believed  by  many  to  be  the  same,  as  Bartholomew.  The  reason 
assigued  is,  that  in  the  first  three  gospels  Nathan- 
ael  is  not  mentioned,  while  Philip  and  Bartholo- 
tneno  are  constantly  named  together ;  whereas  in  John,  Philip  and 
Nathanael  are  constantly  coupled,  but  Bartholomew  is  never 
mentioned.  We  may  consider  his  real  name  as  Nathanael,  Avhile 
Bartholomew,  which  signifies  "  Son  of  Tolmai,"  is  his  surname. 
AYe  learn  from  John  xxi.  2,  that  he  was  a  native  of  Cana,  in 
Galilee.  Bernard  and  Abbot  Rupert  were  of  0])inion  that  he 
was  the  bridegroom  at  the  marriage  in  Cana.  lie  is  reported 
among  the  witnesses  of  the  resurrection  and  of  the  ascension  of 
Jesus,  and  as  returning  to  Jerusalem  with  the  other  A])ostles. 
(See  John  xxi.  2,  and  Acts  iv.  12,  13.) 

The  apocryphal  statements  are,  that  he  was  subsequently  an 
Apostle  to  the  Indians,  M'hoever  they  may  have  been,  the  ancient 
writers  using  the  word  indefinitely.  The  place  of  his  death  is 
not  well  ascertained.  Albanoj^olis,  in  Armenia  Minor,  and 
Urbanopolis,  in  Cilicia,  are  mentioned.  lie  is  said  by  one  author 
to  have  died  in  Lycaonia.  They  all  agree  that  he  was  crucified 
with  his  head  downward.     A  spurious  '•  gospel "  bears  his  name. 


CHAPTER   V. 

IN   CAN  A    AND   CAPERNAUM. 


KSN.V    LL   JLLIL. 


Cana  of  Galilee. 


Having  accoinplihlicd  his  in-oposcd  journey,  we  next  find  Jesus 
in  Cana  of  Galilee.  This  vilhi<;e  is  not  named  in  the  Old  Testa- 
itient.  Aecording  to  Josephns  (  Vita,  c.  10),  it  lay 
half  a  day's  journey  from  the  sea  of  Gennesaret, 
and  about  two  days  from  the  Jordan,  where  Jesus  had  had  his  in- 
t('r\  ic'W  u-ith  Natlianael,  who  probably  accompanied  him  to  Cana. 
In  his  lu'i^raiH'hcs  (iii.  2(U),  Dr.  Robinson  establishes  it  as  Kana- 
cl-Jelel,  3.^  lu)urs  X.  ^  E.  from  Nazareth. 

Hero  Jesus  ])orfor|ned  his  first  miracle,  which 
is  thus  r(']>ort('d  in  John  ii.  1-10: 

"And  the  third  day  there  was  a  marriaj^e  in  Cana 
of  Galilee;  and  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  tliere:  and  both  Jesus  was 
called  [invited],  and  his  disciples,  to  the  marriage.     And  when 


Tlie  first  miracle. 
John  ii. 


IN    CANA    AND   CAPERNAUM.  121 

they  wanted  wine,  the  mother  of  Jesus  saith  unto  him, '  They  have 
no  wine.'  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  'Woman,  what  have  I  to  do  with 
thee?  mine  hour  is  not  yet  come.'  His  mother  saith  unto  the  ser- 
vants, 'Whatsoever  he  saith  unto  you,  do  it.'  And  there  were  set 
there  six  water-pots  of  stone,  after  the  manner  of  the  purifyiui^ 
of  the  Jews,  containing  two  or  three  firkins  apiece.  Jesus  saith 
unto  them,  '  Fill  the  water-pots  with  water.'  And  they  filled  them 
up  to  the  brim.  And  he  saith  unto  them,  '  Draw  out  now,  and 
bear  unto  the  governor  of  the  feast.'  And  they  bare  it.  When 
the  ruler  of  the  feast  had  tasted  the  water  that  was  made  wine, 
and  knew  not  whence  it  was  (but  the  servants  which  drew  the 
water  knew),  the  governor  of  the  feast  called  the  bridegroom, 
and  saith  unto  him,  'Every  man  at  the  beginning  doth  set  fotth 
good  wine ;  and  when  men  have  well  drunk,  then  that  which  is 
worse:  but  thou  hast  kept  the  good  wine  until  now.'  " 

The  particularity  with  M'liich  minutiae  are  mentioned  renders  it 
probable  that  the  historian  John  was  one  of  the  party;  that  he,  and 
Andrew,  and  Peter,  and  Philip  went  forward  with 

their  new  Pabbi,  detachiuir  themselves  from  John        , ,        ,,. 

'  =>  orable  weadmg. 

and  attaching  themselves  to  Jesus,  From  Betha- 
bara  on  the  Jordan,  where  the  last  incident  is  mentioned,  to  Cana 
in  Galilee,  there  would  be  parts  of  three  days  consumed  in  the 
journey.  Jesus  would  pass  through  IS'^azareth  by  the  most  natural 
route.  Perhaps  there  he  would  be  told  that  his  mother  had  gone 
to  Cana,  to  the  wedding  of  some  familiar  friend  of  the  family, 
and  that  an  invitation  had  been  left  for  him,  and  any  friend  wIkj 
might  be  with  him,  to  follow  her  as  speedily  as  convenient.  His 
friends  continue  with  him,  and  they  go  in  a  body  to  Cana.  There 
«i  event  in  the  life  of  Jesus  occm'S  which  makes  this  the  most 
memorable  wedding  upon  record.  The  marriage  of  no  imperial 
parties  has  been  so  frequently  mentioned  as  this  of  these  unknown 
peasants  of  Galilee.  No  wedding  has  invoked  from  genius  so 
many  poems  and  so  many  passages  of  eloquence,  AV^ho  the  bride 
and  bridegroom  were  we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  They  were 
simple  people,  of  the  rank  of  Mary,  and  probably  poor,  as  we  learn 
tliat  the  wine  fell  short. 

Jesus  had  heretofore  performed  no  miracle.  That  we  ai-e  ex- 
pressly told  by  the  historian  John  (ii,  11),  who  thus  sets  aside  all 
those  grotesque  and  monstrous  things  which  are  related  of  Jesug 
in  the  Apocryphal  books.     But  Mary  laiew  his  miraculous  con- 


122  INTRODUCTIOX   OF   JESUS   TO    HIS   rCBLTC   MIXISTRY. 

ception  and  the  marvels  atteudinf^  liis  birth.     She  had  watched 

his  growth  in  wisdom  and  power,  and  althonirh 
The  mother  of      i      ,      ,  .,  ,  •       i       i     i      i     i      ' 

^  she  had  never  witnessed  a  mn-acle,  she  Jiad  alwavs 

Jesus.  _  _  ... 

fonnd  liini  a  wise  adviser  in  times  of  domestic 

emerfrencics.  How  far  he  had  connnunicated  to  lier  his  views  of 
his  mission  we  cannot  know.  They  must  have  liad  hnig  conver- 
sations and  deep  comimmings  about  liimself ;  and  if  lie  had  nevei 
given  her  any  hints  about  his  Messiahship,  tlie  Jewish  woman  had 
Jewish  hopes  in  her  licart,  and  she  connected  them  witli  the  sacred 
secrets  of  his  birth  and  brooded  over  them  with  her  maternal  love. 
There  is  a  great  probability  that  the  disciples  who  were  with 
Jesus  told  her  how  they  liad  come  to  form  that  brotlierhood,  on  tlie 
ground  of  the  Baptist  Jolm's  liaving  jiroclaimed  him  as  the  ^Mes- 
siah.  The  Baptist  was  the  liighest  authority  then.  So  now  Mary 
received  him,  after  his  absence,  in  tlie  double  cliaracter  of  son  and 
Messiah.  And  she  knew  that  the  Messiah  was  to  work  mii-acles. 
The  liour  seemed  ta  have  arrived;  tlie  wine  failed.  She  spoke 
to  Jesus,  very  delicately,  merely  informing  him  of  the  fact.  It 
Mas  very  natural.  The  reply  of  Jesus  seems  un- 
rep  y  o     ii;^turally  harsli.     That  somehow  it  was  a  reproof 

Jesus.  .  .  •'  '■ 

is  obvious.     That   some   rel)uff  should  come,  wo 

might,  upon  reflection,  expect.  Our  knowledge  of  Jesus  after  all 
MG  have  read  makes  it  natural.  lie  would  do  nothing  at  the  mere 
]u-ompting  of  pride  or  vanity.  And  if  Mary  believed  or  suspected 
liim  to  be  tlie  Messiah,  she  should  wait  until  his  own  spirit  prompt- 
ed the  extraordinary  act. 

And  3'et  the  woi-ds  are  not  as  harsh  as  they  seem  in  our  English 
version,  i'lrwj,  "Woman,"  is  an  Oriental  method  of  salutation  to 
women  of  the  highest  rank,  and  Jesus  used  it  upon  the  cross,  in  the 
season  of  his  extreme  suffering,  and  when  he  was  exhibiting  the 
most  tender  and  unselfish  regard  for  his  mother.  (See  John  xix. 
26).*  Substitute  "Lady,"  and  see  how  different  is  the  sound.  But 
tlie  fact  that  he  chose  to  say  ^^My  Lady,"  instead  of  "^fy  Mother," 
is  significant.  He  had  entered  his  work.  This  was  his  fii-st  meet- 
ing with  Mary  after  his  l)a])tism,  and  he  seems  to  have  made  her 
then  feel  the  barrier  which  must  ever  thereafter  be  between  them. 
Mary  was  to  learn  what  many  a  woman  has  learned,  how  a  great 
life-work  interferes  with  the  aft'ections.     She  is  to  be  "woman  " 

*  Bee  also  John  xx.  15. 


IN   CAl^A   AND   CAPERNAUM,  123 

to  him, — a  very  dear  mother,  ever  to  be  honored,  hut  woman. 

ITcr  husband  had  not  been  his  father.*     lie  knew  himself  now  ag 

tlie  son  of  the  God.     His  Avhole  treatment  hereafter,  as  we  sliall 

see,  is  on  this  platform. 

"What  have  I  to  do  witli  thee?"  is  the  translation  of  a  difficult 

phrase.     It  seems  to  imply  that  they  had  different  positions  from 

which  to  see  the  demands  of  this  occasion.     She 

,      1  -111  1  ^       ^    c     ^•  TT     1      1     Difficult  phrase. 

had  a  neighbor  s  and  a  motlier  s  leelmgs.    lie  luid 

the  sentiments  becomiiiii;  the  ]\Iessiah,  the  Sent  of  God,  and  was 
to  do  what  was  necessary  to  nudce  himself  known  in  this  work, 
and  no  more.  It  was  not  an  ugly,  rough,  unfilial  speech;  but  it 
did  i-eprove  Mary,  and  stands  forever  against  all  that  superstition 
which  elevates  her  into  a  goddess  who  has  power  to  command  her 
son.  We  shall  find  that  nowhere  does  Jesus  encourage  supersti- 
tion. 

The  mother  still  felt  that  her  great  son  would  do  something 
great.  Perhaps  he  had  intimated  as  much,  and  all  that  he  checks 
in  Mary  is  her  too  great  forwardness.  She  tells  the  servants  to  be 
on  the  alert,  although  he  had  said  what  she  could  hardly  have 
understood,  what  perhaps  we  do  not  nnderstand — "My  hour  has 
not  yet  come."  Gregory  of  Xysseu  gives  a  turn  to  this  which 
may  be  the  solution  of  difhculties.  lie  regards  it  as  a  question  : 
"Has  not  my  hour  come?"  He  used  it  afterward  on  another 
memorable  occasion.  lie  will  hasten  nothing,  he  will  delay  noth- 
ing. But  does  not  her  speech  to  the  servants  show  that  Mary  had 
had  some  intimation  of  what  Jesus  was  going  to  do? 

The  ceremonial  punctuality  of  the  Jewish  religion  was  ob- 
served by  this  poor  family.  They  had  six  water-pots,  each  hold' 
ing  from  two  to  three  "  firkins."  This  word 
signifies  a  measure  of  S  gallons  and  7.4  pints.  If 
we  assign  tM'o  firkins  and  a  half  {fieTprjrr}^  is  the  original)  as  the 
average,  then  they  held  133  gallons.  They  were  water-pots,  not 
wijie-jars.  They  were  filled  with  water  at  the  command  of  Je- 
sus, lie  directed  the  servants  to  draw  and  carry  to  the  "  gover- 
nor of  the  feast,"  a  person  called  in  the  original  a?-cMtric/nnus\ 
who  held  something  like  the  place  of  the  si/mj)osiarch,  the  master 
of  ceremonies,  the  rex  convivii,  probably  a  guest  who  had  kindly 
by  request  undertaken  the  oflice  for  the  occasion.     The  servants 

*  As  Augustine  says,  "  That  in  me  which  works  miracles  was  not  born  of  thee  '■ 


124  INTRODUCriOX    OF   JESUS    10    HIS   PUBLIC   MINISTRY. 

dipped  and  bore  it  to  tlio  ruler  of  tlie  feast,  mIio,  wlicu  lie  liad 
tasted  it,  not  knowing  whence  it  was,  called  his  friend  the  bride- 
«;rooni,  and  i)leasantly  reminded  him  that  it  was  customary  to  ])r(> 
duce  tlie  best  wine  at  first,  and  when  men  had  rather  cloyed  their 
j)alates  by  freqnent  potations,  then  to  produce  the  inferior  wine. 
"  But,"  said  he,  "yon  have  kept  the  good  wine  nntil  now,"  until 
the  ver}'  last. 

The  historian  pronounces  this  a  miracle.  It  certainly  is,  or  it 
is  a  contemptible  farce  played  out  by  cnnm'ng  collusion,  or  the 
whole  history  is  false.  We  liave  no  more  right 
to  suspect  this  history  than  most  of  Caisar's  Com- 
mentaries on  the  ^Yar  in  Gaid.,  or  the  Annals  of  Tacitus.  AVe 
must  accept  this,  or  reject  almost  every  line  of  these  histories. 
Accepted,  the  narrative  shows  that  John,  who  seems  to  have  been 
present,  believed,  so  far  from  this  being  a  trick,  that  it  was  really 
a  miracle. 

There  is  nothing  gained  by  any  explanations  of  the  palliative 
class,  such  as  Neander's  idea  that  Jesus  "  intensified  (so  to  speak) 

the  powers  of  water  into  those  of  wine."  *     Nor 

Palliative  erpla-     ,.  .•■'•ii.ii.         i  •!•  i  ^ 

*^        by  Auirustme  s  idea  tliat  sucli  a  miracle  is  wrouijht 
nations.  '  .  . 

in  our  vineyards  yearly,  and  Jesus  simply  has- 
tened the  processes  of  nature  by  which  water  becomes  wine.f 
This  view  is  indorsed  by  Trench  {On  Miracles,  p.  91),  when  that 
usually  judicious  writer  (compares  this  to  "the  unnoticed  miracle 
of  every-day  nature,"  and  si)eaks  of  the  difference  lying  in  "  the 
power  and  will  by  which  all  the  intervening  steps  of  these  tardier 
processes  were  overleaped  and  the  result  obtained  at  once." 
There  is  no  comparison.  There  is  in  this  act  of  Jesus  in  Cana 
no  such  basis  as  soil  and  germ,  vine  and  grape,  through  which  to 
j)rf)pel  the  wine.  It  was  a  clear  and  sheer  miracle,  the  simple 
basis  being  loater  and  the  result  being  ?<v'n^.  It  was  a  miracle  or 
nothing.  We  do  no  credit  to  our  intellects  by  dodges  or  subterfuges. 

*  One  cannot  ridicule  so  respectable  1  sent  forth  waters  like  wine — intoxica- 
nnd  goo<l  a  man  as   Neander  ;   but  tlie  i  tingf  waters."     We  cannot  womler  that 


pressure  of  the  spirit  of  German  criti- 
cism upon  his  excellent  mind  may  be 
moa-siired  by  a  note,  in  which  he  says: 
"Compare    as    analogies    the    mineral 


Dr.  Strauss  laughs  at  Dr.  Neander  for 
such  passages. 

t  Ilis  words  (in  Ec.  Joh.,   Tract   8> 
are  :  "  lUud  autem   non   miramur  quia 


ijiringa,  in  which,  by  natural  processes,    onini   anno  fit ;    assiduitatc  ainicit  ad- 
new  powers  are  given  to   water;    and  I  miratiouem." 
the  ancient  accounts  of  springs  which  I 


m   CANA    AND   CAPEENAUM.  125 

Trouble  is  given  some  commentators  bj  the  abundance  of  wino 

which  Jesus  made.     It  looks  like  "  putting  temptation  in  men's 

way,"  it  is  said.     But  does  not  the  All-Fatlier  do 

that  perpetually  and  plentifully  ?     There  is  notli-      /^^  abundance 

^        .  ,  .   1    .  ,  ,  ,  .       ,  or  the  wine, 

mg  about  us  whicli  is  not  open  to  that  objection. 

AVhy  does  God  allow  grapes  to  grow?     ^Yliy  did  God  give  men 

appetites?     All  life  is  a  submitting  of  the  human  spirit  to  thd 

disci})line  of  trial. 

The  lesson  to  the  disciples  and  to  the  woi-ld  is  wholesome. 
They  had  been  in  the  ascetic  school  of  John.  In  the  very  open- 
ing of  his  public  career  Jesus  teaches  them  that 
all  the  courtesies  of  life  are  to  be  respected  ;  that  The  lesson, 
no  man  is  to  be  so  great  as  not  to  give  a  portion  of  his  time  to 
the  demands  of  society;  that  indulgence  in  innocent  pleasures 
should  have  the  sanction  of  the  loftiest  and  grandest  natures ; 
that  marriage  is  not  to  be  discouraged  because  the  work  of  some 
men  in  the  world  forbids  them— as  his  forbade  him— to  partake 
the  blessed  sweetnesses  of  married  love ;  and  that  he  came  not 
to  destroy  but  rectify,  not  to  sadden  but  to  transfigure  all  life  by 
heightening  the  spiritual  part  of  man  and  connecting  his  ordinary 
drudgery  with  the  highest  hopes;  by  turning  the  water  of  ordinary 
existence  into  the  wine  of  a  generous,  rich,  and  exhilarating  life. 

"And  his  discij^les  believed  on  him."     (John  ii.  11.) 

After  this  Jesus,  Avith  Mary  and  her  other  sons,  the  half-broth- 
ers of  Jesus,  accompanied  by  the  disciples,  went  down  tcj  Caper- 
naum,  which  lay  on  the  western  side  of  the  Sea 
of  Galilee,  a  place  where  we  shall  find  him  doing  ^''^'^  ^"^  ^^P^""" 
many  of  his  mighty  works,  and  which,  according  °^"'"" 
to  his  prediction,  has  been  lost  from  human  geography  so  thor- 
oughly that  no  ecclesiastical  tradition  ventures  to  fix  its  site.  Dr. 
Robinson  exposes  the  views  of  all  previous  travellers  in  their  at- 
tempts to  identify  the  locality.  (See  BM  Ih'searehes,  iii.  2SS- 
294.)  The  "  not  many  days  "  seems  to  signify  his  eagerness  to  be 
about  liis  work,  rather  than  to  indicate  any  chronological  space. 


PART  III. 

FEOM  THE  FIRST  TO  THE  SECOND  TASSOYER  IN 
THE   PUBLIC   LIFE   OF  JESUS. 

ONE  YEAR— PROBABLY  FROM  APRIL  OF  A.D.  27  TO  APRIL  OF  A.D.  23. 


CHAPTER  L 

CLEAXSING    TIIK   TKMl'LK. 


A  Passover  apiiroaelicd.  Tliis  frreat  festival  drew  Jews  to  the 
Temple  not  only  fi-oiii  all  jmrts  of  Palestine,  but  from  distant 
lands.  Jesus  went  nj)  to  Jerusalem.  On  enter- 
ing the  Temple  he  found  iu  the  Court  of  the 
Gentiles  persons  sellini;  oxen,  sheep,  and  doves,  fur  sacrifices,  and 
near  them  sat  brokei's  makiui^  exchange  of  money  for  those  who 
wished  to  purchase  offeiiugs.  Perhaps  these  brokei*s  also  changed 
the  foi'eign  money  of  Jews  from  a  distance  into  the  sacred  half- 
Bhekel,  which  alone  was  allowed  to  be  paid  in  for  the  Temjde 
capitation-ta.x,  levied  annually  on  every  Jew  of  twenty  years  old 
and  nj)wards.  (Compare  iMatt.  xvii.  24:  with  Exod.  xx.x.  13  ;  2 
Kings  xii.  4 ;  2  Chron.  xxiv.  G,  0.)  *     Jesus  had  witnessed  this  dese- 

*  According  to   ling,    "the   ancient !  nion  business,  trade,  wages,  sale,   etc., 


imposts  which  were  introduced  before 
the  Roman  dominion  were  valued  ac- 
cording to  tho  Greek  coinage,  e.f/.,  the 
taxes  of  tho  Tenijile.  Matt.  xvii.  24; 
Joseph.,  11.  I.,  vii.  0,  C.  The  offerings 
were  paid  in  these.  Mark  xii.  42 ; 
Luke  xxi.  2.  A  payment  which  i)ro- 
ceedod  from  the  Temple  treasui->'  was 
made  according  to  the  ancient  national 
payment  by  weight.  Matt.  xxvi.  15. 
jTbifl  ia  very  doubtful.]     Cut  in  com- 


the  as-si/i  and  dcnnrhis  and  Roman  coin 
were  usual.  Matt.  x.  29  ;  Luke  xiL  6 ; 
Matt.  XX.  2  ;  Mark  xiv.  5  ;  John  xii.  5  ; 
vi.  7.  The  more  modem  state  taxes  are 
likewise  paid  in  the  coin  of  the  nation 
which  exercises  at  the  time  tho  greatest 
authority.  Matt.  xxii.  19;  Mark  xiL 
ir, ;  Luke  XX.  24."— Vol.  L  p.  14.  After 
all,  however,  seme  of  the.8e  words  may 
be  troufilations. 


CLEANSING   THE   TEMTLE.  127 

oration  o£  God's  house  eveiy  year  from  his  early  boyhood.  Ho 
had  seen  that  the  secularized  and  demoralized  priesthood  allowed 
it.  To  him  it  had  become  intolerable.  lie  had  entered  upon  his 
mission.  Probably  rumors  of  him  increased  the  crowd  at  this 
festival.  Eighteen  years  before,  in  that  very  spot,  he  had  said 
that  he  must  be  about  his  Father's  business,  and  he  certainly 
meant  the  work  of  God.  This  was  the  house  of  God.  lie  would 
not  endure  the  sight  of  its  desecration  longer.  The  cattle  may 
have  stood  by  in  pairs,  and  rope — such  rope  as  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  use  in  leading  beasts  to  the  slaughter — lay  near.  The 
spirit  of  the  old  prophets  was  npon  him.  lie  did  not  speak.  He 
acted.  Seizing  the  rope  he  made  a  scoui-ge,  and  drove  these  dese- 
crators  out  of  the  Temple.  AVhether  he  actually  applied  the  lash 
to  their  backs  we  do  not  know.  Ilis  presence,  his  act,  so  like 
that  of  one  of  their  old  prophets,  may  have  exerted  such  a  moral 
force  upon  their  guilty  consciences  that  they  lied  before  the  blow, 
lie  ordered  the  animals  away,  overturned  the  tables  of  the  money- 
changers, and  cleared  the  Temple. 

Lights  and  shadows !  'NYe  have  seen  him  all  sweetness  at  a 
wedding,  beneficently  turning  away  the  shame  of  a  poor  but  lov- 
ing bridegroom  by  a  miraculous  supply  of  wine.  We  now  behrdd 
him  terrible  to  evil-doers.  Among  the  holy  poor  he  is  all  gentle- 
ness; in  the  presence  of  merchants  and  rulers  and  multitudes  he 
is  the  stern  rebuker  of  the  great  wrong.  The  effect  of  this  act 
upon  the  disciples  was  to  dec})en  the  impression  of  his  Messiah- 
ship.  Perhaps  they  recalled  the  words  of  John,  "  whose  fan  is  in 
his  hands."  They  certainly  did  recollect  what  David  had  sung 
in  his  soi'rowf  ul  exile :  "  The  zeal  of  thy  house  has  eaten  me  np." 
(Ps.  Ixix.  9.) 

The  Jews  demanded  his  authority  for  this  amazing  act.     The 

demand  is  to  be  regarded  as  coming  from  two  classes.     The  more 

devout  among  the  people  must  have  long  regarded 

this  proximity  of  the  mart  to  the  Temple  a  nui-    ,     ^^  ,  ^"    °^^  ^ 
'^         .  ^  deraandecl. 

sance  which  should  be  abated.  When  this  extra- 
ordinary young  man,  of  whom  they  had  heard  vagne  but  interest- 
ing statements,  performed  the  act  so  boldly,  it  must  have  been 
agreeable  to  them,  and  probably  increased  their  expectations  of 
what  he  should  do  hereafter.  They  h6ped  he  would  by  greater 
deeds  of  national  importance  furni.sh  authority  for  believing  that 
he  did  this  as  a  Messianic  act.     The  worldly  and  secular  hated 


128  FIKST   AXD    SECOND.  PASSOVEK    IN   THE    LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

liim  foi  it.  but  could  not  resent,  as  he  placed  it  npon  a  religions 
ground  and  had  some  g(X)d  i)eople  near  who  approved.  All  tlie 
traders  conld  do  was  to  make  sullen  demand  for  his  anthority, 
which  they  had  a  right  to  do,  as  only  the  Sanhedrim  or  a  ])rophet 
could  correct  abuses  in  the  Tcmple-woi-ship,  and  the  latter  was 
always  expected  to  demonstrate  his  prophetic  authority  by  a  mir- 
acle. 

His  reply  to  that  demand  was  enigmatical.  It  was  :  "Destroy 
this  tem])le,  and  in  throe  days  I  will  raise  it  np.'* 
In  order  to  appreciate  the  effect  of  this  speech 
upon  his  hearers  there  are  several  things  to  be  done.  In  the  fii-st 
place,  we  must  remember  that  the  disciples  themselves  did  not 
undei-stand  the  meaning  of  the  saying  until  after  the  death  of 
Jesus,  and  that  neither  they  nor  the  Jews  were  furnished  with 
the  interpretation  of  this  dark  speech,  which  John  gives  in  ii.  21, 
22.  Then  we  must,  as  far  as  practicable,  re])roduce  the  state  of 
feelings  in  the  hearts  of  the  Jews  against  which  Jesus  seems  to 
have  hurled  this  speech  as  a  courageous  reply  to  their  defiance. 
Towards  him  pei"sonally  they  had  no  kind  feelings.  He  had  been 
associated  with  the  denunciator}''  John  the  Baptist.  lie  had 
made  no  overtures  to  ecclesiastical  power  or  popular  favor.  His 
lii*st  public  act  seemed  the  deed  of  a  zealot.  I3ut  their  Temple 
had  become  their  idol.  lie  himself  intimated  as  much  in  a 
rebuke  contained  in  one  of  his  speeches. 

The  Temple  was  the  central  figure  among  their  national  ideals. 
It  had  stood,  in  one  form  or  another,  on  the  same  spot  tln-ough  the 
centuries,  collecting  around  itself  all  the  tcnder- 
est  and  sublimest  associations  of  devotion  and 
patriotism.  It  was  the  visil)lc  residence  of  the  invisible  Jehovah. 
It  imparted  a  solemn  sanctification  to  the  whole  land.  It  was  the 
heart  through  which  all  the  national  blood  flowed.  It  held  tliose 
who  were  resident,  and  attracted  Jews  from  every  clime.  Their 
co-religionists,  dispersed  among  the  nations,  having  no  more  ])lace 
of  Inisiness  in  Jerusalem,  no  more  houic  there,  no  living  associates 
of  their  youth  there,  nothing  but  sad  memories  in  the  city  of  the 
sei)idchres  of  their  fathers,  saw,  iu  the  vision  of  the  uight,  Tmk 
Temple  rise  and  stretch  its  arms  like  a  great  Mother,  and  heard 
a  voice  as  from  the  Holiest  of  Holies  call  them  back,  in  sounds 
more  solemn  than  the  thunder  aiul  more  thrilling  than  a  lo\c- 
whisper — and  they  rose,  and  at  whatever  sacrifice  of  business  or 


CLEANSING   THE   TEMPLE. 


129 


pleasure  they  turned  their  faces  towards  Jerusalem  and  stood 
with  awful  joy  in  the  courts  of  the  house  of  Jehovah. 

The  people  that  heard  Jesus  speak  this  fearful  enigma  recol- 
lected that  the  Temple  had  been  defiled.  They  recalled  the  days 
of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  who  had  forbidden  the 

observance  of  the  law,  and  had  set  up  the  "  abom-     ,    ^"^..^  °^  ^°^' 

'  .  .  ^  ^^  recollections, 

iuation  of  desolation  "  by  making  a  sacrifice  to 

Olympian  Jove  on  the  altar  of  Jehovah ;  *  and  they  never  forgot 

liis  loathsome  end,  when  terror  and  remorse  lashed  him  into  an 

ignominious  grave.     "  He  came  to  his  end,  and  there  was  none  to 

help  him."     They  recollected  that  Crassus,  governor  of  Syria,  on 

his  way  from  Rome  to  fight  the  Parthians,  plundered  their  Tem- 

ple,t  and  went  forward  to  terrible  defeat  and  captivity,  and  to  a 

fearful  death  amid  the  desert  sands.     They  had  not  ceased  to  feel 

that  it  was  retribution  from  God,  for  his  Temple's  sake,  which 

had  sent  Pompey's  head  to  Caesar,  and  left  his  dishonored  trunk 

on  the  shore  of  Egypt.:}: 

Their  love  for  their  Temple  was  stronger  than  patriotism,  or 
love  of  home,  or  the  instinct  of  self-presei-vation.  It  was  a  pas- 
sion and  a  fanaticism.  As  truly  as  beautifully  does  Milman  say, 
"  The  fall  of  the  Temple  was  like  the  bursting  of  the  heart  of 
the  nation." 

In  such  a  state  of  mind  the  Jews  heard  this  young  tea(3her  de- 
clare :  "  Destroy  this  Temple,  and  I  Avill  rebuild  it  in  three  days." 
Any  careless  speech  in  regard  to  the  Temple  was  unpardonable ; 
but  to  talk  lightly  of  its  destrucrtion  was  an  intolerable  outrage. 
And  that  is  just  what  they  and  his  disciples  understood  him  to 
say,  and  he  knew  that  they  did  so  understand.  The  suggestion 
that  he  pointed  to  his  bod}',  indicating  that  he  referred  to  his 


*  Compare  Diod.  Sic,  Eclog.  xxxiv. 
1;  Daniel  xi  31;  xii.  11;  1  Mace.  i. 
57;  Josephus,  Ant.,  xiL  5.  4.  "The 
abomination  of  desolation  "  was  proba- 
bly a  small  idolatrous  shrine  which  was 
set  up  in  the  Temple  on  the  loth  of  the 
month  Kisleu :  just  ten  days  after 
which  the  first  victim  was  ofifered  to 
Jupiter.  The  circumstances  of  the 
death  of  Antiochus  Epiph.  are  narrated 
in  Poly  bins  (xxi.  2),  and  in  Josephus 
(Ant.,  xii.    ,\,et  scq.). 

\  I  find  no  other  authority  for  this 

9 


than  the  paragraph  iii  Josephus  (  Wars,  L 
8.  §  8)  ;  but  the  mention  by  him  shows 
how  any  even  reported  disrespect  to  the 
Temple  fired  the  Jewish  heart. 

X  Pompey's  fate  is  well  known  to  all 
readers  of  history.  Josephus  says  that 
Pompey's  virtue  kept  him  from  carry- 
ing off  the  sacred  treasure,  but  rerords 
the  fact  that  he  desecrated  the  Temple 
by  entering  the  Holiest  of  Holies  (Ant., 
xiv.  iv.  4),  and  examining  those  things 
which  it  was  lawful  for  the  priests 
only  to  behold. 


130 


FIRST   AND    SECOND   TASSOVKK   IN    TOE   LITE    OF   .TESU8. 


death  and  resurrection,  is  wholly  inadmissible.  If  he  had  done 
BO  it  must  have  been  in  sight  of  the  Jews,  or  of  his  disciples  only, 
lie  could  scarcely  have  made  the  gesture  significant  to  his  disci- 
ples without  also  making  it  apparent  to  the  Jews,  and  it  is  not 
consistent  with  the  general  purity  and  simplicity  and  elevation  of 
his  character  to  fancy  him  winking  to  his  disciples  and  concealing 
a  gesture  from  the  crowd.  They  believed  that  he  meant  the  ma- 
terial Temjde  in  which  they  were  standing. 

Their  re]»ly  shows  that:  "Forty  and  six  ycai-s  was  this  Temple 
in  building,  and  wilt  thou  rear  it  up  in  three  days?"     This  must 

refer  to  the  completion  of  some  main  jwrtion  or 
jg^g  principal  wing  of  the  Temple.     Ilerod  the  Great 

liad  a  taste  for  building,  and  had  expended,  and 
■was  still  expending,  vast  sums  and  much  time  on  this  groat  work, 
in  which  he  was  assisted  by  the  piety,  the  wealth,  and  the  patri- 
otic pride  of  the  Jews.  From  the  time  he  had  commenced  this 
work  to  the  time  this  reply  was  made  to  Jesus  it  was  just  forty-six 
yeai"S.  Josephus  (Ant.,  xvi.  11.  1)  says  that  he  began  in  the 
eighteenth  year  of  his  reign  ;  but  in  his  Wdrs  of  the  Jews  (i.  21. 1) 
he  says  in  the  liftecnth,  the  dates  being  founded  respectively 
npon  the  death  of  Antigonus  and  Herod's  appointment  by  the 
Homans.  If  the  latter  date  be  taken,  it  will  give  twenty  yeai-s  to 
the  birth  of  Jesus,  and  thirty  yeai-s  to  this  passover,  making 
fifty  from  which  if  we  take  four  yeai-s  to  correct  our  era,  the 
epoch  of  which  is  just  that  much  too  late,  we  have  forty-six 
years.* 

It  was  to  Jewish  ears  a  preposterous  and  a  blasphemous  thing 
in  Jesus  to  intimate  that  the  Temple  should  be  destroyed,  and  to 

assert  that  he  could  rebuild  it  in  three  davs.  They 
Thenation  _  ,.  ttiii       ^^i 

Bbockecl  never  jorgave  him.     He  had  hurt  them  m  every 

sensibility.  And  Jesus  knew  it.  And  he  made 
no  reply  and  no  ex])lanation.  In  his  first  public  acts  he  had  ex- 
hibited a  zeal  that  seemed  headstrong;  ho  liad  certainly  per- 
formed a  most  impolitic  act.  But  it  cannot  be  charged  as  an  in- 
discretion or  inadvertence,  such  as  occur  in  every  ]ud)lic  man's 
life  and  give  him  great  rci^rets.     Jesus  never  regretted  it.     He 


*  Alford  (on  John  ii.  20)  notices  that 
the  Temple  was  not  completed  till  a.d. 
04,  under  Herod  Agrippa  II.  and  the 
procurator  AlbinuB;  so  that    "was  in 


building"  must  have  referred  to  the 
greater  part  of  the  work  then  com- 
pleted. 


CLEANSING   THE   TE^ilPLE.  131 

must  have  known  that  he  had  vii-tually  signed  his  owl.  death- 
Mari-ant.  He  awaited  the  result.  AVe  shall  see  how  this  one 
sentence  of  his  rankled  in  the  heart  of  the  natiou,  was  made  the 
strength  of  the  indictment  on  which  he  was  executed,  and  con- 
fionted  him  in  the  shape  of  gibe  amid  the  horrors  of  his  cru- 
cifixion. 

lie  meant  his  own  body.  He  thought  of  his  death  by  violence, 
and  his  belief  that  he  had  power  to  take  up  his  life  again.  lie 
knew  the  unity  of  his  OAvn  meaning  and  compre- 
hended the  multiplicity  of  its  relations.  It  might  ,  , 
refer  to  the  desecration  of  the  Temple  by  the  men 
around  him,  or  to  its  destruction  by  the  Itomans ;  it  might  refer 
to  the  abolition  of  the  Jewish  form  of  religion  and  the  recon- 
struction of  faith  on  the  basis  of  his  resurrection.  Uere  as 
throughout  his  whole  public  life  (compare Matt.  xii.  iO)  this  thought 
of  his  resurrection  was  ever  present  to  his  mind.  Subsequently 
he  seems  to  have  told  John  and  the  other  disciples  that  his  allu- 
sion, in  the  offending  speech,  was  to  "  the  temple  of  his  body." 
But  even  then  they  could  not  comprehend,  they  seemed  scarcely 
able  to  apprehend,  the  idea  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  The 
whole  meaning  came  upon  them  only  after  they  believed  that  they 
had  seen  him  alive  after  death.* 

An  appeal  may  now  be  made  to  the  candor  of  mankind  against 
the  disingenuousness  of  some  modern  criticis.  If  any  public  man, 
say  Pericles,  or  Caesar,  or  Cromwell,  or  AVasliing- 
ton,  or  Napoleon,  had  plunged  into  public  life  as 
Jesus  did,  would  it  be  fair  to  charge  that  his  intent  was  to  pan- 
der to  the  public  taste,  to  study  the  tides  of  fortune,  to  adapt  him- 
self to  the  desires  of  the  masses,  and  thus  to  popularize  himself? 
Suppose  the  act  of  cleansing  the  Temple  would  be  agreeable  to  a 
few  unsecularized  devout  old  Jews;  it  would  be  disagreeable  to 
the  large  majority  of  ruling,  influential  people,  and  hugely  dis- 
gusting to  the  traffickers  themselves;  while  the  speech  of  the 
Temple  would  give  point  to  the  rancor  of  those  whom  the  act  had 
offended,  and  shield  their  resentment  from  the  allegation  of  being 
based  upon  personal  grounds,  while  it  would  be  poignantly  afflic- 
tive to  the  sensibilities  of  the  pious  few  who  would,  but  for  the 
Bpeech,  have  favored  the  act. 

*  Read  with  care  John  ii.  21,  23. 


132       rmsT  A^T)  6eco>t)  rAssovEE  m  the  lite  of  jestts. 

On  grounds  of  policy  the  act  and  the  accompanying  speech  are 

wholly  indefensible.     If  Jesus  undertook  the  enterprise  which  ia 

cliarged  upon  him  by  the  critics,  then  he  was  sim- 

..  }ily  a  fool,  whose  folly   it  would  be  difficult  to 

match  from  all   the  recorded   mistakes  of  men. 

But  whatever  else  be  charged,  he  is  not  accused  of  folly.     Then, 

he  did  not  seek  to  draw  men  to  his  fellowsliip  l)y  going  to  their 

opinions.     Then,  he  was  an  independent  thinker  and  actor.  Then, 

he  was  not  politic.     If,  since  his  death,  it  be  ascertained  that  he 

has  exerted  a  vast  influence  over  human  thought  and  action, — if 

now  he  reigns  king  in  the  hearts  of  multitudes  of  men, — then  it  ia 

possible  to  live  a  great  life  and  die  a  great  death  without  a  policy. 

If  devout  men  see  in  the  life  of  Jesus  something  supeniaturally 

beautiful,  we  shall  find,  in  an  nndogmatic  study  of  his  career,  the 

thing  of  all  things  most  beautiful,  pure  naturalness. 

It  would  seem  from  the  history  that  during  his  attendance  upon 

the  Passover  Jesus  did  many  wonderful  things,  even  perfonned 

miracles,  which  convinced  many  that  he  was  tlie 

s  mimy  won-  ^^j^gggj^^jj^     They  seemed  more  willing  to  trust  him 

derful  works.  -^  ... 

than  he  was  to  trust  them.     His  intimate  friend 

and  biographer  says  that  it  was  because  "he  knew  what  was  in 

man."     lie  knew  that  in  the  fervor  of   recent  conviction  they 

might  soon  form  a  mob  of  excited  adherents,  whose  fidelity  could 

not  endure  the  test  which  such  teaching  and  discipline  as  he  would 

enforce  would  bring  upon  them.     lie  was  in  no  haste.     He  came 

to  plant  princii)les  and  demonstrate  truths,  not  to  crente  factions 

and  secure  partisans. 


CHAPTER   II. 


NIC0DEMU8. 


Jestjs  was  a  light  that  could  not  be  hid.     The  more  thoushtfiil 


&' 


had  begun  to  study  the  phenomena  of  his  character  and  career. 

Even  members  of  the  Sanliedrim  began  to  take 

Nicodemus.  John 


&- 


interest  in  his  teachings, — most  with  feelings  of 
aversion,  a  few  witli  solicitude,  and  one  at  least 
with  kindly  inclination.  That  one  was  Nicodemus.  There  must 
have  been  others  whose  observation  had  led  them  to  desire  to 
know  more  of  Jesus.  Sucli  was  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  who  be- 
came a  disciple,  "  but  secretly  for  fear  of  the  Jews."  (See  John 
xix.  38.)  How  man\'  more  men  of  mark  were  in  tliis  circle  we 
have  no  means  of  knowing.  John  says  (xii.  -12)  that  "among  the 
chief  rulers  many  believed  on  him."  Of  these  we  take  Nicode- 
mus as  at  once  the  leading  spirit  and  the  representative  man. 

He  was  a  Pharisee  as  to  faith,  and  a  member  of  the  Sanhedrim 
as  to  position.  He  had  all  the  traditionary  intiuence  of  his  sect 
and  his  office  to  bind  him  to  propriety  and  conservatism.  He  was 
not  young.  Tlic  Talmud  *  speaks  of  a  rich  Sanhedrist,  called 
Nicodemus  Bonai,  who,  at  a  great  age,  was  alive  at  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem.  There  are  no  means  of  identifying  this  man 
with  the  Nicodemus  spoken  of  by  John,  but  there  is  no  reason,  so 
far  as  I  know,  why  he  may  not  have  been  the  same. 

This  Nicodemus  came  to  Jesus  by  night.  The  interview  is  re- 
ported condensedly  by  John,  but  is  exceedingly  interesting,  as 
showing  how  ready  Jesns  was  to  set  forth  the  most  profound  doc- 
trines to  any  willing  mind,  even  when  that  mind  is  still  held  in 
the  bondage  of  old  prejudices.     Timid,  afraid  of  the  ban  of  his 


*  The  Nicodemus  of  the  Talmudists 
Is  called  "  son  of  Gorion,"  is  represented 
as  one  of  the  three  richest  men  in  Jeru- 
Balem,  living  at  the  time  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  being  then  among ! 


the  disciples  of  Jesus.  Olshausen  re- 
fers to  Sanhedr. , '  f  ol.  xliiL  1 ;  Aboth 
Rab.  Nathan,  cap.  6 ;  Tract.  Gittin, 
foL  Ivi  1,  etc. 


134 


FIRST  AJfD   SECOND  PASSOVEE   IN   TIIE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 


caste,  holding  tenaciously  to  liis  prejudices  by  force  of  liahit,  yd 
candid,  loving  truth,  seeking  a  sure  footing  cautiously,  lie  idt 
himself  bound,  as  all  honest  minds  are  bound,  to  give  a  fair  lieaiinu 
to  every  new  word  and  an  impartial  examination  to  all  new  cluims. 
Jesus  had  not  yet  classed — as  he  did  afterward — the  hypociiir 
with  the  infidel,  the  Pharisee  with  the  Sadducee.     He  had  not  re 

peated  with  emphasis  the  denunciations  of  Jol.ii 
Jesus  regarded  ^j^^  Baptist.  But  his  style  was  not  such  as  wu„M 
with  misti-ust.  ,        .  1       -ni       •  11  1-1 

be  pleasmg  to  the  i  harisees,  and  they  did  n<>t 

know  how  far  he  was  to  advance  his  claims.  They  regarded  him, 
therefore,  with  mistrust.  Kicodemus  saw  more  in  him  than  nmst 
of  the  other  Pharisees  ])erceived.  Just  such  was  the  ])ostme  <»f 
his  mind  when  he  determined  for  truth's  sake  to  ha\e  an  inter- 
view with  Jesus,  but  for  the  sake  of  i)rudence  to  have  it  at  night. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  narrative  in  John  in  the  true  historic 
spirit,  laying  aside  the  dogmatic  prejudices  of  educati<Mi. 

Kicodemus  calls  Jesus  "Pabbi,"  the  title  of  respect  to  an 
acknowledged  teacher.  His  opening  speech  is  complimentary, 
but  cautions.  It  gives  a  sufficient  reason  for  his 
Address  of  (•oininj',  and  implies  a  careful  c'liardiui'  against 
admitting  too  much.  "  We  know  that  from  God 
thou  hast  come— a  TedchcrP  "Who  are  '•'■  we'''' f  It  was  not  con- 
lined  to  himself.*  There  would  have  been  no  propriety  in  such 
stately  official  mode  of  expression  in  a  secret  nocturnal  interview. 
He  was  re]>resenting  others  as  well  as  himself,  what  a  very  few 
othei-s,  like  Joseph  of  Arimathaia,  were  ready  to  adniit,  and  what 
Nicodemus  thought  the  whole  Sanhedrim,  at  that  time,  in  their 
hearts,  believed.  Here  is  a  discovery  of  the  impression  already 
made  by  Jesus  upon  the  most  elevated  and  thoughtlul  min«ls  of 
his  nation.  "We  know  this  much,  that  thou  hast  eome  from 
God — that  thou  hast  a  divine  mission  to  the  jK'ojile — as  a  teaeher." 
Only  that,  no  more,  is  adm'itted.  They  are  not  carried  away  hy 
any  enthusiasm  in  his  behalf,  but  they  are  stimulatcni  to  leani 
M'hat  he  can  teaeli  them.  He  must  nt»t  be  elated  by  this  admis- 
sion, f(^r  it  is  qualiiied  by  a  logical  reason:  "for  no  man  can  do 
the  wonderful  things  thou  doest,  if  God  be  not  Nvith  him.'' 


*It  is  noticed  that  the  phrase  "we 
know"  is  the  current  characteristic 
formula  of  the  j)roud  Pharisees,  who 
held  the  key  of  knowledge  for  them- 


selves and  withheld  it  from  the  common 
I)vopIc.  We  shall  meot  it  frequcuUjr  oa 
we  proceed. 


NIC0DE3IUS.  135 

To  what  does  all  this  amount?  Not  very  much.  It  imjilies 
that  while  the  chiefs  had  made  no  high  estimate  of  John,  l)e- 
cause  John  had  performed  no  miracle,  Jesus  had 

1  r         J     •  •  i-i  1         .  Caution       of 

made  a   profound   impression   upon  tlie  rulers:    „.    ,        ,      , 
^  ^  ,        ,  .        ,    .  .      Nicoaemus  s  ad- 

one  is  sent,  or  comes,  to  examine  his  claims  pri-    ^ggg^ 

\ately  and  dispassionately.  lie  says  "  we,"  very 
generally  perhaps,  as  Stier  thinks,  to  shelter  himself  from  express- 
ing his  own  convictions,  and  so  as  to  be  able  to  draw  back  if 
necessary:  "thou  hast  come"  is  in  Greek  a  pointer  to  ep;)^oyu-€i^o9, 
the  "  Coming  One,"  and  if  Jsicodeinus  used  a  precisely  parallel 
woi-d  in  Hebrew  or  Aramaic — in  one  of  which  dialects  the  con- 
versation must  have  been  maintained — he  might  have  seemed  to 
involve  a  recognition  of  the  Messianic  mission  of  Jesus ;  which 
recognition,  however,  is  immediately  withdrawn  in  the  word 
"  teacher," — the  Messiah  expected  by  the  Jews  being  not  teacher 
but  Jdiig.  He  further  proceeds  to  thin  out  his  address  by  the 
phrase,  "  if  God  be  not  with  him." 

A  great  fall  from  the  almost  promise  of  recognizing  the  Mes- 
siah !  He  is  so  afraid  of  making  that  acknowledgment  of  the 
Messiahship  of  Jesus  that  he  stops  short  and  fails  to  ask  a  question 
as  to  the  coming  kingdom  of  God.  lie  had  long  felt  that  the 
heavenly  kingdom  should  come,  and  must  be  near,  in  spiritual 
power.  His  whole  people  were  ardently  longing  for  it.  From 
that  lofty  expectation  he  drops  down  to  the  idea  of  a  mere  science^ 
learning,  a  school,  the  founder  being  a  mere  tecMher  !  The  idea 
was  not  Jewish.  Those  who  had  come  from  God  were  prophets, 
foretelling  and  denouncing,  or  announcing,  not  teaching.  This 
scientific  Sanliedrist  begins  to  blunder  as  socm  as  he  mingles  the 
spiritual  and  the  material.     A  teacher  working  miracles  indeed  I 

And  yet  a  sincere  desire  to  know  the  truth  must  have  been  at 
the  bottom  of  this  man's  heart.  The  mysterious  young  Rabbi 
recognized  this,  as  his  whole  treatment  shows. 
As  soon  as  Nicodemus  had  "  laboriously  achieved 
his  introductory  speech,"  as  Stier  describes  it,  or,  as  I  think, 
paused  from  mei'e  confusion,  having  given  no  good  reason  for  his 
visit,  Jesus  made  a  reply,  which  is  the  first  and  perhaps  the  most 
dogmatic  of  his  utterances.  He  lets  down  upon  the  mind  of 
Nicodemus  the  weight  of  the  central  truth  of  his  system,  veiled 
in  figurative  language.  Looking  down  into  the  eyes  and  heart  of 
the  learned  Pharisee,  he  says  solemnly :  "  Verily ^  verily,  1  say  to 


136  FIRST   AND    SECOND   PASSOVER   IN  TITE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

you,  if  any  man  l>e  not  horn  anew,  he  camiot  enjoy  the  kingdom 
of  Godr 

Jesus  knew  the  general  expectation  of  the  approaching  king- 
dom, Kicoderans  shared  it.  lie  had  approached  Jesus  to  ascer- 
tain, it  would  seem,  what  connection  existed  between  his  miracles 
and  his  doctrine.  The  miracles  seemed  phenomena  whicli  de- 
clared the  nearness  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah  which  Daniel 
(vii.  14)  had  taught  him  and  his  nation  to  expect.  As  a  Jew,  a 
Pharisee,  a  ruler,  he  had  jn-escriptive  right  to  a  place  in  this 
kingdom;  but  it  was  quite  pnjbable  that  this  young  teacher  could 
give  him  instruction  as  to  the  best  way  to  enter,  to  see,  to  enjoy 
the  Messianic  kingdom. 

The  general  drift  of  this  sudden  speech  seems  to  be  this:  You 

have  come  to  me  as  if  J  earning  (io\A(i  do  everything;  but  it  is  not 

by  new  learning,  but  by  new  life,  that  one  is  to 

eaningo      is    Q,,fgj.  God's  kinijdom  ;  and  a  new  life  comes  bv  a 
reply.  . 

new   Irirth.     Luther   paraphrases   it   thus :  "  My 

teaching  is  not  of  doin^  and  leaving  undone,  but  of  a  change  in 
the  mun:  it  is  not  ne^o  works  done,  but  a  new  man  to  do  them ; 
not  another  mode  of  living  f»nly,  but  a  new  birth."  lie  takes 
Nicodemus  down  from  the  lofty  platform  of  his  official  rank  and 
Pharisaic  self-sufticiency,  and  throws  him  out  among  the  multi- 
tude of  men  by  telling  him  that  not  rank  and  learning  will  save, 
but  any  man,  whoever  he  may  be,  who  has  not  had  the  experience 
which  Jesus  indi(rates  by  the  phrase  'yevvr^d?)  avwdev,  "be  born 
afresh,"  such  a  man  cannot  understand  by  exjierienc'ing  and  enjoy- 
ing (for  such  the  word  i8ety  means)  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Nicodemus  wf»uld  have  received  no  shock  from  the  idea  of  the 
new  birth  if  it  had  been  spoken  of  the  proselytes  from  the  heathen, 
who  stood  at  the  door  of  Judaism  applying  for  admission.  When 
Buch  a  one  was  baptized  he  was,  in  the  Ilabbinical  view,  "sicut 
parvulus  jam  natus,"  as  a  new-born  babe.  Put  the  shock  lay  in 
the  sweeping  statement  M'hich  turned  all  tlie  Jews — rulers,  Phari- 
sees, Scribes — out-dooi*6,  to  seek  admittance  afresh. 

The  w<»rd  dvtoOev  in  this  conversation  has  been   a  puzzle   to 

critics.     And  it  is  the  important  word,  on  our  undei-standing  of 

which    will    depend   our  comj>rchension    of   this 

p  0  en  1C8.  pj^pp^.jj  ^j£  Jesus.  It  is  to  be  recollected  that 
Jesus  spoke  in  the  Aramaic  tongue  most  probably,  and  John 
records  in  Greek  the  conversation  which  Jesus  had  reported  tc 


NIC0DEMU8.  131 

him,  Now,  for  the  Greek  word  is  there  a  corresponding  word  in 
the  Aramaic,  with  a  double  laeaningf  If  so,  then  the  more 
remote  n\eaning  miglit  throw  light  upon  the  word,  showing  tliat 
it  meant  of  God,  as  the  kingdom  of  God  is  mentioited,  or  that  it 
bore  the  meaning  which  the  Apostolical  nsage  subsequently  closely 
connected  with  the  being  born  again,  namely,  from  heaven,  e'/c 
Tov  oupavou,  so  that  dvcodev  might  be  synonymed  with  ovpavodev. 
But  Grotius  has  shown  that  there  is  no  such  word  in  the  Aramaic. 
We  must,  therefore,  give  the  closest  possible  translation  of  avwdev, 
and  that  must  mean  "  anew,"  or  "  afresh,"  or  "  entirely  anew,"  or 
"  from  the  beginning."  Nicodemus  makes  a  reply  which  shows 
that  he  so  understood  it,  namely,  as  a  totally  new  birth  experi- 
enced by  one  at  his  maturity.  This  is  not  conclusive,  as  Nico- 
demus might  have  misunderstood  Jesus,  but  it  is  corroborative, 
as  it  gets  exactly  the  most  natural  meaning  of  the  word. 

In  all  these  studies  of  Jesus  we  are  not  concerned  to  learn 
what  the  official  expounders,  commentators,  and  preachers  have 
agreed  is  to  be  the  conventional  interpretation  of  the  words  of 
Jesus,  but  to  discover  by  calm  and  patient  research  into  the 
original  documents  what  this  remarkable  Teacher  really  did 
mean.  "We  are  not,  however,  to  despise  the  opinions  of  others, 
especially  when  they  seem  formed  upon  impartial  examination. 
In  this  spirit  we  are  to  encounter  another  phrase,  namely,  ''^  the 
kingdom  of  GodP 

It  may  be  noticed  here  that  it  is  not  usual  with  John.  Indeed' it 
does  not  occur  in  his  gospel  outside  this  conversation.  This  is  inci- 
dental evidence  of  the  fidelity  with  which  John  reports  the  conversa- 
tion, not  changing  any  phrase,  however  it  differ  from  his  own  modes 
of  thought  and  expression,  as  any  critic  nnist  see  that  this  does. 

"We  know  that  the  Jews  looked  for  a  temporal  kingdom  of 
material  splendor,  in  which  Jehovah's  Messiah  should  reign,  and 
which  should  have  sanctity  from  the  Divine  Presence  and  won- 
derful spiritual  manifestations,  as  it  should  have  paramount 
authority  from  its  political  predominance.  Now,  just  as  a  Jew- 
was  gross  and  materialistic  in  his  tendencies,  this  kingdom  fig- 
ured itself  to  him  on  its  earthly  and  material  side  ;  and  just  as  he 
was  devout  and  spiritual  in  his  tendencies,  this  kingdom  presented 
itself  to  him  as  of  the  soul  and  spirit  of  a  man,  with  heavenly 
characteristics.  Nicodemus  seems  to  have  had  very  niixed  ideas 
of  the  kingdom. 


138       rmsT  and  second  passotek  in  tite  life  of  jesus. 

"The  kingdom  of  God"  must  reasonably  mean  as  much  aa 
this :  a  government  in  which  God  is  king,  whicli,  being  an  ab- 
straction, we  can  concretely  think  of,  so  far  aa 

The  kingdom  of  ,  .  11*^^1  ^         £ 

_  ,  each  man  is  concerned,  onlv  as  the  surrender  or 

God.  ' 

that  man  to  the  rule  of  God,  the  total  removal  of 
rebellion  out  of  his  heart,  the  destruction  of  the  princii>le  and 
spirit  of  rebellion  from  his  sou],  so  that  freely  and  aftectioiuitely 
is  he  loyal  to  God, — a  siiiiitual  change  so  great  that  it  is  quite 
equivalent  to  a  new  creation,  a  new  birth  into  a  new  life  ;  and 
then,  as  two  or  more  come  to  be  in  that  state,  we  have  a  com- 
munity bound  to  God  by  the  allegiance  of  love,  and  to  one  another 
by  the  loving  temyjcr  which  comes  into  the  heart  when  it  yields 
its  will  to  the  will  of  (iod. 

Now,  if  we  have  really  found  not  only  a  reasonable  but  a 
probable  meaning  of  this  phrase,  as  Jestis  used  if,  it  Avill  follow 
that  all  his  convei*sation  with  Nicodeums  and  all  his  subsequent 
discoui"ses  will  consist  with  this  theory,  and  that  he  directed  the 
labors  of  his  life  to  the  forming  upon  earth  just  such  a  body  of 
loving  subjects  to  the  law  of  love  and  to  the  Lord  of  love.  If 
this  shall  fail  to  appear  as  we  evolve  the  biography  of  Jesus,  then 
have  we  failed  of  reaching  his  meaning.     Let  us  see. 

The  rei>ly  of  Xicodemus  was,  "  How  is  a  man  able  to  be  bom, 

being  old  ?     Can  he  enter  a  second  time  into  his  mother's  womb 

and  be  born?"     If  this  be  taken  as  proof  that 

eaningo  ^  ico-  j^i^jodd^^jg  iindei*stood  Jesus  as  meaning  fleshlv 

demus  s  reply.  r     i  1       •  1 

birth,  it  would  snnply  prove  Inm  a  fool,  and  with 

such  an  idiot  Jesus  could  have  had  no  convei-sation.  It  is  sur- 
prising how  generally  this  has  been  supposed  to  be  the  meaning 
of  jS'icodemus.  But  let  the  reader  reflect  that  this  was  no  child, 
but  a  man  advanced  in  years,  holding  a  high  oflice,  having  a 
trained  mind,  being  skilful  in  detettting  the  meaning  of  speech, 
learned  in  the  Scrii»tures  of  his  religion,  which  must  have  made 
his  mind  familiar  with  the  couching  of  deepest  spiritual  significa- 
tion in  figurative  language.  lie  knew  that  Jesus  meant  a  rebuke 
and  an  instruction.  The  rel)uke  was  this:  You,  Nicodemus, 
have  come  to  me  as  to  a  mere  teacher  to  be  told  something  new 
about  the  kingdom  of  God;  I  tell  you  this,  that  you  cannot  be 
instriK-led  into  that  kingdom,  schooled  into  it,  educated  into  it. 
Vou  cannot  sec  the  kingdom  of  God  from  afar.  You  cannot  see 
t  with  your  natural  senses.     You  must  be  spiritually  re-created, 


NICODEMUS.  139 

must  have  not  exactly  a  palingenesis,  being  born  again,  but  a 
totally  new,  fresh  birth  into  a  life  no  emotions  of  which  you  have 
ever  felt,  and  no  function  of  which  you  have  ever  discharged. 

The  reply  of  Nicodeinus  is  in  the  disputatious  temper  of  the 
learned.  It  ran  somehow  thus  :  Is  that  your  view  of  "  the  king- 
dom of  God  "  ?  If  so,  it  throws  all  our  mere  Scriptural  learning, 
ecclesiastical  position,  and  supposed  prescripti\e  rights  to  the 
winds.  But,  young  man,  you  are  undertaking  a  most  fruitless 
mission.  Such  spiritual  fresh-generation  is  wholly  impracticable. 
It  is  easier  to  effect  physical  changes  than  spiritual.  It  is  easier 
to  create  a  body  than  a  soul.  But  you  know  that  no  old  man 
can  j-e})eat  the  })rocess  of  his  physical  birth  :  it  will  be  more 
clearly  impracticable  for  him  to  have  a  new  S})iritual  birth. 

It  was  not  that  Nicodemus  failed  so  much  to  understaivl  Jesus 

as  to  heliere  him.     He  saw  the  meaning,  but  attempted  to  confute 

the  proposition  of  Jesus  by  a  kind  of  reductio 

Lack  of  belief 
ad  ahmirdum.     Nicodemus  answered  as  many  a 

learned  man  answers  when  some  new  ])hase  of  truth  is  presented 
which  he  cannot  fail  to  see,  but  which  he  cannot  embrace  because 
he  has  nut  the  moral  strength— indeed,  who  has? — to  throw  down 
all  the  prejudices  of  his  education. 

The  resi)()nse  of  Jesus  is :  "I  most  assuredly  declare  unto  you, 
if  one  be  not  born  of  water  and  the  spirit  he  cannot  enter  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Wliat  is  born  of  the  flesh  is 
flesh ;  what  is  born  of  the  spirit  is  spirit."  The 
baptism  of  proselytes  was  considered  a  new  crea- 
tion, so  that  old  relationships  were  so  totally  broken  as  to  permit 
a  convert  to  marry  his  o^vn  sister  without  crime.  Nicodei/ms 
knew  what  baptism  was — that  of  the  Jewish  i-itual  and  that  of 
John.  He  and  the  other  Pharisees  had  despised  the  luptism 
of  John  because  it  was  a  baptism  of  rei)entance.  Jesus  must 
have  known  that  the  mind  of  Nicodemus  would YQSQi'i  tc^tuptism 
at  once.  The  language  must,  then,  have  some  reasonable  inter- 
l)retation  consistent  with  that  fact.  Baptism  was  known  bj  Nico- 
demus and  by  Jesus  to  be  a  mere  external  rite,  a  clean?  ing  of 
the  outward  man,  but  as  intended  to  symbolize  an  interna)  ])uri- 
fication,  else  it  were  a  senseless  ceremony.  The  religions  of  the 
world  had  aimed  at  the  reformation  of  the  external  man.  Juda- 
ism especially  did  so,  more  especially  Phariseeism.  It  was  water 
Spirit  was  needed.     There  must  come  a  spiritual  new  creation. 


140  FIRST   AND    SECOND   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

Then,  ill   reply  to  Nicodemus's  reductio   ad  ahsurdum,  Je^nfi 

makes  statement  of  a  well-known   principle  in  physioloory  and 

psychology,  that  that  which  begets   imparts   its   nature   to   that 

which  is  begotten.     If  a  man  could  go  into  his  mothers  womb 

and  be  horn  again  he  would  be  horji  the  8a?ne,  and  nothing  would 

^come  of  this.     If  the  Spirit  of  the  Almighty  God  make  the  new 

spiritual  creation  there  is  no  longer  any  difficulty  to  be  objected. 

Did  he  mean  the   highest  spiritual  activity  in  the  universe, 

namely,  the  Spirit   of  God  f     In  the  original  the  word  vvevfia 

is  used  where  we  have  "spirit"   and  where  we 
Spirit  and  wind.    ,  n      •     ^  i^    •       .-i  t-'      t  i 

have  "  wind      in  the  common  Lnglish  version, 

which  is  quite  accurate  in  both  cases,  notwithstandiiig  the  iincnti- 
cal  suggestion  that  the  word  should  be  translated  by  "spirit"  or 
"  wind  "  throughout  the  passage.  We  know  that  the  word  means 
both  spirit  and  wind,  and,  if  there  be  nothing  to  the  contrary, 
should  be  translated  by  one  word  or  the  other  in  any  passage, 
unless  a  grammatical  reason  appeal's  to  the  contrary.  Such  rea- 
son does  occur  liei-e  in  the  word  ourw^i,  translated  "so" — "so  is 
every  one,"  etc.  This  means  comparison,  and  comparison  involves 
at  least  two  ideas. 

If  Nicodemus  had  had  time  to  reflect  he  might  have  recol- 
lected that  water  cannot  produce  water ;  dead  flesh,  a  body  with- 
out a  soul,  has  no  power  to  procreate  ;  spirit,  life,  must  be  in 
man  or  woman  before  fatherhood  and  motherhood — so  all  gen- 
eration, or  all  creation,  strictly  i»pcaking,  comes  from  the  Spirit 
of  God,  that  Sj)irit  being  the  real  primal  creator.  That  seems  the 
reason  why  water,  having  been  alluded  to,  is  not  mentioned 
again  nor  pressed  ;  as  if  he  had  said,  "  You  may  have  a  body,  you 
may  have  a  soul,  you  may  have  conformed  outwardly  and  mended 
your  external  life,  as  baptism  or  water  indicates;  all  very  well, 
but  there  inu.st  he  a  fresh  creation  of  the  soul." 

In  the  report  of  tliis  conversation,  Alford  *  has  called  attention 
to  the  use  of  tiic  neuter  in  the  original  to  yeyevvrj/xevov  (that 
which  is  begotten  or  b(»i'n)  as  denoting  the  universal  ai»plication 
of  this  truth,  aiul  IJengel  f  to  the  same  grammatical  fact,  as 
denoting  the  very  flrst  stamina  or  groundwork  of  new  life,  before 
Bex  can  be  pre<licate(l  of  the  embryo.  The  rece))t.ion  of  spirit 
into  this  merest  flesh  gives  the  fli-st  impulse  of  life,  from  which 


•  Oruk  Testament,  in  loco.  \     \  Grammar,  in  loco. 


inCODEMUS. 


everjtWng  else  is  determined.    Tlie  effect  of  tU  loftiest  sp.ntual 
actor  is  to  elevate  and  spiritualize  the  very  sp.rit  of  man. 
Te  Aaps  at  this  moment  Jesus  and  Nieodemus  heard  the  breath 

'"i::irntr:"dduced  t,.  most  natural  possible  iliustratK. 
from  tl>c  physical  world  in  the  case  of  tl>e  wmd-most  natmal 
because  in  the  language  which  Jesus  spoke,  as      .^^,^,^gJestea 
well  as  in  that  in  which  Jofm  reported,  tlie  same   ^^^  ^^^ 
word  means  wind  and  y>iHt.    In  Eccles.astes 
(xi.  5)  it  is  used  as  an  image  of  the  inexphcable  and  n    Xeno- 
phon  *  as  a  symbol  of  the  Deity,  whose  essence  is  invisible  and 
who  is  to  be  traced  only  by  his  operations.f    The  points  of  r  - 
Temblance  are  striking.     The  ,notion  of  the  spirit  o*  a  m  n 
more  nearly  resistless  than  his  body,  and  the  spirit  of  God  must 
Te  wholly  resistless  when  it  moves.    The  results  of  the  operation 
of  the  spirit  of  man  are  perceptible,  and  so  are  those  of  Gods 
spirit.    The  mode  of  operation,  in  each  case,  is  totally  mcompre- 
hensible.    In  these  three  particulars  the  resemblance  is  striking. 
The  whence,  the  w/^re,  the  whither,  itf  each  case,  are  unknown. 
■  We  can  examine  only  results. 

All  this  speech  of  Jesus  should  have  shown  N-odernus  that 
Jesus  taught  that  for  entrance  into,  and  enjoyment  of,  tlie  king- 
domof  God,  a  man  needs  something,  the  production  of  which 
cannot  be  traced,  as  in  the  case  of  culture  or  education  of  any 
W  and  is  as  necessary  as  natural  birth,  in  winch  spn.t  comes 
S  flesh,  and  is  as  incomprehensible.  No  n.an  understands 
his  birth ;  every  man  knows  that  he  was  born,  and  is  consc.ou 
that  he  is  alive.  No  man  understands  the  coming  of  the  Spirit 
of  God  into  his  spirit,  but  he  must  know  that  it  l^as^come 

Nieodemus  replied,  "  How  can  these  things  be  !       it  i»  not  a 
question  for  information.     It  is  the  exclamation       ^^^^^^  ^^  ^^.^ 
of  surprise.    He  has  been  carried  into  mysteries    ^^^^ 
of  the  soul.     Jesus  answered,  "  Ai-t  thou  a  teacher  ^  ^ 

of  Israel,  and  hast  thou  had  no  experience  of  these  great  spiritual 
chancres?"     This  is  a  humiliating  rebuke  to  his  arrogant  excla- 
mation.    He  ought  to  have  known  such  scriptures  as  1  salm  h 
12  ;  Ezek.  xviii.  31 ;  xxxvi.  24-28  ;  Jeremiah  xxxi.  33  ;  Zechanah 
xiii.l;  and  he  ought  to  have  had  spiritual  experiences  of  his 


142 


FITvST   AND   SECOND   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF  JESL'8. 


ovn\.  Then  Jesus  l)egan  to  teach  him.  "  I  solemnly  declare  untc 
you  that  wc  *  speak  what  we  know,  and  testify  what  we  have 
seen,  and  yet  ye  receive  not  our  testimony." 

The  plural  form  has  no  special  significance,  unless  Jesus  in- 
tended to  give  a  large  and  solemn  dignity  to  the  utterance,  or  to 
set  his  "  we  know  "  against  Nicodemus's  "  we  know."  The  aflir- 
mation  is  of  positive  personal  knowledge  on  the  side  of  Jesus,  and 
the  allegation  is  of  an  unbelieving  rejection  upon  the  part  of 
Nicodcmiis  and  the  Jews.  Jesus  adds:  "If  I  have  shown  you 
things  of  the  earth,  and  you  believe  not,  how  can  you  believe  if  ] 
show  you  things  of  heaven?  Xo  one  has  ascended  into  heaven 
but  he  tl  at  came  down  from  heaven,  namely,  the  Son  of  Man, 
whose  residence  is  in  heaven." 

Here  Jesus  makes  claims  for  himself  of  the  most  extraordinary 
character.  lie  affirms  himself  to  be  a  personal  witness  of  tlio 
things  which  are  invisible  to  men,  all  the  heaven- 
ly tilings.  lie  asserts  his  o^^Tl  pre-existence.  lie 
asserts  his  coming  into  the  world  on  a  mission. 
He  asserts  that  his  real  residence  is  in  heaven;  that  where  he  is  is 
heaven.  There  is  no  evading  this  meaning.  He  intended  Nico- 
demus  to  understand  him  so.  "We  have  a  phrase  in  English  to 
this  effect — "  the  words  were  calculated  to  make  a  certain  impres- 
sion,"— meaning  that  such  would  be  a  hearer's  natural  interpreta- 
tion, although  such  meaning  might  have  been  totally  absent  from 
the  mind  of  the  speaker.  I3ut  here  we  go  further  than  that,  and 
say  that  Jesus  meant  to  convey  what  the  words  are  calculated  to 
convey.  lie  was  too  wise,  Nicodemus  was  too  important  a  lis- 
tener, the  conversation  was  on  too  solemn  a  theme  to  allow  the 
slightest  carelessness  of  diction.  He  must  have  given  it  with  pre- 
cision to  his  biographer  John,  and  John  must  have  been  most 
careful  in  the  report,  for  this  is  altogether  the  most  im])ortant  oc- 
casion of  speech  which  Jesus  ever  had.  The  point  in  his  life  and 
the  character  of  his  listener  made  it  the  occasion  to  render  llic 
most  careful  version  of  his  doctrine.     Whether  his  doctrine  was 


Jesas   claims 
pre-existence. 


*  It  may  entertain  the  reader  to  see 
how  much  learned  difference  there  has 
been  about  this  simple  use  of  the 
plural  form.  Euthymius,  a  Byzantine 
commentator  of  the  twelfth  centurj-, 
Bays  that  it  means  Ilimarlf  and  hi« 
FaUier  ;  Bengcl,  Ilimself  and  the  Jldy 


Spii-it ;  Beza  and  Tholuck,  Uiiimilf  n nd 
the  Prophets  ;  Luther  andKnapp,  Him- 
8f1f  and  John  the  liiiptixt  ;  Meyer,  ///wi- 
sftf  and  Teachers  like  llim  ;  Lan^'c  and 
Wesley,  AH  irho  are  born  of  the  Sja'rit  / 
while  Do  Wctte  and  Liicke  regard  it  oa 
only  a  rhetorical  plural. 


NICODEMUS.  143 

true  or  not,  it  is  not  our  purpose  now  to  decide ;  we  are  simply 
striving  to  ascertain  wliat  he  said  and  what  he  meant. 

It  must  be  remarked  that  Jesus  claims  another  thing:  that 
what  he  says  must  be  heUeved,  not  known  or  understood,  because 
he  savs  it.     He  liings  away  the  title  of  teacher, 
which  Nicodemus  bestowed.    He  is  the  Heavenly    j.^^ 
Assertor  of  heavenly  things  and  speaks  with  par- 
amount authority. 

And  Jesus  made  this  solemn  statement  to  N^icodemus :  "As 
Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  thus  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted,  that  every  man 
trusting  in  him  should  have  perpetual  life.  For  God  loved  the 
world  so,  that  he  gave  His  son,  the  only  begotten,  that  every  one 
who  trusts  in  him  may  obtain  perpetual  life  and  not  perish.  For 
God  sent  not  His  Son  into  the  world  that  he  should  damn  (or 
condemn)  the  world,  but  that  the  world  might  be  saved  through 
him.  He  who  trusts  in  him  is  not  damned  (or  condemned) ;  but 
he  who  trusts  not  is  damned  already,  because  he  has  not  confided 
in  the  name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God.  But  this  is  the 
danuiation  (condemnation),  that  light  has  entered  the  world,  and 
men  have  preferred  the  darkness  to  the  light  because  their  deeds 
were  evil ;  for  every  one  who  does  vilely  hates  the  light,  and  shuns 
it,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  detected  and  convicted.  But  he  that 
does  the  truth  comes  to  the  light,  that  his  works  may  be  mani- 
fested that  they  are  done  in  God." 

Here  is  an  open  statement  by  Jesus  that  he  hnoios — he  is  con- 
sciously positiN'e — that  he  is  the  "  only  begotten  "  Son  of  God, 
whatever  that  may  mean.    John  must  have  receiv- 
ed the  word  from  Jesus  himself,  and  it  can  only      ,  .  °    ^^     °  ^ 

'  ''      claim, 

mean  a  more  intense  nearness  to  God  than  it  is  pos- 
sible for  language  to  convey.  The  word  tells  us  something  which 
we  can  understand,  and,  as  is  often  the  case  with  profoundest  think- 
ers, intimates  more.  "We  see  the  ocean  out  to  the  horizon,  but  the 
Boul  feels  that  the  ocean  stretches  far  be^'ond.  Xot  simply  as 
Ewjene  but  as  Monofjene  Jesus  was  known  in  the  spiritual  world. 
He  says  still  further,  that  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  on  the 
pole  in  the  wilderness,  as  related  in  Numbers 
xxi.,  as  a  symbol  of  himself,  whether  Moses  so    ,  .  ^^*^  °^^^     °°* 

triHGS. 

understood    it  or  not.      He   claims   this   act   as 

typical.     So  he  was  to  be  crucified.    It  was  a  necessity.      He,  as 


144       rmsT  A^^)  second  passovee  in  tue  life  of  jesus. 

harmless  as  the  Xechustan  to  which  Moses  directed  the  eyes  of 
the  people  who  had  been  bitten  by  the  harmful  fiery  serjients, — 
he  miLst  be  lifted  up  and  crucified.  And  that  accomplished, 
every  man  who  put  his  trust  in  that  crucified  Only  Begotten 
would  have  a  life  that  is  endless.  Here  are  the  two  main  doc- 
trines of  Jesus  clearly  set  forth:  1,  That  his  religion  was  not  to 
consist  in  any  intellectual  assent  to  any  statement  of  any  moral 
proposition,  but  in  a  personal  attachment  to  his  pei-son  and  a  per- 
fect t'nist  in  him  ;  and,  2,  That  no  caste,  prescriptive  right,  rank, 
learning,  or  nationality,  or  form  of  creed,  gave  title  to  place  in 
the  kingdom  of  God,  nor  did  any  or  all  of  these  exclude  any 
man. 

It  thus  threw  down  the  barriers  of  Jewish  prejudice  and  bigotry, 

and  let  the  nations,  the  Gentiles,  into  the  kingdom  of  God.     The 

Jews  believed  that  when  the  Messiah  came  he 

*  r.  ^:^?^^    °  ^^'  ^    would  "  damn  "  the    Gentiles,  and   make   them 
of  God  6  love.  ^  ' 

"  perish."  Jesus  told  Nicodemus  that  it  should  not 
be  so ;  that  God  loved  the  world  in  sublime  catholicity  of  affec- 
tion, in  intensest  depth  of  devotion, — so  loved  it  as  to  give  his 
peculiar  one,  his  Monogene,  that  the  world  might  hold  to  him  as 
he  held  to  God,  that  thus  they  might  be  drawn  from  perdition 
and  lifted  into  the  light ;  that  salvation,  not  damnation,  was  the 
intent  of  his  coming,  and  that  salvation  lay  not  in  knowledge 
but  in  faith ;  not  in  processes  of  intellection  and  ratiocination  but 
in  the  culture  of  the  human  heart  planted  in  the  divine  heart,  so 
that  a  man's  deeds  should  be  done  "  in  God." 

He  asserted  salvation  and  everlasting  life  to  be  by  trust  in 
himself  when  crucified. 

Whether  that  be  true  or  false,  Jesiis  taught  it. 

Whether  Kicodemus  believed  him  or  not,  we  shall  see  that 
Jesus  never  changed  the  essence  of  his  dogmatic  statement,  never 
developed  in  himself  thereafter,  but  told  all  out  at  the  beginning, 
and  demonstrated  not  only  his  belief  in  the  truth  of  what  he  said, 
but  the  very  truth  of  liia  sayings,  as  far  as  it  is  conceivable  that 
any  liuman  being  could  roiidcr  such  demonstration,  by  any  possi- 
ble life  and  any  possible  death. 


CHAPTER   III. 


FKOM   JUDiEA   TO    SAMARIA. 


Some  time  after  the  Passover  at  which  he  had  performed  mir- 
acles, and  had  had  the  conference  witli  Nicodemus,  Jesus  went 
with  his  disciples  into  the  rural  districts  of  Judaja, 
probably  along  the  western  side  of  the  Jordan,    _  Matt,  iv.;  Mark 
opposite  East  Bethany,     Precisely  how  long  after    ^2.  '' 

the  Passover,  there  is  no  means  of  ascertaining. 
Nor  do  we  know  how  he  was  engaged  in  that  interval.  That  he 
was  constantly  preparing  the  way  for  that  "  kingdom  of  God"  ol 
which  he  spoke  to  Nicodemus  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Upon  leav- 
ing the  metropolis  he  seems  to  have  been  engaged  in  active  min^ 
istry,  teaching  and  preaching,  while  his  disciples  baptized. 

The  question  naturally  arises,  why  Jesus  should  have  baptized  I 
Perhaps  this  is  an  answer.  John  came  with  the  baptism  of  repent- 
ance, that  the  people  might  turn  from  their  sins, 

Why  Jesus   al- 
and make  ready  to  receive  the  Messiah.     Such  he    jo^ed  his  disciples 

recognized  Jesus  to  be,  and  changed  his  style  of  to  baptize. 
preaching,  his  place  of  baptizing,  and  perhaps  his 
very  formula.  It  was  all  now  employed  in  concentrating  the  atten- 
tion of  the  people  on  Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  Ilis  first  baptism  had 
respect  to  the  Coming  One ;  his  second,  to  the  One  Come.  Jesus  in 
the  beginning  of  his  ministry  may  have  had  a  baptism  unto  repent- 
ance administered  by  his  disciples,  because  the  question  now  had 
come  to  be  whether  the  nation  would  accept  him  as  the  Messiah, 
and  certainly  none  but  those  who  were  penitent  could.  If  they 
liad  submitted  to  this  baptism  Jesus  would  have  instructed  thein 
further  in  the  doctrines  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

At  this  time  John  was  baptizing  in  iEnon,  near  to  Salim.  It  is 
not  possible  to  fix  this  site  with  ])recision  positively.  John  (iii.  23) 
assigns  as  a  reason  for  the  selection  of  this  spot  that  there  were 
many  springs  there.  The  expression  in  John  iii.  26  fixes  it  as  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Jordan.  It  could  scarcely  have  been  iinme- 
10 


14G  FraST   AND   SECOND    TASPOVKR   IX    TFIK    LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

diately  on  the  river,  else  the  statement  of  its  ahiindanee  of  water 
wonhl  be  superfluous.  Eusebius  and  Jerome  ])lace  Salim  cii^ht 
lioman  miles  south  of  Scythopolis.  Dr.  Tlunnson,  who  visited 
Scythopolis,  now  called  Beisan,  represents  the  valley  as  abound- 
injr  in  water,  and  as  b'einij  one  of  tlie  most  fertile  in  Palestine. 
The  tradition  in  this  case  is  most  probably  correct,  ^fr  Van  de 
Velde  reports  findiiii;  a  Mussulman  oratory,  called  Sheykh  Salim, 
near  a  heap  of  ruins  about  six  English  miles  south  of  Scythopolis 
aTid  two  west  of  Joi-dan.  ^non  would  seem  to  be  the  name  of 
the  district,  and  Salim  of  the  town. 

Both  the  cousins  weie  now  baptizing,  Jesus  at  the  Jordan  and 

John  in  Samaria.     It  would  seem  that  some  Jewish  proselyte  to 

Jesus  had  had  a  discussion  with  some  of  John's 

John  and  Jesus    jjsciples,  in  which  hc  spokc  sliglitinglv  of  the 

baptizing'.  '^        ^  .  -  .  !->.->. 

reformatory  baptism  of  their  master,  and  magni- 
fied the  discipleship  of  Jesus,  as  if  the  latter  had  rendered  the 
fonner  superfluous.  This  kindled  their  sectarian  and  partisan 
zeal.  Heated  with  this  discussion,  they  immediately  repaired  to 
John,  as  if  they  were  about  to  connnunicate  some  alarming  intel- 
ligence. "Ral)bi,  he  who  was  with  you  beyond  Jordan,  to  whom 
you  bore  witness,  behold  the  same  is  baptizing,  and  all  come  to 
him."  They  seem  to  have  regarded  the  act  of  Jesus  as  a  usurpa- 
tion of  the  place  and  the  functions  of  John.  The  very  ]>hrase, 
"  to  whom  you  bore  witness,"  shows  that  the  disciples  felt  that 
John  was  superior  to  Jesus,  and  that  the  latter  derived  his  chief 
consideration  from  tJie  eulogy  pronounced  on  him  by  Jolm. 

This  appeal  bi-ings  forth  from  John  a  testimony  for  Jesus,  re- 
markable not  only  as  indoi"sing  the  new  teacher  in  the  most  em- 
phatic })ossible  way,  but  as  presenting  the  char- 
John's  self-con-    ^^,^^^  ^,f  j^^jjj^  jj^  ^fjg  j^Qgj.  s„|)iijnc  possible  light. 

Quests 

There  is  nothing  grander  in  all  history  or  fiction. 
No  human  being  ever  more  thorouglily  conrpicrcd  his  own  spirit 
or  governed  liis  whole  nature  by  a  sense  of  right  than  did  .John 
the  Ba])tist. 

lie  had  felt  stirring  in  him  his  wonderful  genius  for  religion. 
Under  what  he  believed  to  be  divine  impulses  he  attacked  the 
sins  and  follies  of  the  day  in  a  style  so  vigorous  as  to  attract  atten- 
tion to  himself.  He  had  been  the  most  pojnilar  public  speaker  of 
his  generation.  ITe  had  swayed  the  masses  and  made  even  roy- 
alty quail  beneath  his  power.     He  had  been  the  great  prophet, 


FROM  JTTDiEA   TO   SAMARIA. 


147 


and  ]iad  enjoyed  all  the  consideration  which  that  position  gives  to 
an}'  man.  Now  he  sees  another,  one  who  had  come  to  him  for 
baptism,  rising  into  public  notice,  attracting  the  attention  of  the 
highest  ecclesiastics,  and,  as  his  o^vn  disciples  inform  him,  with 
drawing  the  masses  from  himself.  There  is  not  a  particle  of  en\} 
oi-  anger  or  jealousy.  The  news  which  saddens  his  weak  disciples 
gladdens  their  grand  and  glorious  master.  lie  had  had  a  mission 
from  heaven.  He  had  fulfilled  that  mission.  Ilis  work  was 
done.  There  was  nothing  lacking  but  some  movement  on  the 
part  of  the  Di\'ine  Provitlence  which  should  as  clearly  point  out 
the  way  of  his  exit  as  it  liad  designated  his  mode  of  entry,  or 
should  forcefully  withdraw  him  from  public  life.  He  had  not 
entered  of  his  own  accord ;  he  would  not  leave.  He  saw  and  felt 
that  he  was  declining.  He  held  himself  ready  to  be  extinguished. 
Grand  man !  There  never  was  any  other  human  being  more 
Borely  tempted ;  there  was  never  a  man  more  triumphant  over 
temptation.  Beside  one  such  noble  act  as  this  how  all  the  achieve- 
ments of  the  Nimrods  and  Alexanders,  the  Caesars  and  the  Napo- 
leons dwindle !  "  He  that  ruleth  his  own  spirit  is  greater  than  ha 
that  taketh  a  city!" 

His  final  testimony  to  Jesus  is  worth  considering.  I  shall  attempt 
a  faithful  paraphrase.  He  first  lays  down  a  general  principle, 
and  then  applies  it  to  Jesus  and  himself : — A  man 
can  assume  nothing  which  heaven  does  not  give: 
Each  man  has  his  mission :  To  take  anything 
else,  assume  any  other  character,  is  wholly  useless :  It  would 
have  been  folly  in  me  to  attempt  to  play  the  part  of  the  Messiah: 
The  mask  would  have  fallen  at  last :  But  I  have  done  no  such 
thing;  for  I  knew  my  mission :  That  mission  is  at  the  beginning 
of  its  end  :  Yon  yourselves  must  bear  me  witness  that  I  said  that 
I  was  not  the  Anointed  of  Jehovah,  but  only  his  harbinger:  Our 
ancient  Scriptures  have  represented  Humanity  as  the  Bride,  and 
the  Coming  Christ  as  the  Bridegroom,  the  desire  of  the  nations: 
I  am  only  the  paranymph,  the  Bridegroom's  Friend:*  I  rejoice 
in  the  occasion  which  gives  Humanity  to  the  arms  of  her  Lover 
and  r)ridcgroom :  The  sound  of  the  voice  of  the  Bridegroom  is 
to  me  the  assurance  that  my  mission,  so  far  from  being  a  failure, 


John's  last  testi- 
mony for  Jesua. 


*  The  <pt\oi  Tov  i'i7i(('ii'-)i),  friend  of  the 
bridegroom,  was  the  regiilar  oi^an  of 
oommuuication  ia  the  preliminaries  of 


the  marriage,  and  had  the  ordering  of 
the  marriage  feast. 


14:8  FIRST   A^^)   SECOND   PASSOVEIt   IN   TnE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

has  been  a  complete  success :  My  joj  is  therefore  full :  It  ia 
rif^ht  and  it  is  inevitable  that  he  increase,  and  equally  right  and 
inevitable  that  I  decrease! 

The  saying  of  John  the  Baptist  soon  had  a  tragic  fulfilment. 
Across  the  river  from  where  lie  was  baptizing  Herod  Antipas,  the 
-,   ^  tetrarch  of   Galilee   and   Perea,  had  a  frontier 

castle,  kno-RHi  as  Machajrns,  to  which  he  seems  to 
have  drawn  John,  as  it  would  appear  hardly  proper  even  among 
tyrants  that  he  should  have  gone  over  to  Samaria  for  his  victim, 
and  thus  invade  the  procuratorship  of  Pilate.  This  Herod  Anti- 
pas,  while  on  a  visit  to  Rome,  had  seduced  the  wife  of  his  half- 
brother  Philip,  and  brought  her  with  him  into  the  bounds  of  his 
tetrarchy.  Having  determined  to  make  her  his  Avife,  and  know- 
ing how  it  would  shock  the  people,  it  occun-ed  to  him  that  the 
sanction  of  so  influential  a  pei-son  as  John  the  Baptist  would 
secure  him  from  popular  violence.  John,  relying  upon  his  per- 
sonal popuhirit}',  or  confiding  in  the  honor  of  the  prince,  i)r()l)ably 
went  over  on  an  indtation  from  Herod,  who  may  have  sent 
for  him  on  the  i)rctext  that  he  desired  instruction.  He  was  then 
probal>ly  solicited  to  sanction  this  nuirriagc.  But  Herod  had  mis- 
taken the  man.  Jolin  denounced  it,  and  boldly  told  the  wicked 
prince,  "It  is  not  lawful  for  you  to  have  her." 

Herod  and  Ilerodias  were  enraged  at  tliis  interdict,  and  John 

was  thrown  into  prison,  and  would  have  been  killed  at  once  if 

.         Herod ias  had  had  her  wa v.     But  Herod  was  iiol- 
Ilerod  imprisons    .  .  i     " .   , 

jojin^  itic,  and  knew  that  such  violence  would  make  an 

out1)reak  among  the  people,  the  very  thing  ho 
dreaded.  "Ulien  Herod  finally  slew  John  ho  gave  out  as  the  rea- 
son that  he  feared  lest  the  great  influence  whic^h  Jt»hn  liad  over 
the  people  should  give  him  the  power  and  inclination  to  raise  a 
rebellion,  as  the  j^eople  seemed  ready  to  do  anything  which  John 
commanded.  This  we  learn  from  Josephus.*  This  was  the  state 
reason  publicly  assigned  ;  but  the  real  and  private  reason,  as  the 
Evangelical  historians  give  it,t  was  the  hatred  which  llen>d  and 
Hci'odias  felt  because  he  would  not  sanction  their  wickedness. 

Jesus  learned  the  fact  of  John's  imprisonment,  and  that  the 
Pharii^.ees  knew  that  through  his  disciples  (for  /le  never  ba])tizcd; 
he  was  baptizing  more  than  John  ;  he  left  his  place  on  the  Jordan 

•  JosephuB,  Ant.,  b.  xviiL,  chap.  v.       |      f  ]\I;itt.  iv.  ;  Jlark  xvi  ;  Luke  iiL 


JOHN'S   PBI80N 


FKOM   JUD.EA   TO    SAMAKIA. 


149 


and  proceeded  to  Galilee,  being  at  that  time  under  very  great 

spiritual  iufliieucc,  or,  as  Luke  says,  "  in  the  power 

of  the  Spirit."     (Luke  iv.  14 ;  compare  Matt,  iv.,    ^^  Galilee 

j^fai'k  i.,  and  John  iv.)      Ilis  way  of  usefulness 

hciug  closed  in  one  direction,  he  turned  himself  to  other  fields. 

His  shortest  way  lay  through  Samaria,  in  which  is  the  city  oi 
Shechem.  This  place  is  famous  on  many  accounts.  It  is  the  most 
beautiful  spot  ui  all  Syria.  Modern  travellers,  as 
well  as  ancient  writers,  lavish  extravagant  epithets 
upon  it.  Mohammed  said:  "The  land  of  Syria  is  beloved  by 
Allah  beyond  all  lands,  and  the  part  of  Syria  which  he  lovetb 


Shechem. 


m^ 


BHECHEK. 


most  is  the  district  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  place  which  he  loveth 
most  in  the  district  of  Jerusalem  is  the  mountain  of  Nablus." 
This  is  the  modern  name  of  Shechem,  being  a  corru|)tion  oi 
Ifeajjolis,  a  lumie  given  to  the  city  by  the  Emperor  Vespasian 
On  this  spot  Abraham  pitched  his  tent  and  built  an  altar,  on  his 
first  migration  to  the  Land  of  Promise.  (See  Gen,  xii.  G.)  After 
his  sojourn  in  Mesopotamia,  Jacob  selected  this  place  for  a  resi 
denee,  and  there  he  dug  a  well,  which  remains  to  this  day.     (See 


150  mtST   AND   SECOND   PA6S0VEE   IN   THE   LIFE   OF  JESUS. 

Gen.  xxxiii.  IS.)  The  city  lies  between  the  two  mountains  ol 
Ebal  and  Gerizim,  and  acquired  fresh  importance  from  the  fact 
that  from  the  former  were  read  the  curses  and  from  the  hitter  the 
blessings,  upon  the  renewed  promulgation  of  the  law,  when  the 
peoi)le  bowed  their  heads  and  acknowledged  Jehovah  as  their  law- 
ful king.     (Deut.  xxii.  11.) 

The  hatred  between  the  Jews  and  the  Samaritans  came  to  pass 
on  this  wise.     Shalmanezer  (b.c.  721)  had  carried  Israel  away 

^  .  .      .  ,      into  Assyria,  into  cai)tivity.     This  left  their  cities 
Ongin  of  the  ,     ,  .       ,  .       ,  . 

Samaritans.  wa?te,  and  tlicy  remained  m  this  condition  until 

''  the  king  of  Assyria  brought  men  from  Babylon, 
and  from  Cuthah,  and  from  Ava,  and  from  Ilamath,  and  from 
Sepharvaim,  and  placed  them  in  the  cities  of  Samaria  instead  of 
the  children  of  Israel ;  and  they  possessed  Samaria,  and  dwelt  in 
the  cities  thereof."  (2  Kings  xvii.  24.)  There  is  some  doubt  as 
to  who  the  king  was  that  put  this  new  unjewish  population  in  the 
land.  The  Samaritans  themselves  attributed  their  colonization 
to  ''  Esarhaddon,  king  of  Assur,"  or  to  "  the  great  and  noble 
Asnappcr."  (Ezra  iv.  2,  10.)  Perhaps  the  latter  was  a  general 
who  executed  an  order  issued  by  Esarhaddon,  who,  on  his  inva- 
sion of  Judah  in  the  reign  of  Manasseh  (about  B.C.  C77),  saw  what 
a  fine  tract  of  country  was  lying  waste  on  the  frontiers  of  his  em- 
pire and  determined  to  repopulate  it.  These  new  Samaritans 
■were  not  descendants  of  Jacob,  but  foreigners  and  idolatei-s.  Nor 
did  they  all  woi-ship  the  same  gods ;  their  idolatry  was  divei-se. 
The  land  had  been  left  desolate  until  wild  beasts  had  taken  pos- 
session, and  annoyed  the  new  Samaritans  to  such  an  extent  that 
they  attributed  it  to  the  vengeance  of  the  god  of  the  land,  and 
sent  an  explanation  of  their  miserable  condition  to  the  king. 
Upon  which  he  despatched  a  captive  priest  to  them,  who  taught 
them.  The  mingling  of  the  true  and  false  in  their  religion  is  de- 
scribed (in  2  Kings  xvii.  41)  thus  :  "  So  these  nations  feand  Je- 
hovah, and  served  their  graven  images,  both  their  children  and 
their  children's  children." 

It  is  plain  then  that  the  new  Samaritans  were  not  of  Jewish  ex- 
traction, and  their  boast  that  Jacob  was  their  father  was  not  true 
Of  some  who  may  have  returned  after  the  captivity  this  might  bo 
aflirmed,  but  the  commiii^rlinix  of  the  families  would  in  that  casu 
be  loss  of  caste. 

After  Judah  had  retunied  from  the  captivity  these  new  Sama 


FKOM   JXTDMX  TO   SAIIAKIA. 


151 


ritans  desired  to  assist  in  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  at  Jerusa- 
lem.    But  the  Jews  knew  that  their  conversion  to      ^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^ 
the  true  faith  was  at  most  but  partial,  and  so  they    j^^^g  ^^^  gj^^nar- 
declined  their  help.     Upon  this  the  Samaritans    tans, 
threw  off  every  attempt  to  disguise  and  becanio 
open  enemies,   and  harassed  the  Jews  until  silenced  l)y  Dariue 
Hystaspes  (b.c.  519).      The  animosities  tlir.s  begun  grew  from 
vear  to  year,  and  deepened  from  generation  to  generation,  until, 
more  tlian  a  hundred  years  after  the  original  rupture  (b.c.  409), 
Manasseh,  a  man  of  the  sacerdotal  order,  having  contracted  an 
unlawful  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  Sanballat,  the  Persian 
satrap  of    Samaria,  was  expelled  therefor  from  Jerusalem  by 
Nehemiah,  upon  which  he  obtained  permission  from  Darius  IS"©- 
thus,  the  king  of  Persia,   to  erect  a  temple  on  Mount  Gerizim 
for  the  Samaritans,  who  had  afforded  him  an  asylum.    This  w^as 
all  that  had  been  lacking  to  make  the  hatred  between  the  races 
intense.      The  schismatic,  heretical  Samaritans  did  all  in  their 
power  to  harass  the  Jews,  who  repaid  their  ill-treatment  with  in- 
describable hate.     Josephus  says  that  the  Samaritans  would  way- 
lay the  Jews  on  their  journey  to  the  Temple,  so  that  many  from 
the  northern  portion  of  the  land  were  compelled  to  make  a  long 
detour  east  of  the  Jordan  for  fear  of  their  enemies.     It  was  so 
intolerable  at  one  time  as  to  lead  to  an  armed  conflict.*     Jose- 
phus also  tells  a  horrible  story  of  Samaritans  stealthily  entering 
the  Temple  after  midnight  and  scattering  dead  men's  bones  in 
the  cloisters.f     We  are  told  that  the  Jews  were  accustomed  to 
communicate  to  their  brethren  in  Babylon  the  exact  time  of  the 
rising  of  the  paschal  moon,  by  beacon-fires  begun  on  Mount  Oli- 
vet, and  "flashing  from  hill  to  hill  until  they  were  mirrored  in  the 
Euphrates.":}:     The    Samaritans   frequently  deceived  and  disap- 
pointed those  whose  lamps  were  hanging  on  the  willows  over 
the  waters  of  Babylon,  by  perplexing  the  watchers  on  the  moun- 
tains bv  a  rival  flame.§     Josephus  loses  no  occasion  to  tell  us  of 
Samaritan  meanness  and  outrage,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  disbe- 


*  See  a  full  accoimt  of  this  in  Jose- 
phus, Ant,  XX.  6,  §  1. 

f  Ant.,  xviii.  2,  §  2. 

X  Smith's  Diet.,  in  loco. 

§  Smith  quotes  Dr.  Trench,  who  says : 
"This  fact    is  mentioned   by  Makrizi 


(see  De  Sacy's  direst.  Arahe,  n.  159), 
who  affirms  that  it  was  this  which  put 
the  Jews  on  making'  accurate  calcula- 
tions to  determine  the  moment  of  th« 
new  moon's  appearance  (comp.  Schoett- 
gen's  n&r.Ucb.,l  344.)" 


152  FIRST   .VXD    SKCOXn    PASSOVKU    IX    TIIK    LIFl-;    OF   JESUS. 

lieve  any  of  his  statements ;  and  if  we  had  a  Samaritan  historian 
we  slionld  nndoul)tedly  hoar  quite  as  luucli  tliat  was  quite  as  true 
on  the  other  side.  AVe  know  that  the  Samaritan  was  pul)licly 
cursed  in  the  s^niagogues  of  the  Jews,  tliat  lie  could  not  appear  as 
a  M'itnc^s  in  a  Je^vish  court,  that  what  he  touched  was  considei-cd 
as  swine's  llesh,  and  tliat  no  i»enitencc  or  profession  of  faith  upon 
liis  part  would  admit  him  through  any  door  of  proselytism,  the 
Jew  striving  thus  to  cut  him  off  from  the  hope  of  eternal  salva- 
tion. "  Thou  art  a  Samaritan  and  hast  a  devil,"  was  the  ordinary 
Jewish  form  for  expressing  utter  contempt  of  any  one.  The  vio- 
lence of  this  hatred  was  thus  expressed :  "  Tie  who  receives  a 
Samaritan  into  his  house,  and  entertains  him,  deserves  to  have  his 
own  children  driven  into  exile." 

"We  must  recollect  that  this  feeling  of  mutual  contempt  and 
hate  had  liecn  deepening  through  centuries, — a  combined  political 
and  religious  feud,  transmitted  and  intensified.  It  is  necessary  to 
recall  this  to  he  prepared  for  certain  passages  in  the  history  and 
teaching  of  Jesus. 

On  his  return  to  Galilee  he  passed  near  Shechem,  -which  the 
Jews  of  his  day  vulgarly  called  Sychar,  Drunkard-town.*  He 
paused  to  rest  on  a  tract  of  land  which  Jacob 
had  bequeathed  to  his  favorite  son,  Joseph,  and 
where  there  was  a  well  which  Jacob  had  digged.  This 'well  is 
still  in  existence,  is  nine  feet  in  diameter  and  one  hundred  and 
five  feet  deep.  It  nsually  now  has  five  feet  of  water,  but  when 
Maundrellf  visited  it  in  the  month  of  March  it  had  fifteen.  At 
this  well  Jesus  rested.  lie  allowed  his  disciples  to  go,  or  sent 
them,  to  the  town  to  procure  food.  "Wliile  he  sat,  Mcary,  there 
came,  perhaps  directly  fiom  the  city,  a  woman  who  belonged  to 
the  city.  IJetween  Jesus  and  this  woman  there  occurred  a  con- 
versation remarkable  in  itself  and  for  its  effects.  His  interlocu- 
tor was  not  now,  as  in  the  case  of  Nicodemus,  a  learned  doctor,  of 
high  moral  character,  but  a  sinqJe  woman,  of  bad  moral  charac- 
ter, unsophisticated  by  the  schools,  but  held  in  bonds  of  preju- 
dice and  weakened  by  sinful  indulgence.  Our  curiosity  is  aroused 
t<)  learn  how  this  remarkable  teacher  deals  with  such  a  case  as  this. 

In  the  lii-st  i)lace  he  arrests  her  attention  by  the  polite  request, 
•Permit  me  to  drink."    The  woman  looked  at  him,  and  liis  gen- 

•  John  iv.  G ;  but  tho  grave  historian  I  tempt 
oould  not  have  used  the  name  in  con-  I      f  Quoted  by  Tholuck,  in  loco. 


FROM   JITD^EA   TO    SA^tAHIA. 


153 


era!  appearance  confinned"  the  suspicion,  created  by  his  intona- 
tions, that  he  was  a  Jew.     lie  had  touched  her      ^^^  q.^,^^^,,^ 
liuman  sympatliics  in  some  measure.     A  request   ^^^omanatUieweil- 
imphes  some  superiority  in  the  pei-son  addressed. 
She  could  give  liim  relief.     He  had  transgressed  tlie  line  marked 


JACOB'S  WELL,    BHECHEM. 

out  by  his  people  as  dividing  them  from  the  Samaritans.  Food 
might  be  purchased,  but  a  Jew  might  not  drink  from  the  water- 
pot"  of  a  Samaritan.  The  woman  was  at  once  good-natured  and 
satiricjal,  and  j.erhaps  felt  somewhat  elated  by  the  request.  She 
bantered  the  traveller  with  the  question,  "IIow  is  jt  that  you, 
being  a  Jew,  ask  water  of  me,  a  Samaritan  woman?" 

This  gave  Jesus  tlie  opportunity  to  deepen  her  interest  by  a 
profoundly  spiritual  rcnuirk:  "If  you  had  known  the  bounty  of 
God,  and  who  it  is  that  says, '  Permit  me  to  drink,'       ^^^^^    ^^^, 
you  would  certainly  have  requested  him  and  he    ^^sation. 
would  have  given  you  living  water."     So  intent 
was  he  upon  his  mission  that  he  had  forgotten  his  thirst;  but  so 


154         FIKST   AND   SECOND   PASSOVEK   IN    THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

Bkilfiil  is  he  that  he  connects  his  highest  moral  lessons  with  the 
most  transient  circnmstances.  The  saying  seems  to  mean  that 
water  is  one  of  the  freest  and  fullest  of  Gt)d's  gifts  to  man,  and 
nothing  but  most  extreme  meaimess  would  allow  a  man  to  deny 
his  fellow  a  drink  of  water ;  but  God's  bounties  in  the  spiritual 
world  are  as  full  and  free  as  in  the  physical  world,  and  men  can 
as  readily  obtain  water  of  s})iritual  life  as  water  of  material  life ; 
and  Jesus  professed  to  be  able  to  impart  this  great  gift  to  the  soul 
of  the  Samaritan  woman.  This  was  the  second  revelation  to  her. 
She  hud  met  a  Jew  wIkj  was  no  ordinary  Jew,  but  one  who  had 
the  gift  of  life.  He  probably  used  the  phrase  "living  water" 
in  its  double  sense.  lie  was  dealing  with  one  who  M'as  to  l)e  led. 
The  woman's  mind  would  seize  the  material  suggestion,  and  thus 
be  led  to  the  spiritual  truth.  Her  reply  shows  that  this  is  what 
ehe  did.  "Kunning  water"  was  in  her  mind.  As  Stier  finely 
says,  '"  Her  words  are  incomparably  picturesque  in  their  echo  of 
his."  She  says,  still  banteringly,  "  Sir,  thou  hast  no  bucket,  and 
the  well  is  deep :  pray  whence  then  have  you  this  live  water  of 
which  you  speak?  Surely  you  do  not  pretend  to  be  greater  than 
our  father  Jacob,  who  gave  us  this  well,  and  drank  of  it  himself, 
with  his  children,  and  his  cattle."  Here  spoke  out  her  national 
pride  and  prejudice.  She  claimed  Jacob  as  her  ancestor,  proba- 
bly with  no  right  or  title  to  such  a  descent.  She  thinks  that  any 
man  may  be  content  with  what  Jacob  used,  and  no  Jew  could  be 
greater  than  the  patriarch. 

Jesus  waives  the  comparison,  but  presses  home  the  great  spirit- 
ual truth  he  had  in  hand,  exciting  her  desire  by  a  strange  prom- 
ise.    He   says :    "  This   water   satisfies   only  the 

space  :  no  water  f  i-om  any  earthly  spring  or  well 
can  slake  the  thirst  of  the  inner  man  :  but  I  can  open  such  a 
fountain  in  the  soul  of  nuin  that  no  life,  no  immortality,  shall  bo 
long  enough  to  exhaust  it."  "Give  me  this  water,  sir,  that  I 
thirst  no  more,  nor  come  to  this  well  to  draw,"  is  lier  sudden  ex- 
clamation. We  must  enter  into  this  wc^man's  character  and  his- 
tory to  comprehend  the  strange  mingling  of  naive  simplicity  with 
gross  canuility.  She  might  have  seen  that  Jesus  had  in  his  words 
a  moral  that  covered  her  life.  At  many  broken  cisterns  of  lust 
she  had  endeavored  to  find  happinesE.  She  begins  partly  to  dis- 
cern that  something  great  and  noble  is  offered  her  by  tliis  stran- 


FROM  JUDJSA   TO    SAMA.RIA.  155 

ger,  and  expresses  a  half  willingness  to  accept,  but  mingles  a  little 
jocularity  with  this  expression  that  she  may  not  too  scrit)usly  coin 
mit  herself.  "  Sir,  give  me  this  water,  tliat  I  never  thirst  again, 
nor  come  to  this  well  to  draw." 

And  now  Jesus  thoroughly  rouses  her  by  probing  her  licart, 
and  showing  tliat  he  knew  all  her  history,  altliough  they  had 
never  met  before.  The  delicacy  and  gentleness  with  wliich 
Jesus  touched  the  wound  in  this  woman's  soul  is  marvellonsly 
beautiful.  "  Go,  call  your  husband,  and  return."  It  flashed  her 
whole  bad  life  before  her  eyes  in  an  instant.  "  I  have  no  hus- 
band," is  her  half -true,  half-false,  and  very  mournful  reply.  Je- 
sus did  not  uj)bi"aid  her  for  her  licentiousness  and  falsehood,  but 
putting  the  very  best  face  on  her  answer,  replied  with  perfect 
politeness,  "  Well  spoken !  You  have  had  five  husbands.  You 
have  a  lover  now,  but  he  is  not  your  hushand :  that  word  is  true." 
She  saw  that  this  was  a  man  who  searched  hearts.  She  knew 
that  by  death  or  divorce,  probably  for  her  own  faults,  she  had 
been  separated  from  the  five  men  to  whom  successively  she  had 
been  married,  and  now  was  openly  or  secretly  licentious.  Her 
sense  of  guilt  was  roused  by  even  this  most  delicate  handling 
of  her  case.  Astounded  by  the  disclosure,  she  acknowledged  to 
Jesus  that  she  believed  him  to  be  a  prophet. 

But  she  did  what  is  usually  done  under  similar  circumstances. 

She  endeavored  to  engage  Jesus  in  a  theological  discussion,  and 

thus,  by  womanly  tact,  divert  the  conversation 

p  -,  ,  ,,.....  TiT        She     tries     to 

ri'ora  an  unpleasant  personal  disqmsition.    instead 

of  ingenuously  acknowledging  her  case  and  seek-  versy. 
ing  instruction  and  help  fi'oni  this  wise  and  gentle 
teacher,  she  turns  from  the  practically  useful  question  of  how 
to  pray,  to  the  speculative  and  comparatively  useless  where.  It 
was  simply  and  swiftly  done.  "  Sir,  our  fathers  worsliipped  in 
this  mountain:  you  Jews  insist  upon  Jerusalem  as  the  place 
where  men  ought  to  worship."  Gerizim  was  in  full  view.  Abra- 
ham and  Jacob  had  lived  and  woi"shipped  here.  Here  had  been 
the  temple  built  by  Manasseh,  and  here  the  altar  remained  after 
John  Ilyrcanus  had  destroyed  the  schismatical  temple.  Sur- 
rounded by  these  sacred  associations,  she  covertly  propounds  the 
question  to  Jesus  whether  she  is  to  abandon  her  ancestral  faith  or 
reject  his.  It  was  the  old  "  vexed  question"  which  had  kept  bad 
blood  between  the  Jews  and  the  Samaritans  for  ages.     It  is  the 


15 G  FIEST   AND    SECOND   PASSOVER   IN   TILE   LITE   OF   JESUS. 

poor  old  question  of  "  To  what  denomination  do  you  belong  ?  *• 
Tlic  discussion  of  this  would  cover  her  retreat. 

The  leply  of  Jesus  shows  how  a  wise  and  healthful  mind  [n-e- 
serves  a  judicious  adjustment  of  the  forces  of  liberality  and  clear 
conviction.  lie  at  once  widens  the  h(^rizon  of 
her  vision  and  pours  white  light  on  the  objects 
already  in  view.  lie  bears  his  testimony  distinctly  for  the  right 
that  lay  on  the  Jewish  side  of  the  question.  The  promises  of 
God  and  the  oracles  of  God  were  with  the  Jews.  The  Samari- 
tans were  in  the  wrong,  and  held  the  truth  in  much  corrupt  false- 
hood. That  is  not  liberal  religion  which  confounds  or  abandons 
the  distinction  between  right  and  wrong.  In  this  question,  which 
had  gendered  so  much  bigotry,  lay  a  great  essential  point :  the 
Jews  founded  their  religion  npon  the  whole  word  of  God,  and 
were  therein  right ;  the  Samaritans  on  only  apart  of  GocVsivord, 
such  as  suited  them,  and  were  therein  wrong.  Both  had  come  to 
regard  the  outward  form  as  more  imjwrtant  than  the  inner  spirit, 
and  therein  both  were  wrong.  It  was,  therefore,  not  a  trivia^ 
question,  nor  was  it  of  only  temporary  importance.  Uut  Jesus 
brought  in  a  new  view,  a  gi-cat,  wide,  glorious  view  of  the  re- 
lationship between  God  and  Man,  and  of  the  nature  of  the  M'or- 
pliip  which  must  be  rendered  to  God.  He  says  with  great  solem- 
nity, "  Woman,  believe  me,  tlie  hour  is  coming  when  ye  shall 
Avorsliip  the  Father,  but  not  only  in  tliis  mountain  and  not  only  in 
Jerusalem.  Tlie  hour  approaches,  and  is  now  present,  when  the 
real  worshippers  shall  adore  the  Father  inwardly  and  sincerely  : 
for  the  Father  seeks  such  to  adore  him."  Between  these  two  sen- 
tences he  encloses  the  statement,  "  Ye  worship  ye  know  iiot  what: 
we  worship  what  we  know  :  because  salvation  is  of  the  Jews." 
The  Samaritans  had  distinctly  set  aside  a  portion  of  God's  word, 
the  prophetical  writings,  because  they  pointed  to  a  Saviour  who 
was  to  spring  from  the  Jews.  The  latter,  of  coui-se,  accepted  them 
theoretically,  and  were  that  far  right;  but  practically  i-ejccted 
them,  and  in  this  were  as  w^rong  as  tbe  Samaritans.  But  the 
Jews  knew  whom  they  worshi])ped.  Their  religion  was  based 
upon  something  quite  sure,  namely,  God's  promise  of  a  Deliv- 
eier. 

Ileie  is  the  basis  of  the  religion  which  Jesus  promulgated 
God  is  Spirit,  not  a  spirit.  He  is  essential  Spirit.  lie  is  t/ia 
i-'ather.      He  not  only  allows  but  seeks  worehip.     The  woi-ship 


FKOM   JXTDMA.  TO   SAMAKIA.  157 

must  be  in  the  inmost  spirit.     Outward  forms  are  nothing  unless 
they  be  phenomena  produced  by  the  motions  of  ^^^^^^^.^^ 
the  noumenon,  the  expression  of  spirit  through 
matter.    God  is  without  material  form.    The  spiiit  that  is  in  man 
is  that  which  is  most  like  God,  and  that  which  touches  God.   The 
worship  God  seeks  is  down  below  all  organism  that  makes  utter- 
ances and  gestures.     The  worship  offered  him  muni,  also  be  per- 
fectly sincere.     It  can  only  escape  totally  all  the  siimlcr  influence 
of  mixed  motives  when  offered  directly  from  the  c^tl  to  God. 
Every  discussion  of  ceremonials  and  topographies  lies  v.utside  all 
true  religion.   The  outward  modes  and  the  visible plcKkw  t\ve  inwg- 
nificant.     Eitualism   is   thoroughly  worthless.     The   I^a'icst  of 
Holies  is  in  the  soul  of  man.     There  the  man  is  to  find  uwd  wor- 
ship God.     Then  each  continent  and  island  is  a  Holy  Lr.ud,  and 
each  soul  the  Temple  of  Jehovah. 

Such  was  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  The  woman  replied,  "  These 
matters  I  do  not  quite  comprehend,  but  1  know  that  Jehovah's 
Anointed  is  coming,  and  upon  his  arrival  he  ^^^^^  ^^^,^^^^ 
will  expound  all  these  things."  Jesus  said,  "  I  am  ^^.^^^^j^  ^^^  ^^^^, 
He,  now  speaking  to  you."  Here  is  a  direct  and  siah. 
unequivocal  declaration  of  his  Messiahship.  He 
had  not  declared  it  in  Jerusalem,  but  in  Samaria ;  not  to  the 
learned  Nicodemus,  nor  to  his  own  disciples,  but  to  an  ignorant 
stranger ;  not  to  any  man,  but  to  a  woman ;  not  to  a  pure  and 
cultivated  lady,  but  to  a  prostitute !  It  seems  marvellous,  and,  as 
a  policy,  wholly  inexplicable. 

Hereupon  his  disciples  arrived  with  the  provisions  they  had 
gone  to  purchase,  and  were  amazed  to  st>e  him  talking  familiarly 
with  a  woman,  yet  did  not  venture  to  question  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^ 
him.  In  the  mean  time  the  woman  had  left  her  ^^g^^jpieg. 
water-pot,  forgetting  her  errand,  and  had  re- 
turned to  the  town  and  roused  her  neighbors,  exciting  them  by 
the  statement  that  out  by  Jacob's  Well  was  sitting  a  man  who 
liad  told  her  all  her  life.  AVas  not  this  the  Messiah,  the  Christ  ? 
Her  earnestness  brought  forth  a  crowd. 

In  the  mean  time  the  disciples  requested  him  to  cat.  P.ut  he 
had  become  so  rapt  by  lofty  thought,  and  so  engaged  in  his  ear- 
nest effort  to  plant  the  principles  of  his  religion  in  one  soul  that  al] 
physical  appetite  failed  him.  "  I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye  know 
not  of.     My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  me."     Look 


158 


FIRST   AND    SECOXD   PASSOVER   IN   TIIE    LIFE    OF   JESUS. 


Hii,'  uj),  lie  saw  tlie  field  in  the  beautiful  valley,  just  sown  with 
the  seed  it  would  require  four  montlis  to  ripen,  and  he  saw  at  the 
same  time  the  ]>e(»i)lc  pouring  out,  perhaps  from  their  mid-day 
meal,  at  the  invitation  of  a  woman  wIkjiu  they  knew  to  have  been 
uicl<c-(l  l)iit  now  see  to  be  happy.  Jesus  called  their  attention  to 
tlie.se  two  fjicts  and  declared  a  great  spiritual  law:  "You  say  that 
now  the  seed  is  in  the  ground  men  must  wait  four  months  for  the 
harvest.""*  That  is  so  in  the  physical  world.  But  in  the  spiritual 
World  there  is  moi-e  rapid  ripening.  An  hour  ago  I  dro])ped  a 
seed  of  spiritual  truth  into  the  heart  of  a  base  woman.  See  how 
it  si)rings  to  maturity!  Look  on  the  spiritual  fields.  They 
whiten  already  to  the  harvest,  as  the  crowd  coming  across  the 
valley  from  Sychar  demonstrates.  That  shows  that  the  laborere 
in  spiritual  fields  reap  rewards  as  laborere  in  other  fields.  You 
luive  a  ])roverb  which  is  true,  'One  sows  and  another  reaps.'  I 
am  sending  you  forth  to  gather  a  harvest  for  which  you  have  not 
toiled." 

Ui)on  this  the  inhabitants  of  the  to^\^l  arrived.     The}'  besought 
him  to  remain  with  them,  which  he  did  for  the 
sj)ace  of  two  days,  many  believing  at  fii-st  from 
what  the  woman  said,  and  many  afterwards  from 
hearing  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  directly  from  his  own  lips. 

The  Samai-itans  were  in  expectation  of  a  Messiah,  and  while 

their  ideas  were  not  those  of  the  Jews  upon  this  subject,  they 

M'ere  much  more  definite  than  the  general  vague 

Sam.iritan  ideas     (\  •      .    \  .    ,•  r    ,1  •  r        /'         ». 

ofth    M'    ■  h         ^-'riental   expectation  or  tlie  coming  or  a  Cireat 

One.     The  Samaritans  rejected  the  projihets  but 

lield  to  the  law,  and  seem  to  have  rested  their  expectations  upon 

Some  vague  intimation  in  the  books  of  ]\roses,  such  as  the  ])rcdic- 

tion  that  Jehovah  would  raise  up  a  })i()phet  like  unto  Moses.f 

The  fac-t  of  the  indefiniteness  of  their  grounds  of  belief  left  them 

flee  from  the  secular  notions  and  rigid   pride  of  the  Jews.     It 

really  seems  to  haNC  prepared  them  to  look  for  the  Messiah  in  a 

Moial  lleformer  rather  than  in  a  conquering  hero,  who  should 


Arrivals     from 
the  city. 


*  It  is  proper  to  say  that  this  may 
allude  to  some  proverbial  expression 
anioiii;  the  people,  preser\e(l  only  in  this 
place;  a  proverb  api)r()printc  to  some 
Tclipious  anniversary  perhaps  connected 
with  Bondng,  when  it  would  be  appro- 


priate to  say,  "We  must  now  wait  six 
months  for  the  harvest" 

f  Jlodcm  Samaritans  refer  to  such 
pnss.igesas  Chron.  xlix.  10  ;  Numb.  xxiv. 
17,  and  Dcut.  xviii  15. 


FKO^r   JTDJEA   TO    SAMARIA. 


159 


beat  all  nations  under  his  feet,  themselves  included.  The  Mes- 
siah the  Jews  lon2;ed  for  is  precisely  the  Messiah  the  Samaritans 
would  reject.*^  They  hailed  Jesus  not  as  the  Saviour  of  the  Jews, 
or  of  any  particular  people,  but  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 


*  Milman,  in  a  note,  refers  to  Ber- 
tholdt,  chap.  vii. ,  which  contains  ex- 
ti'acts  from  the  celebrated  Samaritan 
letters  and  references  to  the  modem 
writers  who  have  discussed  them.  Ge- 
senius,  in  a  note  to  the  curious  Samari- 
tan poems  which  he  has  published,  says 
that  the  name  of  the  expected  Samari- 


tan Deliverer  was  to  be  Hmch-Mb,  or 
Hat-hab,  which  he  translates  "  Convert- 
er," one  who  is  to  convert  the  people 
to  a  higher  state  of  religion.  Dr.  Rob- 
inson says  that  even  to  this  day  the 
Samaritans  are  looking  for  the  coming 
of  the  Messiah,  under  the  title  of 
d-MuMy,  the  Guide 


SAMAItlTAN  FBISST. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


FROM   SAilAKIA    TO    GALn.EE. 


On  the  third  day  after  his  interview  M'ith  the  Samaritan  woman, 

Jesus  went  on  his  way  to  Galilee.     The  Galileans  gave  him  a 

hearty  welcome,  because  of   the  miracles  which 

Blatt.  iv.  ;  Mark  c    ,  i  i      i  i  •  r  o 

L  •  Luke  iv  v  •  ^"^"J  ^^  them  had  seen  hnn  periorm.  bome 
John  iv.  have  supposed  that  the  fact  that  he  had  had  no 

reputation  amonj^  his  own  people  until  he  had 
made  a  sensation  in  the  metropolis,  and  the  contrast  between  the 
treatment  he  had  formerly  received  in  Galilee  and  that  which 
liad  just  been  bestowed  upon  him  by  the  Samaritans,  led  him  to 
quote  the  proverb,  "  A  prophet  hath  no  honor  in  his  own  coun- 
try." T>nt  John  seems  to  have  meant  that  Jesus  went  into  Gal- 
ilee to  avoid  notoriety,  lecause  a  prophet  has  little  ado  made 
over  him  l)y  his  own  people.  He  had  moved  from  his  place  on 
the  Jordan  fortius  vei-y  reason,  and  he  had  refused  to  stay  among 
the  Samaritans,  where  he  Mas  creating  a  great  sensation.  lie 
went  among  his  own  ])eoi)le  feeling  perfectly  certain  that  the 
divine  power  which  resided  in  his  teaching  would  cause  it  to  grow, 
and  he  preferred  to  sow  the  seed  M'liere  there  was  no  storm  of 
popular  applause,  or  even  excitement.  It  was  not  the  utterance 
of  dlsa])pointed  pride,  so  far  as  we  can  discern,  but  a  wise  action 
based  on  a  well-knoMTi  principle.  If  popularity  was  what  he 
Bouirht,  whv  did  he  leave  Samaria  ? 

But  many  of  the  Galil;paus  hud  witnessed  his  works  at  the  feast 
in  Jerusalem,  and  learned  that  he  had  a  metropolitan  fame.  They 
now  received  him  as  a  miracle-workei",  not  as  a  proi)het. 

Then  Jesus  began  to  jjreach.     (^latt.  iv.  17;  Mark  i.  14,  15.) 

lie  declared  that  the  time  for  the  fulfilling  of  the  ancient  ])ro])he- 

cics  had  arrived,  that  the  reign  of  the  ^lessiah, 
Jcsns  begins  to      ,      ,  .       ,  p    ry     ^    \      i  i      '  i    i 

preach.  *''^  Kingdom  ot  God,  liad  begun,  and  that  it  was 

pr(>j)er  that  they  should   prei)are   to   enjoy  that 

kingdom  by  an  abandonment  of  their  sins.     He  repeated  these 


FKUM    SAMARL\.   TO    GALILEE.  161 

sayings,  presenting  them  privately  in  his  interconrse  with  the  peo- 
ple, and  urging  them  publicly  in  the  Jewish  chapels  of  that  re- 
gion. Jt>hn  and  Jesus  equally  urged  repentance,  the  former  by 
threatenings  of  wrath  and  the  latter  by  the  attractive  persuasive- 
ness of  promise.  The  manner  of  Jesus  won  the  admiration  of 
the  people,  and  his  fame  grew.     (Luke  iv.  15.) 

In  his  circuit  of  preaching  he  went  to  Cana,  where  he  had  made 
the  water  wine,  reviving  by  his  presence  the  remembrance  of  that 
first  and  very  remarkable  miracle. 

AVliile  in  Cana  he  received  a  visit  from  a  nobleman,  who  was  a 

functionai'V  in  the  court  of  Ilcrod  Antipas,  tetrarch  of  Galilee. 

or  a  liii^h  military  officer.    This  pei-son  was  a  Jew 

,       ,  .   ",  ,  .  -TT  ,  ,  Heals  the  noble- 

by  birth  or  by  convereion.  He  may  have  been  ^^.^  ^^^  j^^ 
Chiiza,  Herod's  steward  (Luke  viii.  3),  but  of  this  iv.  40-54. 
we  can  have  no  certain  knowledge,  llis  resi- 
dence was  at  Capernaum,  on  the  lake  shore,  twenty-five  miles  dis- 
tant from  Cana.  Learning  that  the  great  teacher  had  returned  to 
Galilee,  he  came  to  Jesus  with  the  request  that  he  would  heal  his 
sick  son,  who  was  at  the  point  of  death.  The  very  name  of  Cana 
probably  reminded  him  of  the  wonderful  power  which  Jesus  had 
exerted  in  that  town  before  his  departure  for  Jerusalem.  To  his 
request  Jesus  said :  "  Except  ye  see  signs  and  miracles  ye  will  not 
believe." 

The  words  seem  merely  to  indicate  a  contrast  between  the  read- 
iness with  which  the  Samaritans  believed  because  of  his  words, 
and  recei\ed  him  as  a  prophet,  and  the  obstinacy  of  the  Jews  in 
refusing  to  believe  without  a  mira(;le,  and  not  always  yielding 
even  to  such  evidence.  He  may  have  also  alluded  to  the  fact 
that  this  nobleman  had  been  brought  to  him  not  by  any  necessities 
of  his  S})iritual  nature,  but  because  of  the  sickness  of  his  son. 
Jesus  neither  made  parade  of  his  power  to  work  miracles,  nor  un- 
dervalued their  weight  as  credentials  to  his  character  as  a  great 
religious  reformer.  As  in  other  cases  (Matt.  xv.  27),  he  may  have 
been  testing  the  sincerity  of  the  applicant ;  not  for  any  knowl- 
edge he  might  gain,  for  no  other  person  ever  read  character  as 
Jesus  did,  but  that  the  nobleman  might  discover  what  was  in  his 
own  heart. 

The  distressed  parent  implores  him:  "  Sir,  do  co.ne  down  be- 
fore inv  boy  die."     His  faith  was  sound  as  far  as  it  went,  but  it 
was  narrow.     He  never  had  dreamed  of  anv  man  having  power 
11 


I(t2  FIKST   AND    SECOXD    PASSOVEE   IN   TTIE   LITE   OF   JESUS. 

to  raise  tlie  dead.     lie  even  supposed  that  the  presence  (»f  tlie 

Great  Worker  was  necessary.      iiut  Jesus  said : 

,  "  Go,  vour  son  lives."     He  believed.   Quictlv  and 

plea.  .  .  .    * 

leisurely  he  went  his  way.     lie  could  easily  ha\e 

reached  home  at  sundown,  for  it  was  just  one  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon wlien  Jesus  spoke  tliosc  words.  He  felt  so  sure  that  his 
child  was  safe  that  he  did  not  return  to  liis  residence  until  next 
day.  Then  on  the  way  he  met  his  faithful  servants,  who  had 
C(jiue  out  to  sock  him  and  to  relieve  his  solicitude.  His  (juestion 
to  them  shows  that  all  he  had  hoped  of  Jesus  was  to  save  his  child 
from  death  and  commence  a  convalescence  which  shoidd  l)e 
gradual.  "When  did  the  child  hei^in  to  amend?"  asked  he. 
*'  He  did  not  begin  at  all,"  said  they,  "  but  yesterday  at  one  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  he  suddenly  recovered;  the  fever  totally  left 
him."  The  unexpected  completeness  of  this  recovery  and  the  pre- 
cise correspondence  between  the  languapje  of  Jesus  and  that  of 
the  servants,  and  the  identity  of  the  hour  of  the  word  of  Jesus 
and  the  recovei-y  of  the  boy,  added  this  nobleman  and  his  whole 
family  to  the  discii)loship  of  Jesus.  They  not  onl}'  believed  that 
a  great  miracle  had  been  wrought,  but  that  Jesus  was  theMessiali. 
If  this  nobleman  was  Chusca,  Herod's  steward,  his  wife  Joanna 
afterward  became  an  ardent  supporter  of  Jesus.    (Luke  viii.  3.) 

In  a  missionary  cii'cuit  which  Jesus  undci'took  he  came  to  the 
to^^^l  of  Nazareth,  where  he  had  been  brought  up.  His  fame  as  a 
I  N  z.  r  th  pi'PJit-her  had  preceded  him.  AVhen  the  Sabbath 
Luke  iv.  IG-UO.  day  came  he  went,  as  his  religious  custom  had 
been,  into  the  svnairojxue.  The  time  had  come 
when  he  was  to  announce  himself  in  his  own  toM'u  and  to  his  own 
people.  !Many  a  time;  had  he  taken  his  jjlace  of  humble  silence 
to  listen  to  the  reading  and  exposition  of  the  law  and  the  i)ro- 
j)hets.     Now  the  day  of  his  revelation  luid  come. 

The  synagogue  was  a  i-einarkable  chai-acteristic  of  later  Juda- 
ism.    The  Hebrew  name,  l)eth-ha-Cenneseth,  meaning  House  of 

the  Congi'cgation,  has  its  e(piivalent  in  the  (ireck 
The  synagogue.     „  ,',.,.  i    •      xi       o      ^         •    ,. 

bunagoge,  wliu-li  is  used  in  the  beptuagmt  as  a 

translation  of  two  Hebrew  words,  each  of  which  implies  a  (/ath- 

eriiifj.     A  very  great  anti(piity  lias  been  claimed  for  the  synagogue 

by  Jewish  writei-s,  but  not  on  good  gi\)unds.     There   does  not 

Bcem  to  have  been  anything  in  earlier  Judaism  providing  for  the 

spiritual  edification  of  the  people  in  public  congregations  outside 


FKOM   SAMARIA   TO    GALILEE.  16.3 

tlie  Temple  service,  wliicli,  however,  was  suspended  during  the 
exile.  Then  the  devout  Jews  who  were  cut  off  from  the  hol^y 
city  and  from  the  Temple  of  Jehovah  held  frequent  and,  it  would 
seem,  regular  meetings  for  religious  instruction.  (Ezek.  viii.  1 ; 
xiv.  1 ;  XX.  1 ;  xxxiii.  31.)  "  The  whole  history  of  Ezra  presupposes 
a  habit  of  solemn,  probably  of  periodic  meetings."*  (Ezra  viii,  15  ; 
Kch.  viii.  2  ;  ix.  1 ;  Zech.  vii.  5.)  In  his  time  the  synagogue  either 
had  its  origin,  or  such  distinct  revival  and  organization,  that  we 
ma}^  date  tiie  establishment  of  the  synagogue  service  from  his 
period — about  e.g.  500. 

Its  inliuence  was  prodigious.  It  was  church,  school-house,  lec- 
ture-room, and  weekly  newspaper.  Regular  periodical  assembling 
for  any  purpose  exerts  a  silent  but  powerful  influ- 
ence. In  this  case  it  embedded  the  law  in  the 
n^inds  of  the  Jews,  and  bound  them  together  with  a  band  whose 
strength  was  made  manifest  in  holding  them,  after  the  Maccabean 
struggle,  to  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  and  from  the  degradation 
of  idolatry.  It  lacked  the  pomp  and  splendor  of  the  Temple,  but 
it  was  favorable  to  simple  and  hearty  devotion.  Its  very  freedom 
from  magnilicent  ceremonial  gave  scope  to  the  exercise  of  thought 
and  of  speech.  Its  unperceived  but  certain  effect  was  to  destroy 
the  power  and  influence  of  the  hereditary  hierarchy,  and  prepare 
for  the  bringing  in  of  what  Jesus  gave,  freedom  to  teach,  for  any 
one  who  has  the  intellectual  and  moral  qualifications. 

In  towns  where  the  population  allowed  a  full  organization, 
there  was  a  college  of  "  elders  "  (Luke  vii.  3),  whose  president 
was   called   the   Ai'chisynagogus,   Ruler   of   the 
Synaij;oo;ue.     These  elders  manao'ed  tlie  secular 
affairs  of   the   synagogue,   and  had   the   power 
of  pronouncing   excommunication.     There  was   also   an   ofiicer 
called  Sheliach,  or  Legate,  who  represented  the  people,  leading 
them  in  their  prayers,  etc.     He  was   required   to  be  an  adult, 
active,  the  father  of  a  family,  not  engaged  in  secular  business, 
not  ricli,  having  a  good  voice,  and  aptness  to  teach.     There  was 
also  an  ofticer  named  the  Chazzan  (called  "  the  minister"  in  Luke 
iv.  20),  whose  duties  seemed  to  be  those  of  a  sub-deacon  or  sexton. 
He  to(jk  care  of  the  building  and  prepared  it  for  service,  and  had 
charge  of  the  sacred  furniture.     It  is  believed  that  during  the 

*  See  Smith's  Dict.^  on  "  Synagogue,"  for  full  account  of  the  institution. 


1G4  riEST   AiTD   SECOND   PASSOVEE   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

week  he  acted  as  the  village  schoohnaster.  Moreover,  there  "were 
ten  men,  Batlanhn,  meaning  men  of  leisure,  without  whom  no 
synagogue  was  complete.  It  is  difficult  to  say  precisely  what 
duties  specially  devolved  upon  these.  The  most  probable  conjec- 
ture seems  to  be  that  as  ten  was  the  minimum  muuber  for  a  con- 
gregation, without  which  number  no  public  serWce  could  go  for- 
ward, these  men  were  to  be  always  on  hand,  so  that  there  should 
be  no  delay,  and  no  single  woi-ship})er  should  be  disappointed. 
Perhaps  these  ten  held  the  several  offices  of  the  church.  Light- 
foot  says  that  they  consisted  of  the  Chazzan,  or  Minister,  whom  he 
makes  the  same  as  the  Sheliach,  or  Legate,  three  Judges,  three 
Parnasim  (whom  he  compares  with  the  deacons  of  the  early 
church,  whose  business  was  to  attend  to  the  alms),  the  Targumist 
or  Interpreter,  the  Schoolmaster  and  his  Assistant.  This  classili- 
cation,  however,  seems  purely  conjectural.  , 

The  service  of  the  synagogue  was  much  less  stately  than  that 
of  the  Temple,  but  there  was  a  regularly  appointed  series  of  les- 
sons out  of  the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  there 

The   service  of  ,  -^      i        i  •   i  •    •  n         i  j 

♦Vo  »„^„  «  -  ^^'^s  also  a  ritual  which  was  rij^idly  observed. 
Ine  synaijogTie.  f^      » 

The  ritualistic  controversy  raged  at  times  in  the 
Jewish  Church,  and  continued  after  the  days  of  Jesus.  AVe  leani 
that  one  Eliezer  of  Lydda,  about  the  close  of  the  fii-st  century, 
set  forth  that  the  Lcgatus  of  the  svnagogue  should  discard  the 
fixed  prayers,  doxologies,  and  benedictions,  and  i)ray  as  his  heart 
prom})tcd  him.  This  suggestion  was  a  sin  greater  than  an  ordi- 
nary immorality.  He  was  never  forgiven,  but  died  in  Cesarea  an 
excommunicated  man.  The  Jews  of  that  day,  it  appeal's,  hud  no 
more  sense  or  piety  than  some  baptized  Christians  of  our  own 
times.  The  first  lesson  was  from  the  law  and  the  second  from 
the  prophets,  and  then  followed  a  discoui-se,  expository  or  hor- 
tatory, somewhat  like  our  modern  sermon.  It  is  called  by  the 
writer  of  the  Acts  (xiii.  15)  the  "  word  of  exhortation."  It 
ai>i>cars  that  whoever  had  a  word  to  say  took  that  occasiort  to 
utter  it.  And  so  from  synagogue  to  church  the  form  of  p«)pular 
address  has  been  transferred,  and  by  Christianity  been  rendered 
a  ]>o\ver  in  civilization  in  propagating  opiiiiiti'S  and  sentiinents. 
AVhen  a  member  of  the  synagogue  wished  to  speak,  he  stoi»d  up 
to  signify  that  desire. 

For  the  iirst  time  tlu'ii,  ujK)n  coming  back  to  his  own  town, 
when  the  Sabbath  arrived,  Jesus  entered  the  familiar  place  of 


FROM   SAMARIA   TO    GALILEE. 


165 


woisliip,  and  stood  up  to  read.  The  President  caused  the  roll 
of  the  Prophets  to  be  handed  him,  and  he  turned 
perhaps  to  the  appointed  lesson  for  the  day,  per-  ,  ?*^  ^^  °"" 
haps  to  what  came  under  liis  eye  as  the  roll 
unfurled.  It  was  what  in  our  version  is  Isaiah  Ixi.  1,  2.  lie 
read  :  "  The  Spirit  of  Jehovah  is  on  me :  hecause  Jehovah  has 
anointed  me.  To  hring  good  tidings  to  the  humble  has  he  sent 
m-e  /  to  hind  up  the  hroken-hearted^  to  proclaim  to  the  captives 
freedom^  and  to  the  hounden  perfect  liberty :  to  proclaim  the 
year  of  favor  with  Jehovah^  *  He  sat  down.  All  eyes  must 
have  been  riveted  on  him.  lie  opened  his  exposition  with  the 
deliberate  and  solemn  announcement  of  himself  as  the  expected 
Messiah,  in  the  words,  "  This  day  is  this  scripture  fulfilled  in  your 
ears."  They  all  knew  that  the  passage  stood  in  the  middle  of 
the  third  great  division  of  the  book  of  Isaiah,  that  which  they 
always  considered  as  predicting  the  person,  the  ofiices,  and  the 
triuraplis  of  the  Messiah.  That  made  the  announcement  all  the 
more  impressive.  In  words  of  hearty  and  moving  eloquence 
Jesus  proceeded  to  expound  Isaiah,  "  Gracious  words,"  says  the 
historian,  "  proceeded  out  of  his  mouth." 

As  he  pressed  his  doctrine  of  universal  charity  upon  them,  a 
kingdom  not  restrained  by  Jewish  limits  and  bearing  no  vengeance 
against  other  peoples,  their  old  traditional  preju- 
dices began  to  be  excited.     They  recollected  his     ^^"!.''  ^       ^" 

•    •  mi  prejudices. 

obscure  origm.  They  said  among  themselves, "  Is 
not  this  the  son  of  Joseph  ? "  As  if  they  had  said,  Is  not  this  a 
most  pretentious  thing  in  so  young  and  unknown  a  man  ?  Jesus 
perceived  their  captiousiiess  and  said,  "You  will  by  all  means 
scornfully  apply  to  me  the  proverb.  Physician^  heal  thyself,  de- 
manding me  to  do  in  my  own  country  what  you  have  heard  that 
I  have  done  in  Capernaum.  I  reply  with  another  proverb,  iV^ 
prophet  is  accepted  in  his  own  country.    In  coming  among  vou 


*  This  gives  the  words  as  they  stand 
in  the  original,  in  a  translation  as  near- 
ly literal  as  practicable.  The  historian 
Luke  varies  the  passage  a  little.  Pro- 
bably he  quoted  from  memory  from  the 
Septuagint.  and  so  gives  "  recovering  of 
sight  to  the  blind  "  as  a  translation  for 
•'  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them  that 
are  bound,"  and  inserts  after  it,  ' '  to  set 


at  liberty  them  that  are  bound,"  appar- 
ently taken  from  the  Septuagint  version 
of  "let  the  oppressed  go  free,"  in  Isa. 
IviiL  G,  as  if  to  complete  the  sense  (See 
note,  Strong's  Harmony.)  The  phrase, 
"  and  to  the  bound  en  perfect  liberty,"  ia 
still  more  strictly  literally  "  open  open- 
ing," which  may  mean  of  eyes  or  o£ 
prison -doors.     (See  Alexander,  in  loco.) 


1G6 


rmST   AND    SECONT)   PASSOVER   IN   TITE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 


I  knew  that  I  slionld  encounter  the  ordinary  prejudice  against 
every  great  moral  teacher  which  exists  in  the  minds  of  his  own 
peo]>le,  who  have  known  him  in  childliood  and  amid  ordinary 
secular  employinents.  I  refuse  to  perform  miracles  at  your  dicta- 
tion. I  recall  for  your  instruction  some  passages  in  the  history 
of  tlie  two  greatest  of  the  earlier  prophets,  showing  that  God's 
grace  lias  gone  over  to  strangers  who  had  not  the  advantage  of 
intimacy  with  the  oracles  of  God  such  as  you  possess,  and  that 
God  distributes  his  favors  freely  and  will  not  have  them  extorted. 
In  the  days  of  Elijah,  when  the  heavens  dropped  no  rain  for  the 
Bpace  of  three  ycai*s  and  six  months,  when  a  great  famine  was 
throughout  the  land,  the  prophet  was  sent  to  none  of  the  many 
suffering  widows  of  Israel,  but  to  a  Gentile  widow  in  Zarcphath, 
a  town  of  the  Phoenicians.  Afrain,  when  Elislia  was  discharirinir 
the  functions  of  a  prophet  there  were  many  lepers  in  Israel,  but 
he  cured  none  but  Naaman,  a  foreigner,  a  Syrian  general.  And 
thus  the  history  of  the  i)rophets  shows  that  God  causes  miracles 
according  to  His  sovereign  will  and  wisdom,  and  bestows  such 
blessings  where  they  will  be  appreciated," 

This  whole  speech  was  construed  by  his  hearers  into  a  reproach 
for  their  unworthiness.  They  had  always  suffered  under  the 
stigma  which  rested  upon  their  toA\Ti.  It  had 
passed  into  an  adage  that  "  No  good  comes  out 
of  Xazareth."  He  might  redeem  them.  But 
now  he  seems  unpatriotically  to  prefer  Gentiles  to  his  o^vn  people. 
They  became  enraged,  and  thus  proved  their  unworthiness  of 
him.  Their  frenzy  grew  to  such  a  pitch  that  they  took  this  elo- 
quent preacher,  who  had  gone  about  the  country  finding  welcome 
in  all  the  synagogues,  and  led  him  to  a  precipitous  place  on  the 
raufje  of  liills  on  which  Nazareth  stands,  intending:  to  cast  him 
headlong  down.*  But  Jesus,  how  we  do  not  know,  passed  through 
the  midst  of  them  and  went  away.  There  seems  to  have  been  no 
miracle  here,  no  rcnderiiigof  himself  invisible,  no  striking  liis  j)er- 


He     13    driven 
from  Nazareth. 


•  "  Most  readera  probably  imaffine  a 
town  built  on  the  suminit  of  a  niouiitain, 
from  which  summit  the  intended  pre- 
cipitation wna  to  take  place.  This  is 
not  the  situation  of  Nazareth.  Yet  its 
position  is  still  in  accordance  with  the 
narrative.  It  is  built  '  upon,'  that  is, 
on  the  side  of  'a  mountain/  but  the 


brow  is  not  beneath  but  over  the  town, 
and  such  a  clifl  as  is  here  implied  is  to 
bo  found,  a-s  all  modem  travellers  de- 
scribe, in  the  abrupt  face  of  lime.stone 
rock,  about  thirty  or  forty  feet  high, 
overhanging  the  Maronito  convent  at 
the  south-west  comer  of  the  town.' 
Stanley,  Sinai  and  Palestine,  p.  339. 


FROM   SAaiAHIA   TO   GALILEE. 


107 


seciitors  blind,  nor  any  "  slipping  away,"  taking  advantai^e  of 
narrow  streets  or  tortuous  ways.  There  was  something  in  him 
wliicli  seemed  to  overawe  or  overpower  them.  lie  "  passed  through 
the  midst  of  them,"  is  the  historian's  statement.  Perhaps,  as 
Stier  suggests,  there  came  such  an  appearance*  of  majesty  upon 
him,  that  the  crowd  began  to  dispart  and  give  way  right  and  left, 
as  he  moved  along.  Pfeninger  graphically  says:  "They  stood 
— stopped — inquired — were  ashamed — separated — fled ! " 

Upon  quitting  Kazaretli  after  the  bad  treatment  he  liad  received 
from  his   townsmen,  Jesus  went  to  Capernaum,  and  thereafter 

made  that  place  his  head-quarters. 

mi                       r<                           •       •£                   J'         i.  Makes     Caper- 

ilie   name   Capernaum   siiiniiies,  accordmg  to  ,.     .     ^ 

^  ^        '■                        °                                ^  naum   his    nead- 

some  authorities,  "  the  V  illage  of  Is  ahum,"  accord-  quarters. 

ing  to  others,  "  tlie  Village  of  Consolation."  As 
we  follow  the  history  of  Jesus  we  shall  discover  that  many  of  liis 
mighty  works  were  wrought,  and  many  of  his  most  impressive 
words  were  spoken  in  Capernaum.  The  infidelity  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, after  all  the  discourses  and  wonderful  works  wliich  he  had 
done  among  them,  brought  out  the  saying  of  Jesus,  "  And  tliou, 
Capernaum,  which  art  exalted  unto  heaven  shalt  be  cast  down 
to  hell."  (Matt.  xi.  23.)  So  thoroughly  has  this  prediction  been 
fulfilled  that  no  trace  of  the  city  remains,  and  the  very  site  which 
it  occupied  is  now  a  matter  of  conjecture,  there  being  even  no 
ecclesiastical  tradition  of  the  locality.  At  the  present  day  two 
spots  liave  claims  which  are  urged,  each  with  such  arguments  of 
probability  as  to  make  the  whole  question  the  most  difficult  in 
sacred  topography.  Those  who  desire  to  examine  the  relative 
claims  may  consult  the  references  given  in  the  note  below.*  We 
shall  probably  never  be  able  to  know  the  exact  fact.  Jesus  damn- 
ed it  to  oblivion,  and  there  it  lies.  We  shall  content  ourselves 
with  the  New  Testament  notices  as  bearing  on  the  work  of  Jesus. 
We  learn  that  it  was  somewhere  on  the  borders  of  Zebulun  and 
Naphtali,  on  the  western  shore  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee.     (Compare 

Matt.  iv.  13,  with  John  vi.  24.)     It  was  near  or 

•     f^,i       1       1      r  /^  .11  /  nr,,       •  Description    of 

in  "  the  land  of  Cxcnnesaret    (compare  Matt.  xiv.    napgi-naum 

34,  with  John  vi.  17,  21,  24),  a  plain  about  three 

miles  long  and  one  mile  wide,  which  we  learn  from  Josephus  waa 


*  See  Robinson's  Bibl.  Bescnrches,  iii. 
288-294  ;  new  edition,  iii.  348  ;  Bonar, 
p.  437-41 ;  Thomson,  Land  and  Book, 


i.  542 ;  Wilson,  Lands  of  tJie  Bible,  it 
139-149  ;  Biblioth.  Sacra,  AprU,  1855,  p 
162. 


1G8  FIUST    AND    SECOND    I'ASSOVER    IN    THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

one  of  the  most  prosperous  and  crowded  districts  of  Palestine. 
It  was  probably  on  the  great  road  leading  from  Damascus  to  the 
south,  "by  the  way  of  the  sea."  (Matt.  iv.  15.)  There  was  great 
wisdom  in  selecting  this  as  a  place  to  open  a  great  public  ministr}-. 
It  was  full  of  a  busy  population.     The  exceeding  richness  of  the 


TUX  HUM  BTTnra. 


wonderful  plain  of  Gennesaret  supported  the  mass  of  inhabi- 
tants it  attracted.  Josei"»hus  {/?.  J.^  iii.  x,  3)  gives  a  glowing  de- 
scription of  this  land.  He  says  tliat  the  soil  was  so  fruitful  that 
all  sorts  of  trees  could  grow  upon  it ;  tliat  the  air  was  so  mixed  as 
to  nouiish  the  walnut,  wliich  requires  the  cold,  as  well  as  thepalm- 
ti'ce,  Avhich  demands  the  heat.  "One  may  call  this  place  the 
ambition  of  nature,"  because  it  forces  those  trees  to  grow  together 
which  are  natural  enemies.  It  afforded,  to  his  fancy,  a  happy 
contention  of  the  seasons,  as  if  each  claimed  the  land  for  its  own. 
He  gives  a  luscious  picture  of  the  fruitage,  and  tlie  natural  foun- 
tains. He  says  tliat  the  ])ooplc  thought  the  fountain  Caphar- 
iiaum  to  be  a  vein  of  the  Kile,  "because  it  produced  fishes  like 
a  Corbe  bred  in  a  lake  near  Alexandria."  In  modern  times 
Professor  Stanley,  of  the   University  of  Oxford,  gives  quite  as 


FEOM   SAMABIA   TO   GALILEE.  169 

glowing  a  description  of  tliis  plain.     (See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  p. 
365,  et  seq.) 

Such  was  the  region  in  which  was  located  Jesus's  new  centre 
of  activity.  From  Capernaum,  by  land,  he  could  command  large 
portions  of  Galilee ;  by  boats  he  could  cross  from 
west  to  east,  from  north  to  south,  from  the  juris- 
diction  of  one  prince  to  that  of  another.  lie  was  where  the 
fisheries  made  life  on  the  lake  and  the  shore  ;  where  pleasure  pa- 
laces brought  the  gay  and  the  rich ;  where  warm  springs  attracted 
opulent  invalids;  where  the  great  thoroughfare  from  Babylon  and 
Damascus  brought  companies  of  travelling  merchants  into  Pales- 
tine ;  where  royalty  attracted  officials  and  dignitaries ;  where  gar- 
risons established  to  give  dignity  to  sovereignty,  or  to  suppress  the 
neighboring  turbulent  Galilsean  peasantry,  brought  military  com- 
manders and  troops  of  common  soldiers  ;  where  trade  and  traffic 
on  a  frontier  established  custom-houses,  and  where  a  land  of  exu- 
berant fertility  made  agricultural  products  abundant  and  stimu- 
lated the  activities  of  tlie  people.  So  many  foreigners,  for  busi- 
ness or  for  pleasure,  had  fixed  their  residence  in  this  vicinity  that 
it  acquired  the  name  of  "  Galilee  of  the  GentllesP  The  lake  of 
Galilee  was  the  Como  of  Syria ;  for  the  Ilerodian  family,  famous 
for  love  of  magnificent  architecture,  had  made  a  portion  of  its 
shore  splendid  Avith  the  palaces  which  mingled  with  the  synagogues 
of  all  the  line  of  cities  and  villages  which  overlooked  the  sea. 
There  were  work,  pleasure,  life,  and  energy,  all  around  the  new 
teacher.  Here  he  found  congregations  and  helpers,  friends  and 
disciples,  and  the  people,  who,  moving  all  about,  with  almost  the 
restlessness  which  characterizes  modern  times,  were  ready  to  pro- 
pagate his  fame  and  attract  other  hearers  to  his  teaching.  He 
went  into  the  very  thick  of  life.  His  seasons  of  long  solitude 
were  over.  His  time  had  arrived  to  exert  all  the  moral  force  he 
had  been  accumulating  in  study  and  prayer.  He  went  among 
the  people  who  were  working  and  toiling  with  their  hands,  know- 
ing that  they  were  ordinarily  the  people  whose  brains  were  active. 
He  had  a  powerful  friend  in  the  nobleman  whose  son  he  had 
healed,  a  man  who  was  probably  of  Herod's  household.  So  there, 
where  sea  and  mount  and  desert  met,  Jesus  broke  upon  Galilee, 
a  light  whose  rays  were  to  reach  every  nook  and  corner  of  the 
globe,  and  illuminate  the  pathway  of  thought  and  sentiment  down 
all  the  succeeding  centuries. 


170  FIRST   AKD    SFXOND    PASSOVER   IX   THE   LITE   OF   JIISUS. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Capernaum,  one  day  as  Jesus  walked 

beside  tlie  Lake  of   Gciincsaret,  perluips  a  little  south  of   the 

t<>\ni,  he  cunic  upon  Siuiou,  called  Peter,  and  liia 

csus  preac  ea  |^j.,,^]j^,j.  Amliew.  Simon,  as  we  have  already 
from  a  boat.  r      ^ 

learned,  iiad  met  Jesus  on  the  banks  of  the 
Jordan.  As  Jesus  walked  out  of  tlie  town  the  people  began  to 
gather  about  him  and  accompany  him,  to  hear  other  gracious 
words  from  his  lips,  and  to  witness  other  great  works  from  his 
liands.  There  were  two  iishing-boats  at  the  shore.  The  lishermeu 
had  cone  to  wash  their  nets.  But  the  owner  of  one  of  them  was 
Simon  Peter,  who,  at  the  request  of  Jesus,  pushed  it  from  the 
shore  a  distance  sufficient  to  preserve  the  attractive  preacher  from 
the  pressure  of  the  crowd,  and  yet  not  so  far  as  to  make  it  incon- 
venient for  the  people  to  hear.  And  from  this  floating  pulpit 
Jesus  delivered  a  discourse  on  the  doctrines  of  the  religion  he 
had  come  to  propagate. 

At  the   conclusion   of   the   discourse  he   directed   Simcjn  to 

launch  out  to  a  deeper  place  in  tlie  lake  and  let  down  his  net  for 

fish,  for  Jesus  would  not  use  any  man's  time  or 

The  wonderful    ^^^^^^  .vithout  rewarding  him.     Simon  told  him 

draught  of  fishes.  "  niii 

that  all  night  they  liad  toiled  and  no  nsh  had 

been   caught.     Put   there  was   something  so   commanding  and 

inspiring  in  the  Mords  of  Jesus  that  Simon  immediately  added, 

"  Nevertlieless,  at  thy  W(;nl,  I  will  let  down  the  net."     So  he  called 

his  brother  Andrew,  and  the  net  was  lowered  ;  and  so  great  was  the 

number  of  the  fish  enclosed  that  the  net  began  to  break  :  and  they 

called  for  their  partners,  James  and  John,  the  two  sons  of  Zebe- 

dee,  to  come  and  help  them  ;  and  so  great  was  the  haul  that  botli 

ships  came  near  sinking  with  the  weight. 

Wiien  Simon  (Peter)  saw  this  wonder  he  fell  at  the  feet  of 

Jesus  with  mingled  adoration  and  supplication.     The  rapidity  of 

discernment  and  dei)th  of  feeling  which  we  shall 

The  effect  on  ^^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^  charac^teristic  of  this  energetic  man 
Simon.  .       ,  .  rm 

come  out  m  this  passage.     Ihere  was  some  power 

in  this  new  teacher  which  was  not  human:  Peter  believed  it  to 

be  divine.     He  was  a  rough,  profane  man,  but  he  had  that  sense 

of  contrast  between  ])urity  and  sinfulness  whii-h  is  not  the  mark 

of  a  degraded  mind,  but  rather  of  a  spirit  that  lias  not  last  ita 

moral  sensitiveness.     "My  Lord,  be  ])leased  to  leave  my  ship, for 

I  am  not  eaintlv  enough  to  endure  thine  august  presence  of  lK)ly 


FKOM   SAMAEIA   TO    GALILEE.  171 

power  ! "  That  seemed  to  be  the  tenor  of  his  address.  "  Be  not 
afraid,"  said  Jesus ;  "  for  from  this  time  thou  shalt  catch  men." 
A  call  to  discipleship  had  been  already  made,  after  which  Peter 
had  gone  home  to  his  work.  Now,  Jesus  gives  him  a  deepei 
intimation  of  his  intention  to  attach  him  strongly  to  his  service^ 
and  gi\-es  an  increase  to  his  faith  by  the  great  wonder  he  beheld, 
and  exliilarates  him  by  a  figure  taken  from  his  own  pursuits.  If 
to  bring  so  great  a  haul  of  fish  to  land  be  joy,  what  rapture  nnibt 
it  not  be  to  "  catch  men  !  "  Hereafter  emperors  and  kings  and 
queens  and  philosophers  and  scholars  and  poets  and  merchant- 
princes  shall  be  in  the  net  which  these  simple  Galiliiean  fishermen 
were  to  let  down  into  the  deep  waters'of  the  lake  of  human  life. 

So  they  brought  their  fish  to  land,  drew  up  their  boats  upon 
the  shore,  and  abandoned  boats  and  nets  that  they  might  follow 
this  wonderful  Being.     Going   along  the   shore 

they  found  their  partners,  James  and  John,  the    .  „      , 
•^  ■'■  ;  _  '  follow  Jesus. 

sons  of  Zebedee,  who,  while  this  profound  con- 
versation was  going  on  between  Jesus  and  Simon  and  Andrew, 
had  betaken  themselves  to  repairing  their  own  nets.  It  would 
seem  that  when  called  by  Simon  and  Andrew  to  render  help, 
they  had  put  their  own  net  under  the  overburdened  net  of  their 
partners,  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  fish  and  the  increase  of  the 
rent,  and  that  thus  their  own  net  had  become  damaged.  The  invi- 
tation he  had  given  Simon  and  Andrew,  Jesus  extended  to  James 
and  John,  and  they  left  the  implements  of  their  business  with  their 
father  and  the  servants,  and  obeyed  the  call  to  a  higher  work. 


CHAPTER  V. 


DEMONIACS. 


On  the  Sahhatli  following  liis  return  to  Capeniaura  Jesus  went 

^•itli  his  disciples  to  the  seAice  of  the  synagogue,  and,  according 

to  his  custom,  expounded  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

Matt  vu.;  Mark    fijc-g  geenis  to  have  been  great  siniplicitv  in  hia 
.  •  Luke  iv.  i  .- 

mode  of  treating  all  subjects,  but  it  is  remarked 

on  this  occasion  that  there  was  an  element  in  his  method  which 

not  only  interested  but  astonished  his  audience.     lie  spoke  on  the 

most  ])rof()und  and  imj)ortant  subjects,  not  as  one  discussing  them, 

showing  what  can  be  said  on  both  sides,  nor  as  one  striving  merely 

to  stimulate  the  intellects  of  his  hearere,  nor  as  a  learned  man, 

rejiorting  the  results  of  the  researches  of  the  best  minds,  but  de- 

ci&i\ely,  with  authority,  as  declaring  truths  which  were  not  to  be 

questioned,  with  an  authority  from  which  there  was  no  appeal, 

and  with  a  si)irit  full  of  power.     The  contnist  which  this  afforded 

with  the  ])edantry,  the  pretence,  the  sophistry,  and  tlie  quibbling 

of  the  scribes,  made  Jesus  notable. 

On   this  ])articular  Sabbath  there  came  into  the  synagogue  a 

pei-son  described  by  Mark  (i.  23)  as  "a  man  with  an   unclean 

spirit,"  by  Luke  (iv.  33)  as  "a  man  which  had  a 

The   man  with         •   -i.     r  ^  j      -i  »)      n       i  •    •        ii 

.  .,     si)int  or  an  unctlean  devil."     Uombimuir  the  nar- 
an  unclean  spirit.      '    .  ...  i  i       r  i 

ratives  of  these  two  historians,  we  have  the  fol- 
lowing account:  The  man  cried  out,  "Ah!  what  to  us  and  to  thee, 
Jesus  the  Xa/carene?  Ilast  thou  come  to  destroy  us?  I  know  thee 
who  thou  art,  the  Holy  of  God."  Jesus  spoke  sharply  to  him  and 
said  :  "  Be  silent  and  leave  him."  Then  the  "devil,"  or  "unclean 
spirit,"  threw  him  down,  tore  him,  howled,  and  left  him.  And 
the  ])eople  were  astonished,  and  questioned  among  themselves  and 
said,  "What  thing  is  this?  what  new  doctrine  is  this?  for  with 
authority  and  power  he  commands  even  the  unclean  sjiirits,  and 
they  obey  liim."     This  occurrence  greatly  and  rapidly  increased 


DEMONIACS. 


173 


the  fame  of  Jesns  throngli  all  Galilee,  for  then,  as  now,  a  crazy 
man  was  an  object  of  general  notice. 

It  brings  ns  at  once  to  the  consideration  of  the  perplexing  qiies 
tion  of  what  is  ordinarily  called  demoniacal  possession. 

In  examining  this  subject  we  have  the  disadvantage  of  not  liav 
ing  in  onr  own  times  anything  that  quite  corresponds  with  this 
remarkable  class  of  phenomena,  or  which  is  recognized  as  falling 
into  this  category  of  maladies.  We  are  remitted  to  the  ancient 
writers,  and  must  learn  what  we  can  gather  from  the  notices  in 
the  classical  authors  and  New-Testament  historians.  So  far  as 
the  latter  are  concerned,  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  word  used  by 
them  in  reference  to  all  these  cases  is  one  which  does  not  mean 
the  Devil,  Satan,  but  demons.  The  classical  writers,  except  when 
they  indicate  by  a  special  epithet  the  contrary,  used  the  word 
as  describing  good-natured,  or  at  least  not  malevolent  beings  ;  but 
the  New-Testament  writers,  on  the  supposition  that  they  meant 
beings  distinct  from  the  afflicted  individuals,  invariably  repre- 
sent them  as  sinister  or  positively  malevolent.  The 
classical  writers  sometimes  loosely  employed  the 
word  to  mean  any  spiritual  existences  out  of  man, 
from  the  spirits  of  the  departed  up  to  the  Supreme  Being,  the 
Father  of  the  gods  ;  but  when  they  pretended  to  be  precise  tliey 
described  them  as  intermediate  beino;s  between  man  and  the  irods. 
Plato  says:  ^^ Every  demon  is  a  middle  being  between  God  and  mor- 
tal." He  further  says,  that "  Demons  are  reportei-s  and  carriers  from 
men  to  the  gc^ds,  and  again  from  the  .U  to  men,  of  the  supi)li- 
cations  and  prayere  of  the  one  and  of  .  -  injunctions  and  rewards 
of  devotion  from  the  other."  *  There  were  two  kinds  of  demons. 
The  souls  of  good  men  after  their  departure  were  called  heroes, 
and  raised  to  the  dignity  of  demons ;  f  and  there  were  also  sup- 
posed to  be  demons  who  had  never  inhabited  a  mortal  body.:]: 
Philo§  says  that  the  ancients  held  souls,  demons,  and  angels  as  the 
same.  The  demons  who  had  once  been  in  human  bodies  became 
objects  of  worship  among  the  heathen,  and  Jehovah  is  so  often 
called  "the  livinor  God"  to  distintruish  llim  from  these.II 


The     classical 
authorities. 


*  Plato,  Si/mpos. ,  pp.  202,  203. 

f  Plutarch,  Be  Defect.  Orac,  and 
Plato,  Urntifliis. 

X  Plato,  2V/n.,  and  Apuleius,  De  Deo 
Socratis. 


§  Philo,  De  Gignntibus. 
J  Deut.  xxvi.  14 ;  Ps.  cvi  28 ;  Isaiah 
viii.  19;  Deut.  v.  26. 


174       rmsT  and  second  passovee  in  the  life  of  jesus. 

Josephus*  incidentally  gives  iis  his  opinion,  and  ^e  sii]  nose 

tlic  opinion  commonly  entertained  by  his  countryme..,  of  demons, 

--^J^        mIio,  he  says,  "  are  the  spirits  of  wicked  men  that 

Th^»\vish    ^j^^^j.  jjj^Q  ^jj^  bodifcs  of  the  livino:  and  kill  them 

opinions.        ^  . ,.     ,  ,  J^^      1     11 

if  they  do  not  c4^p|b^ielp. 

The  New-Testament  historians  seeiTi  to  give  the  impression  that 

they  believed  in  the  existence  of  separate  spirits,  for  they  call 

them  7rv6v/iaTa,\  who  were   intelligent,:}:  powcr- 

The New-Testa-  f^^i^g  ^^.-^^  ^^^^j  unclean.<f    AMicthcr^hcy  held  the 

opinion  of  Josephns,  that  they  were  the  spirits  of 
wicked  men  who  after  death  entered  the  bodies  of  the  living  to 
torment  them,  or  used  the  word  in  the  sense  of  the  classical 
authoi-s,  is  a  question  we  must  examine  in  the  light  of  all  that  is 
said  by  these  historians  in  their  narratives  of  cases  of  appan-ent 
demoniacal  possession.  In  regard  to  those  possessions  there  are 
two  theoi-ies,  which  may  be  stated  with  their  reasons  in  advance, 
and  w'C  shall  see  how  far  each  accounts  for  the  phenomena  re- 
corded in  the  l^iographies  of  Jesus  which  we  possess.  We  are  to 
ascertain  what  was  the  opinion  held  by  Jesus  and  the  New-Testa- 
ment historians. 

It  is  held  by  some  that  Jesus  and  the  writers  severally  called 
Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John,  believed  that  demoniacs  were 
pereons  into  whom  evil  spirits  had  entej'cd,  who- 
ne  eory.  ^^.^^.  thosc  spirits  were,  but  genci-ally  supposed  to 
be  devils,  Satan's  angels,  who  held  or  possessed  the  demoniac, 
using  his  body  for  their  evil  purposes.  The  reasons  assigned  for 
this  opinion  arc  these: 

1.  The  demoniacs  beseech  Jesus  not  to  torment  them  ;  they  ask 
and  answer  questions  iu  a  rational  manner;  they  arc  said  to  leave 
men  and  enter  swine,  etc. 

2.  Physical  diseases  are  mentioned  of  those  possessed  with  dev- 
ils, where  no  mental  ailment  is  suggested,  as  in  !Matt.  ix.  32,  where 
it  is  said  that  "  they  brought  to  him  a  dumb  man  possessed  witli  a 
devil;"  and  as  in  Matt.  xii.  22,  "one  possessed  with  a  devil,  blind 
and  dumb." 

3.  In  the  case  of  the  youth  described  in  Luke  ix.  39,  the  sym^)- 

•  W,ir/i  ofthf  Jnco,  viL  0,  §  3.  ]  ^  Matt.  viii.  28-32 ;  Mark  ix.  20. 

I  Compare  Matt  viii.  10 ;  x  1 ;  Mark  j  |  Matt.  lii.  45. 
Ix.  20 ;  Luke  x.  20.  U  Matt.  x.  1. 

t  Mark  I  21;  Luke  iv.  34-  I 


DEMONIACS.  175 

toms  are  those  of  epilepsy;  but  the  father  assigns  them  to  tlio  in- 
fluence of  a  demon,  and  Jesus  and  his  disciples  say  notliiug  tc 
conti'adict  this  theory. 

4.  The  demoniacs  professed  that  they  were  possessed  'of  de- 
mons, as  in  Mark  v.  9,  and  tJie  same  M'as  asserted  by  their  nearest 
i-elatives,  as  in  Matt.  xv.  22,  and  Mark  ix.  17. 

5.  Tlie  writers  of  the  New-Testament  histories  observe  a  dis- 
tinction between  those  who  were  diseased  and  those  who  were 
possessed.  In  Mark  i.  32  it  is  recorded  :  "  They  brought  unto  him 
all  that  were  diseased,  and  them  that  were  possessed  of  de\ils." 
The  same  distinction  is  in  the  passage  in  Luke  vi.  17,  18.  It  is 
said  that  Jesus  himself  maintains  the  distinction  in  a  very  marked 
manner  in  his  commission  to  his  disciples,  recorded  in  Matt.  x.  S : 
"Ileal  the  sick,  cleanse  the  lepers,  raise  the  dead,  cast  out  devils." 

6.  The  demoniacs  knew  Jesus  to  be  the  Son  of  God  and  the 
Christ,  as  we  learn  from  Matt.  viii.  29,  Mark  i.  24,  and  Luke 
iv.  41  ;  and  Jesus  forbade  them  from  proclaiming  him  as  the 
Messiah. 

7.  There  are  at  least  five  cases  in  which  Jesus  seems  to  address 
demons  as  existences  separate  from  the  persons  afflicted.  These 
are  recorded  severally  in  Mark  i.  25  ;  v.  IS  ;  Luke  iv.  35  ;  Matt, 
viii.  32,  and  Mark  ix.  25.  In  the  first  case  Jesus  bids  the  demons 
be  silent,  and  in  the  last  to  enter  no  more  into  the  person  who 
had  been  possessed. 

8.  Jesus  connects  Satan  with  the  demons;  as  when  the  seventy 
returned  from  their  mission  and  reported  that  even  the  demons 
were  subject  to  them  through  the  name  of  Jesus,  he  replied  (Luke 
X.  IS) :  "  I  beheld  Satan  as  lightning  fall  from  heaven."  It  is 
also  observed. that  in  Matt,  xii,  25,  Jesus  replies  to  the  suggestion 
of  his  enemies'  that  he  was  casting  out  devils  by  Beelzebub,  the 
prince  of  the  devils,  with  the  argument  that  Satan  cannot  be  di- 
vided against  Satan,  else  his  kingdom  would  not  stand.  It  may 
be  added^  that  the  woman  M-ho  had  a  spirit  of  infirmity  is  repre- 
sented by  Jesus  to  have  been  bound  by  Satan.  (Luke  xiii.  11,  10.) 

9.  In  Matt.  xii.  (43  ct  scq.)  Jesus  speaks  of  an  \mclean  spirit 
going  out  of  a  man,  and  the  man  afterwards  taking  seven  other 
spirits  ;  and  in  Matt.  xvii.  21,  he  says  :  "  This  kind  goetli  not  out 
but  by  prayer  and  fasting  ;  "  which  seem  like  facts  in  their  nat- 
ural history. 

10.  Finally,  it  is  contended  that  it  detracts  from  the  dignity  of 


176  FIRST   AND    SECO>rD   TASSOVKR   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

the  niirades  of  Jesus  to  suppose  that  he  only  licalcd  diseases,  tlic 
casting  out  of  devils  being  supposed  a  greater  display  of  divine 
power. 

The  opposing  theory  is  that  in  reality  there  never  was  such  a 

fact  as  a  demon  or  evil  spirit,  whether  formerly  in  human  llesh 

or  always  a  separate  existence,  taking  possession 

The    opposing       .  '  i  i       •  \  4.11- 

^  or  a  man  antl  having  such  control  over  him  as  to 

be  able  to  torment  and  destroy  him  ;  that  all  the 
recorded  eases  are  of  persons  miserably  diseased  in  mind  or  body, 
or  both,  and  that  because  the  phenomena  were  inexplicable  the 
popular  mind  assigned  them  to  the  influence  of  demons  ;  and  that 
Jesus,  in  order  to  be  understood  by  his  contemporaries,  adopted  the 
usual  forms  of  expression  as  most  readily  indicating  this  special 
class  of  diseases.  It  is  further  contended  that  whereas  all  parties 
agree  that,  so  far  as  appeai-s  in  the  records,  whatever  the  possessed 
did  cannot  be  distinguished  from  the  acts  of  the  demon,  the  in- 
quiry is  reduced  to  the  simple  question.  Can  these  phenomena  be 
accounted  for  without  recourse  to  the  supernatural  ?  No  devout 
scholar  hesitates  to  acccjit  the  theory  of  the  sujiernatural  Mhen 
necessar}';  but  equally  does  he  never  resoii  to  it  to  exj^lain  what 
is  readily  explicable  by  well-known  physical  or  psychoLjgical 
laws ;  and  all  the  phenomena  correspond  with  what  we  know  of 
hypochondria,  cpilc]>sy,  and  insanity ;  that  the  New-Testament 
historians  give  as  plain  intimations  as  we  could  demand  that  they 
were  employing  popular  iiliraseology,  and  not  in  these  cases  giv- 
ing utterance  to  doctrines  or  asserting  facts  ;  and  that  the  doc- 
trine of  the  agency  of  departed  spirits  upon  the  bodies  of  men 
is  contrary  to  other  doctrines  expressly  taught  by  Jesus. 

Those  who  lu)ld  this  theory,  in  reply  to  the  arguments  cited 
above  by  the  advocates  of  real  demoniac  possession,  say  : 

1.  These  insane  people  helieved  themselves  p(>ssessed.  They 
had  been  brought  up  in  a  community  holding  that  doctiine,  iind 
in  their  ravin<r  made  utterances  consistent  with  their  crazv  view 
of  their  own  cases,  a  thing  we  frequently  meet  in  our  nnxk-ni 
asylums  for  the  insane.  Locke's  description  of  madmen  {lU'otij 
on  Human  UnderHtnivVuKj^  chap.  ii.  11,  13)  is,  that  "they  reason 
right  on  false  princii»les,  and  taking  their  fancies  f«)r  realities, 
make  right  deductions  from  them." 

2.  The  demoniacs  at  (Jadara  (^Mark  and  Luke  speak  of  only 
one)  had  the  fantasy  that  they  were  possessed  by  innumerable 


DEMONIACS.  171 

(lenls,  and  so  when  Jesns  asked  the  iinme  *  it  was  given  as 
"  Legion,"  and  tlie  possessed  men,  believing  tliemselves  speaking 
for  the  demons,  begged  that  they  shoukl  not  be  driven  ont  of 
the  conntry,  but  allowed  to  enter  into  the  swine,  and  that  when 
Jesns  flung  the  disease  from  the  man  or  men  to  the  hogs,  it  was  as 
great  a  miracle  as  any  casting  out  of  demons  would  have  been.f 
Actual  demons  would  not  liave  chosen  to  go  into  the  swine.  And 
it  is  specially  remarked  that  Luke,  who  was  a  physician,  speaks 
of  this  demoniac,  upon  his  recovery,  as  being  in  his  right  'inind. 
In  the  case  of  the  blind  and  dumb,  or  simply  dumb,  the  disease 
in  the  organs  was  popnlarly  ascribed  to  demons.  In  Matt.  ix.  32 
the  historian  specifically  mentions  that  the  man^  not  the  demon, 
was  dumb. 

3.  The  fact  that  the  father  of  the  epileptic  youth  (in  Luke  ix. 
39)  assigned  his  trouble  to  a  demon,  shows  only  that  it  was  his 
opinion,  in  which  he  participated  in  a  popular  superstition. 

4.  If  this  argument  is  good  here,  it  is  valid  as  establishing  witch- 
craft, as  many  have  professed  to  be  bewitched,  and  some  have  con- 
fessed that  they  practised  this  black  art.  But  who  now  believes  them  ? 

5.  It  is  doubted  whether  the  New-Testament  histoiians  made  a 
distinction  between  the  sick  and  the  demoniacs,  and  it  is  held  that 
they  spoke  of  demoniacs  as  only  one  kind  of  sick  persons.  In 
Matt.  iv.  2-i  are  three  kinds  of  ailments  mentioned,  those  possessed 
of  demons,  those  who  wei'e  lunatic,  and  those  who  were  palsied, 
all  coming  under  the  general  description  "divci's  diseases."  Oc- 
casionally demoniacs  are  omitted  in  the  general  recital  of  miracu- 
lous cures,  as  in  the  notable  reply  t)f  Jesus  to  John,  in  Matt.  xi.  5, 
in  which  an  account  is  given  of  miraculous  evidences  attending 
the  ministry  of  Jesus.  If  these  demoniacs  were  not  merely  a 
class  of  sick  people,  would  not  Jesus  have  brought  forward  their 
cure  with  great  emphasis  ? 

6.  It  is  alleged  that  it  does  n(»t  appear  that  all  the  demons  knew 
Jesus.  That  some  of  these  insane  people  did  recognize  Jesus  and 
call  him  by  high  and  holy  names  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  when 
Ave  recollect  how  his  person  was  coming  to  be  known,  and  what 
great  things  were  notoriously  done  by  him  every  day. 


*  It  really  is  quite  noticeable  that  in 
the  original,  in  Mark  v.  9,  it  is  said,  xm 
fTijpura  avrov^  he  asked  the  man,  not  uun), 
Vie  demon. 

12 


f  It  is  paralleled  by  the  transference 
of  the  leprosy  from  Naaman  to  Gehazi, 
in  3  Kings  v.  27. 


178  FIRST   ANT)    SECOND   PASSOTEK   IX   TITE   I.FFE   OF   JF>SU8. 

7.  TIic  snppopcd  addrespos  of  Jesus  to  the  demrms  may  he  easily 
undei"st<)od  to  he,  fii-st,  an  aecoinniodatioii  to  the  fancy  of  the  de- 
ranged persons,  and,  secondly,  to  the  understanding  of  spectators. 
His  hidding  the  demon  depart,  and  no  more  enter  the  man,  is  of  a 
]>icce  with  his  l)idding  the  fever  leave  a  patient,  which  he  did  in 
the  case  of  Peters  mother-in-law, 

8.  In  regard  to  the  mention  of  Satan  hy  Jesus,  in  connection 
with  demons,  it  is  urged  that  the  saying,  "  I  beheld  Satan  as  light- 
ning fall  from  the  heavens"  (Luke  x.  18),  camutt  he  taken  liter- 
ally except  as  referring  to  his  original  ex])ulsion  from  heaven.  In 
that  case  it  would  be  wholly  irrelevant.  The  choice  is  then  left 
among  the  various  figurative  interju-etations.  Satan  is  a  name 
given  to  anything  inimical  to  what  is  good.  Jesus  meant,  it 
is  said,  that  he  had  foreseen  tlie  glorious  trinni})hs  of  his  disci- 
]tles  over  the  most  formidable  obstacles.  And  as  to  his  ai'gmnent 
with  his  enemies,  he  simjily  took  them  upon  their  own  grounds, 
ainl,  not  affirming  those  grouiids  solid,  showed  that,  even  presum- 
ing them  so,  there  was  no  place  for  their  objection  to  him  :  so  that 
nothing  can  be  inferred  fiom  tliat. 

0.  In  the  case  of  the  man  who  took  to  himself  seven  other 
s])irits,  it  is  a  mere  illustration,  taken  as  public  siJeakei^s  frequently 
do  take  such,  fi-om  the  popular  l)eliefs,  as  one  might  illustrates 
principle  by  reference  to  a  well-known  fairy  story,  without  in- 
dorsing it. 

10.  That  no  dotra(;tion  is  made  from  the  dignity  of  Jesus;  for 
those  who  hold  this  view,  quite  equally  with  tiieir  o]iponents,  be- 
lieve in  the  divine  poAver Of  Jesus,  and  that  it  was  quite  as  great  a 
miracle  to  restore  an  insane  man  instantanef)usly  to  reason,  and 
rectify  the  shocks  his  mind  had  received,  as  it  would  have  been 
to  cast  out  from  the  body  of  a  man  the  wicked  spirit  of  some 
dead  man  who  had  come  to  torment  and  destroy  him. 

Perhajis  the  strongest  thing  that  can  be  said  on  the  other  side 

is  this  :  That  while  a  perfectly  truthful  jicrson  may  accommodate 

himself  to  ])opidar  fancies  and  ]»hrases  muler  cir- 
StronparCTiment  i  •   ,      i  /.         i         /•   i 

for  first  tlicorv        eumstauccs  which  do  not  connrm  liurtrul  error, 

nor  niisre]iresent  his  own  beliefs, — as  a  scientific 

man  of  to-day  may  speak  of  the  rising  and  the  setting  of  the  sim, 

and  call  deranged  mcu  hinaticfi,  although  he  does  not  believe  that 

the  sun  moves  round  the  earth  nor  that  mental  ailments  are  caused 

by  the  moon, — yet  no  truthful  nuxn  would  always  speak  as  if  he 


DEMONIACS. 


179 


adopted  a  theoiy  wluch  he  really  believed  to  1)C  false,  and  knew  to 
be  injurious,  which  is  the  case  with  this  theory  of  demcjniacal  pos- 
session. If  nntrue,  it  was  a  very  hurtful  superstition,  and  a  great 
and  good  teacher  would  not  have  countenanced  it. 

I  think  that  a  critical  examination  of  all  that  is  said  in  the  ISTe^v 
Testament  on  this  subject  will  probably  lead  most  candid  readers 
to  the  conclusion  that  a  distinction  is  made  be- 
tween those  who  suffered  merely  fi'om  phj'sical    ^ijeoj^, 
ailments  and  those  who  are  represented  as  demo- 
niacs.    In  the  latter  case  the  patients  seem  to  have  psychical  ail- 
ments which  came  from  physical  disorders.     They  are  troubled 
by  a  sense  of  double  consciousness,  and  distracted  l)y  what  seems 
a  double  will.     If'  paralytics  or  those  who  suffer  neuralgias  have 
their  pains  from  physical  causes,  and  lunatics  theirs  from  mental 
disorders,  it  is  merely  in  accordance  with  analog}'  tliat  we  sup- 
pose there  are  those  whose  miseries  arise  from  psychical  derange- 
ments, soul-disorders.     If  the  atmosphere  act  on  the  body,  and 
one  mind  on  another,'  why  should  not  one  spirit  on  another  spirit  ? 
And  this  seenis'  to  liave  been  the  case  with  demoniacs.* 

We  ]-cturn  now  to  the  demoniac  in  the  synagogue  of  Caper- 
naum.    His  symptoms  are  such  as  we  now  see  in  persons  who  are 

known  to  be  insane.    His  insanity  was  by  his  coun- 

,  ,       ,                         !>       1                    A     ,1  Demoniac  cured 

trvnnen  traced  to  the  ao;encv  ot  a  demon.     As  the  .    ,,            „    „ 

•J                                          n        ^  in  the  synagogue. 

insane  are  often  strangely  moved  by  the  })resence, 
the  voice,  and  the  words  of  certain  persons,  so  was  this  man 
moved  by  the  intonations  and  language  of  Jesns.  Believing  him- 
self possessed  of  many  devils,  he  suddenly  lost  his  self-control  and 
gave  vent  to  such  a  shriek  of  rage  and  fear  as  such  beings  would 
be  supposed  to  ntter  under  the  circumstances,  crying  out  at  first 
inarticulatel}',  and  then  making  an  appeal  to  Jesus,  and  then  call- 
ing him  "the  Holy  One  of  God."  On  the  theory  of  demons,  they 
recognized  the  holiness  of  Jesus  and  his  powerful  influence,  and 
thus  in  a  paroxysm  of  rage  gave  their  testimony  to  liim.  lie  de- 
clined it,  but  said  :  "  Hold  thy  peace  and  come  out  of  him."  We 
see  in  onr  lunatic  asylums  men  who  are  terribl}'  afflicted  with 
moral  insanity,  as  we  call  it,  showing  all  these  symptoms.     In  the 


*  If  the  reader  wish  to  investigate  this 
Bubject  further,  he  is  referred  to  Trench 
on  Mirades,  the  chapter  on  "  The  De- 
moniacs in  the  Country  of  the   Gada- 


renes ;  "  to  Farmer's  Essat/  on  the  Be- 
mo?i'tic.<!  of  the  New  Testament;  and 
Kitio's  Cycbpcedia,  Art.  "Demoniacs." 


180 


FmST   AND    SECOND    PASSOVER    IN   THE    LFFE   OF   .lESl'S. 


(lays  of  Jcsns  they  would  have  been  said  to  be  possessed  with  an 
unclean  spii-it,  or  demon.  In  all  aii;cs.  until  the  tender  and  wise 
teachini^  of  Jesus  boijan  to  prevail  in  the  woi-ld,  such  people  were 
objects  of  dread,  and  were  cut  off  from  the  kind  offices  of  soci- 
ety. Jesus  treated  the  case  differently.  He  pitied.  In  liis  own 
name  and  by  his  own  authority  he  pronounced  a  command,  which 
was  followed  by  a  shriek,  and  the  maniac  passed  through  a  con- 
vulsion into  health  and  peace.  The  assembled  people  were  aston- 
ished and  delighted.  Tho  synagogue  broke  up,  and  men  went 
away  wondering  and  praising. 


■CBtllEa  AND  BOOK*. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


THE   FIRST   TOUR   OF   GALILEE. 


Capernaum.  Je- 
sus heals  Simon' a 
wife's  mother. 


Upon  leaving  the  synagogue  Jesus  went  to  the  house  of  Simor 
Peter,  avIio  was  a  niai-ried  man.*  His  wife's  mother  lay  ill  of  a 
fever.  The  marshes  about  Capernaum  bred  ma- 
larious diseases,  which  specially  manifested  them- 
selves in  the  autmnn  and  winter.  Sometimes  they 
were  light  intermittent,  and  sometimes  A'iolent 
fevers.  Luke,  who  was  a  physician,  seems  to  designate'  the  dis- 
ease in  this  case  as  being  of  the  more  violent  kind.f  Peter  and 
his  brother  Andrew  had  witnessed  the  miraculous  cure  of  the 
demoniac  in  the  synagogue,  and  besought  Jesus  to  heal  the  sick 
woman  He  came  and  stood  over  her,  and  took  her  hands,  and  in 
the  poetic  language  applied  to  the  cure  of  demoniacs  and  to  the 
stilling  of  the  waves,  he  '■^rebuked  the  fever,":}:  and  it  left  her  in- 
stantly. She  did  not  convalesce.  She  was  immediatel}'  and  totally 
whole.  Slie  did  not  pass  through  a  season  of  weakness.  She 
came  back  at  once  to  strength,  and  rose  and  dischai-ged  her  house- 
hold duties  by  providing  a  meal  for  her  guests.  It  was  a  festive 
day  for  them. 

This  miracle  and  that  in  the  synagogue  made  Jesus  famous  in 
Capernaum.  J>efore  the  setting  of  the  sun,  probably  accounts  of 
these  wonders  had  been  rendered  in  every  house  in  the  city,  and 


*  And  we  learn  from  1  Cor.  ix.  5,  that 
his  married  state  continued  through  his 
apostolic  ministry.  He  was  much  more 
fortunate  than  PauL 

f  It  is  not  certain  that  Luke  intended 
to  make  the  distinction  between  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  fever,  as  Alford  inti- 
mates that  he  does.  If  he  had  so  in- 
tended would  the  article  have  been 
omitted  in  Luke  iv.  38,  where  it  is  sim- 
ply vvptTC>  jiiyiyci  ?     It  being   a  violent 


fever  is  sufficient  to  make  this  a  remark- 
able miracle. 

|:  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  Jesus  treated 
disease  as  a  hostile  potencj',  to  be  "  re- 
buked" and  to  be  resisted,  as  though 
sickness  were  somehow  akin  to  sin. 
Early  commentators,  among  them  CyiiJ 
of  Alexandria,  noticed  the  peculiar  ex- 
pression in  the  origuial  Greek  as  some- 
how conveying  this  idea. 


182  FIRST   AND   SECOND   PASSOVER   ES"   THE    LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

the   hearts   of   the  people  were  thrilling  with  the  thought  that 

BO  marvellous  a  personage  was  residing  in  their 

Crowds  of  sick    jjjj^i^^^     j^  ^^..^^  ^j^^  Sal.i>ath.      The  strictness  of 

people.  T       •  1       1  r     1  1         •    1  T    1 

Jewish  observance  f)!  that  day  is  known.     It  has 

been  illustrated  by  divers  incidents  in  the  history  of  the  jK'ople, 
but  by  none  perhaps  so  strikingly  as  the  fact  that  in  the  Macca- 
bean  revolt  aijainst  Antiochus  the  insnrjicents,  who  had  been  sur- 
prised  on  the  Sabbath,  tamely  submitted  to  butchery  rather  than 
violate  the  sanctity  of  the  day  by  defensive  warfare.*  But  the 
Sabbath  ended  with  the  sunset.  Admiration  broiifjht  crowds  to 
Peter's  house,  and  many  who  were  diseased  came  or  were  brought 
by  their  friends.  The  lame  hobbled  towards  the  Healer,  and  the 
blind  came  groping,  and  the  palsied  came  trembling,  and  the  epi- 
leptic brought  his  mysterious  malady,  and  even  "  the  possessed  " 
were  pi-eseut.  The  streets  about  the  house  were  so  crowded  that 
Peter  felt  that  "  all  the  city  was  gathered  together  at  the  door." 
(Mark  i.  33.)  And  none  went  away  unblessed,  lie  laid  his  hands 
on  all.  The  palsy-stricken,  the  man  with  the  epilepsy,  the  suf- 
ferei-s  from  chronic  neuralgias,  felt  instant  ease,  refreshment,  and 
health  infused  into  all  parts  of  their  bodies ;  the  deaf  instantly 
heard  the  exclamations  of  the  demoniacs  amidst  the  shouts  of  the 
healed,  the  praises  of  the  disciples,  and  tlie  murmur  of  the  popu- 
lace; and  through  them  all,  like  music  through  a  storm,  swept  the 
voice  of  Jesus,  with  all  authority  and  sweetness,  silencing  demo- 
niacs and  i-el)uking  disease,  while  eyes  that  had  been  long  blind 
looked  for  the  iirst  time  upon  the  faces  of  their  friends,  U})on  the 
multitude,  and  upon  Jesus,  as  he  stood  in  the  foreground  of  a 
soft  Syrian  sunset. 

Virtue  went  out  (»f  him  as  it  entered  all  these.     lie  became  ex- 
hausted and  nervous  and  faint.     (Mark  i.  35.)     And   when    the 

time  fitr  bed  had   arrived,  after  this  wonderful 
Exhausting  ef-    j^.^i.i..^,!    J^^^^,^  ^.,,„ij  „„t  ^]^,^..,      u^  j-ose  j^  the 

fects  ou  Jesus.  •    i  i  •  i  • 

night  and  went  out  into  a  solitary  place  that  he 
might  ])ray.  "When  the  day  had  come,  Peter  and  they  that  were 
with  him  sought  Jesus,  and  tt)ld  him  what  an  e.xcitement  his  deeds 
had  created  among  the  i)eoj)le,  and  urged  him  to  stay  in  the  city 
and  go  amongst  those  who  so  earnestly  sought  him.  His  reply 
was,  "  I>ct  us  go  into  the  next  towns,  that  I  may  i)rea«h  the  king- 

•  See  Milman's  UhrUtianity,  i.  211. 


THE   FIEST   TOUR   OF   GALILEE.  183 

dom  of  God  there  also ;  for  therefore  came  I  forth."     Then  com- 
menced  his  first  circuit  of  missionary  preaching. 

The  earnest  teacher  "  went  about  all  Galilee,"  as  Matthew  says, 
meaning  probably  Upper  Galilee,  which  formed  the  most  northern 
part  of  Palestine,  embracing  a  tract  of  country 
about  fifty  miles  long  and  twenty-five  broad.  ^^**^-  ^^-  ^^^ 
It  was  bounded  on  the  west  by  Phoeuicia  and  the  •  '^^ ,  ^"  '  ^^ 
Mediterranean  Sea,  on  the  east  by  the  Jordan 
and  the  Lake  of  Tiberias,  on  the  north  by  Cojle -Syria,  and  on 
the  south  by  Samaria.  It  was  a  fertile  country,  full  of  romantic 
valleys,  and  containing,  it  is  said,  two  hundred  t(jwns  and  villages ; 
and  Josephus  says  {Wars,  iii.  3,  §  3)  that  the  smallest  contained 
moi'c  than  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants.  The  people  were  earnest, 
intelligeut,  and  remarkable  for  their  bravery,  but  despised  by  the 
inhalntants  of  Jud<\3a,  because  their  dialect  was  uncouth  and  the 
land  filled  with  "  Gentiles,"  who  had  been  attracted  tliither  by  the 
delightfulness  of  the  country. 

Through  this  region  Jesus  made  a  tour.  lie  went  into  the  syn- 
agogues and  dischaiged  the  functions  of  a  rabbi.  In  his  thne 
the  rabbi  was  not  a  regularly  graduated  teacher 
of  the  law,  as  somewhat  later^  but  was  still  re-  -^^^""^  ^'^^''^^^  ^° 
garded  by  the  people  as  the  successor  of  the 
ancient  prophet.  Jesus  preached  his  doctrine  of  "the  kingdom," 
and  exerted  his  marvellous  power  of  healing,  so  much  that  by  his 
words  and  deeds  he  created  a  fame  of  himself  that  went  through- 
out all  Syria,  through  Palestine  and  Phoenicia,  carried  i)r(A)ably 
by  the  caravans  that  went  from  Damascus  by  the  Sea  of  Galilee  to 
the  Mediterranean.  Great  multitudes  followed  him  from  all  parts 
of  Galilee,  and  from  the  "Decapolis"  (a  region  so  called  from  its 
ten  cities,  which  were  inhabited  inainly  by  Gentiles,  and  is  said 
by  Eitter  to  have  been  founded  by  the  vetei-ans  of  the  army  of 
Alexander),  and  from  the  neighborhood  and  the  city  of  Jerusa- 
lem, and  from  Perea,  beyond  Jordan. 

On  this  journey  occurred,  in  some  town  not  named,  the  healing 
of  a  leper. 

The  leprosy  is  the  most  horrible  of  diseases,  and  all  the  details 
of  its  symptoms  and  effects  strike  our  imaginations  most  painfully. 
Although  not  strictly  exclusively  confined  to  the 
Orient,  it  is   the   special   scourge   of  the  East,      ^he  leprosy. 
Wlien  it  first  made  its  appearance  wo  shall  probably  never  be  able 


184  FIRST   AND    SECOND   PASSOVEU    IN    THE    LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

to  learn.  Pc'r]iaj)5  the  earliest  recorded  mention  of  this  jtla^ue  is 
in  the  b<X)ks  of  Moses.  Of  the  leprosy  in  general  the  oriijin  is 
readily  found  in  the  nature  of  the  climate  in  eastern  lands.  The 
dryness  and  hotness  of  the  atmosphere  of  Egypt  and  Syi-ia  would 
naturally  generate  cutaneous  diseases,  which,  among  the  lower 
classes,  would  be  aggravated  by  mi  wholesome  diet  and  the  want 
of  pei-sonal  cleanliness.  In  modern  books  of  medicine  a  "  brick- 
layer's itch  "  and  a  "  baker's  itch  "  are  specitied. 

Leprosy  appears  under  four  forms — elei)hantiasis,  black  leprosy, 
red  leprosy,  and  white  leprosy.  The  Urst  of  these  is  es})ecially 
an  Egyptian  form,  and  is  known  sometimes  by  the  name  ulcus 
^fjllpti.  Its  name  comes  from  the  swelling  and  hardening  of 
the  ankle-joints,  so  that  the  feet  come  to  resemble  the  hoofs  of  the 
elephant.  It  pi-oduces  melancholy,  sleeplessness,  voracious  hun- 
ger, and  un(pienchable  thirst.  It  is  not  rapid.  The  patient  may 
live  twenty  years  in  this  hon-iblo  condition,  and  then  die  of  suf- 
focation. The  white  lejtrosy  is  known  as  the  Jej'i'd  Momlca^  and 
is  described  with  a  minuteness  that  is  i)ainful  in  Leviticus  xiii. 

Very  great  diversity  of  opinion  has  existed  on  the  (juestion  of 

the  contagiousness  of  the  leprosy.     Dean  Alfoj'd  and  Archbishop 

Trench  drny  tliat  it  is  contagious.     They  cite  the 
Its  contagious-  ^   x-   '  /^,   t-.  ^  ^        i  i  -i      i 

^  case  or  Ajuimun  (2  Knifes  v.),  who  wlnle  he  was 

ness.  ^  o       / 

a  le]>er  held  place  at  court  and  connuanded  the 
forces  of  the  Syrian  king  ;  and  also  the  case  of  Gehazi  (2  Kings 
viii.),  who,  while  he  was  an  incui-able  lei)er,  held  familiar  c(»nver- 
sation  with  the  king  of  Israel.  The  le})er's  exclusion  these  learned 
authors  assign  to  the  fact  that  he  was  cereinoniaUy  unclean. 
Modern  travellei's  and  wi-iters  tell  us  that  in  Palestine  it  is  still  an 
o])cn  (juestion  whether  mere  contact  will  communicate  the  disease; 
but  all  the  i)olicc  regulations  about  Jerusalem  and  Damascus,  and 
even  among  the  Avabp,  sliow  that  there  is  a  di-ead  of  touching 
lepers.  They  are  excluded  fiom  the  camp  and  city,  are  sepaiated 
fr<»m  their  kinspeople  and  ac(puiintance8,  and  live  in  a  c(»nmiu- 
nity  <»f  wretchedness,  having  no  comj)anionship  but  thatof  sufVercrs 
alllicted  like  themsehes.  Jhit  it  is  "  hei-editary,  with  an  awfully 
infallible  certainty."'  *     The  child  of  leprous  parents  may  exhibit 

•  Dr.   Thom.son'H  Tht  htnd  and  (he  tancously,    without    hereditary   or  nuy 

Jiook,  vol.  ii.  p.  TjIO.     This  author  8ny.s  other  iH)SHible    connection  with     those 

also,  that "  fresh  cases  appear  from  time  previously  diseased." 
to  time,  in  which  it  $cein«  to  arise  spou- 


THE   rmST   TOUR   OF    GALILEE.  185 

all  the  usual  sweetness  of  infancy  and  be  briglit  and  beautiful ; 
but  just  as  certainly  as  it  li\cs  it  will  begin  to  show  the  terrify- 
ing rignsof  the  horrible  disease,  and  will  finally  perish  of  a  malady 
wliicii  medical  science  has  discovered  no  skill  to  cure  and  almost 
none  to  mitigate. 

The  symptoms  and  the  effects  of  this  disease  are  very  loath- 
some.    There  comes  a  white  swelling  or  scab,  with  a  change  of 

the  color  X)f  the  hair  on  the  part  from  its  natui-al       _       ,     ^ 

i-  ^  bymptoraa. 

hue  to  yellow;  then  the  appearance  of  a  taint 
going  deeper  than  the  skin,  or  raw  flesh  appearing  in  the  swell- 
ing. Then  it  spreads  and  attacks  the  cartilaginous  portions  of 
the  body.  Tlie  nails  loosen  and  drop  off,  the  gums  are  absorbed, 
and  the  teeth  decay  and  fall  out ;  the  breath  is  a  stench,  the  nose 
decays ;  fingers,  hands,  feet,  may  be  lost,  or  the  eyes  eaten  out. 
The  human  beauty  has  gone  into  corruption,  and  the  patient  feelf 
that  he  is  being  eaten  as  by  a  fiend,  who  consumes  him  slowly  in 
a  long  remorseless  meal  that  will  not  end  until  he  be  destroyed, 
lie  is  shut  out  from  his  fellows.  As  they  ai)proach  he  must  cry, 
"Unclean!  unclean!"  that  all  humanity  may  be  warned  from 
his  jtrecincts.  He  must  \l)aiidon  wife  and  child.  He  must  go 
to  live  with  other  lepers,  in  disheartening  view  of  miseries  similar 
to  his  own.  lie  must  dwell  in  dismantled  houses  or  in  the  tombs. 
He  is,  as  Trench  says,  a  dreadful  })arable  of  death.  By  the  laws 
of  Moses  (Lev.  xiii.  45  ;  Xuin.  vi.  9  ;  Ezek.  xxiv.  IT)  he  was  com- 
pelled, as  if  he  were  mourning  for  his  own  decease,  to  bear  about 
him  the  emblems  of  death,  the  rent  garments;  he  was  to  kee})  his 
head  bare  and  his  lip  covered,  as  was  the  custom  with  those  who 
were  in  communion  with  the  dead.  When  the  Crusaders  brought 
the  leprosy  from  the  East,  it  M'as  usual  to  clothe  the  leper  in  a 
shroud,  and  to  say  for  him  the  masses  for  the  dead.* 

In  all  ages  this  indescribably  horrible  malady  has  been  con 
sidered  incurable.     The  Jews  believed  that  it  was  inflicted  by 
Jehovah  directly,  as  a  punishment  for  some  extra- 
ordinary perversity  or  some  transcendent  act  of 
sinfulness,  aiid  that  only  God  could  heal  it.     AVhen  Naannin  was 
cured,  and  his  flesh  came  back  like  that  of  a  little  child,  he  said, 
"Now  I  know  that  there  is  no  God  in  alltlie  earth  but  in  Isiacl." 
(2  Kings  V.  l-i,  15.)     It  was  to  be,  the  test  of  the  Messiah,  the 


*  Trench  on  Miracles,  p.  176. 


186       rmsT  A^'D  shcom)  passovek  lx  the  life  of  jesus. 

Deliverer  sent  out  from  Jehovah,  that  he  should  be  able  to  cure 
the  leprosy.  Cyril  of  Alexandria  calls  it  Trado^  ovk  laaifiov,  the  in- 
curable disease.  The  report  of  it  struck  horror  into  the  minds 
of  peoples  afar.  The  Greek  poet  -tEsehylus  *  has  a  few  powerful 
lines  in  which  he  describes  the  symptoms,  and  dwells,  as  Moses 
(.lid,  upon  the  fact  of  the  si)readini^  energy  of  the  evil,  and  makes 
that  an  argument  for  the  theory  that  the  leprosy  was  the  special 
scourge  of  God.  Tacitus  f  describes  the  Jews  as  "  a  race  detested 
by  the  gods,"  saying  that  when  they  were  in  Egypt  they  all  had 
the  lepros}',  and  that  when  the  king  inquired  of  Jupiter  Annuon 
how  the  kingdom  could  be  fi-eed  from  this  great  calamity,  he  was 
told  that  it  could  be  effected  only  by  driving  this  wretched  race 
from  the  country. 

Such  is  the  leprosy,  and  such  were  lepers  in  the  days  of  Je- 
sus. Other  sufferers  luid  sympathy  and  help.  Tlie  leper  was 
regarded  as  stricken  of  God,  smitten  of  llim,  and  afflicted  by 
Ilim.:}:  No  one  sat  by  his  couch  of  pain ;  no  hand  touched  his 
brow  with  cooling  moisture ;  no  kiss  of  lo\'e  ever  distilled  itself  on 
his  lips. 

A  poor  wretch  corroded  with  leprosy  had  heard  of  the  power 

and  goodness  of  Jesus,  whose  reputation  had  gone  down  among 

,     ,  the  outcasts  in  the  tombs,     lie  came  near  the 

Jesus     heals    a  irii  i-r 

leper.    Matt  viii.    "^vondcr-wcjrker,  and  kneeled,  and  fell  on  his  face, 

1-4;  Mark  i.  40-    and  worshii>i)ed,  and  said  with  extraordinary  faith 

4o;  Luke  v.  12-  .^,,,|  pathos,  '' Thou  canst  make  me  clean,  if  thou 
14 

wilt."     The  historians  of  the  New  Testament  tell 

this  story  with  a  calmness  which  seems  itself  miraculo^is.     Wo 

ordinaiy  historians  ai'c  moved  l)y  the  toucliing  postures,  and  acts, 

and  fancied  accents  of  these  two  men.     Laying  all  dognuis  aside, 

here  is  a  historic  gnuij)  of  ]>niionnd  and  powerful  poetic  interest. 

Standing  there  is  a  youn'^j  teacher,  who  has  aroused  the  dull  ears 

of  plodding,  stupid,  ritualistic  religionists  of  his  day,  and  attracted 

the  attention  of  the  fashionable,  the  gay,  the  heathen  rulei-s  of  his 

people,  and  of  the  busy  mei-chants  intent  on  trade.     A  ]>opulous 

regi(^n  begins  to  be  full  of  his  i)raises.     lie  is  stirring  his  people 

and  his  age  by  religious  views  the  most  i)ractical,  full  of  common 


•  ^8ch.,  Cfi&J-r^i.,  271-274. 
f  Tacitus,  Ann.,  lib.  v. 
X  In  quoting  from  Isaiah  the  phrases 
osuolly  understood  to  bo  prophetic  of 


"the  Christ,"  I  am  reminded  of  a  strange 
old  Jewish  tradition  that  the  Messiah 
was  to  be  a  leper. 


THE   ITKST   TOUR   OF    GALILEE.  187 

sense,  adapted  to  human  wants,  yet  lofty  and  spiritual,  and  uttered 
in  a  tone  of  paramount  authority.  His  life  is  bhuiu^lessly  pure. 
The  innocency  of  infancy,  the  tenderness  of  Avonianliood,  the 
strength  of  manhood,  the  gravity  of  a  sage,  the  endurance  of  a 
martyr,  and  the  daring  of  a  hero  must  have  been  the  mingled 
elements  of  his  aspect  and  his  maimers.  Seieue  and  l<»fty  and 
sweet,  Jesus  stands,  while  at  his  feet  a  lejjcr  lies,  disgusting, 
loatlisome,  rotten.  He  has  been  burning  with  fever  for  many 
years^  for  he  is  "  full  of  leprosy."  It  is  in  his  blood  and  iiesh, 
a  fret  and  a  torment,  lie  lias  no  hope  from  medicine  or  nursing. 
He  can  look  forward  only  to  a  death-in-hf e  existence,  whose  nights 
shall  be  filled  with  dreams  that  scare  and  visions  that  terrify 
(Job  vii.),  and  whose  mornings  shall  be  an  awakening  to  face  an 
approaching  and  inevitable  doom.  This  is  his  only,  his  last 
chance.  He  has  heard  of  the  mighty  deeds  of  Jesus.  His  faith 
in  the  2^^'^*^^  of  Jesus  is  unfaltering.  The  Messiah  will  be  a 
leper-curcr.  This  is  the  Messiali.  He  can.  Will  he  ?  That  is 
the  question.  7/' the  goodness  of  this  wonderful  Kabbi  be  equal 
to  his  power  the  le])ei'  ^vill  be  sa^■ed.  But  perhaps  the  leprosy  ia 
the  one  evil  God  has  determined  not  yet  to  remedy,  and  this, 
after  all,  may  not  be  the  Messiah. 

It  is  not  inqjrobable  that  all  these  thoughts  passed  through  the 
mind  of  the  sufferer.  He  saw  in  fancy  his  home,  his  wife,  his 
babes,  and  all  that  makes  the  home  circle  powerful  in  its  attrac- 
tions. H  the  Great  Teacher  should  cure  him  he  should  go  back 
to  all  those  dear  delights.  If  he  refused,  then  the  tombs  and 
wretched  companionship  and  despair  ! 

Will  he  %     Let  us  look  up  from  the  suppliant  to  that  face  of 
lofty  lovingness.     Jesus  is  moved — moved  with  compassion.     Ko 
one  else  had  ever  felt  so  for  the  leper.     All  others 
had  been  moved,  but  it  had  been  with  diso-ust  or    .,    ,     , 

'  _  p  the  nealer. 

horror.  The  brow  of  Jesus  lifts  itself.  The 
eyes  of  the  teacher  soften  and  brighten.  His  hands  stir  slightly. 
His  lips  quiver  with  emotion.  His  frame  is,  perhaps,  agitated. 
All-health,  unbroken  AVholesomeness,  untainted  Physical  Purity, 
stands  face  to  face  with  Disease  and  Corru]i)tion.  It  is  a  moment 
of  critical  conflict.  He  is  about  to  speak  a  word  which  is  to  bo 
decisive  of  his  power  or  his  feebleness.  There  can  be  no  half- 
success.  It  will  be  complete,  and  surpass  in  its  effects  all  other 
words  that  ever  passed  human  lips,  or  be  instantly  followed  by  a 


188  FIRST   AND    SECOND    PASSOVER   IN    THE   LIFE    OF  JESUS. 

BuiTender  oi  moral  power,  lie  dares  to  utter  that  word,  and 
does  it  with  elevated  calmness,  fearless  of  ceremonial  impurity 
or  infectious  disease.  Step})ing  forward,  he  breaks  thron<i;h  the 
whole  ceremonial  law  that  severed  this  abject  sufferer  from  de- 
cent ])eople,  and  laying  his  Angel's  on  tlie  hot  head  of  the  throb- 
bing leper,  thrilled  tlie  sufferer  with  a  delicious  sensation,  and 
int<j  his  eai*s,  all  stuffed  with  matter  of  corruption,  shot  the  nmsic 
of  the  simple  sj)eech  of  love  and  power :  "  I  will :  be  clean." 
More  quickly  than  can  be  written  the  man  at  his  feet  felt  new 
fountains  of  health  created  at  his  heart,  uew  blood  coui-sing 
through  his  veins,  new  llesh  as  of  a  babe's  pushing  the  rottenness 
from  off  his  bones,  and  he  arose,  shook  himself,  sbnighed  off  his 
leprosy,  and  stood  out  clean. 

Innnediately    upon    the    performaiu;e   of    this    miracle    Jesus 

charged  the  healed  man  not  to  nuike  it  known  until  he  had  gone 

to  the  })riest,  and  offered  for  his  cleansing  those 

,   ^,    !^,  ,  thiuiTS  win cli  Moses  had  commanded  "  fc»r  a  tes- 

te the  healed  man.       _      ^ 

timoiiy  unto  tlieni,"  says  Mark  (i.  44).  The  Jew- 
ish law  at  tliat  time  was  tliat  if  a  person  should  be  restored  from 
the  leprosy  lie  should  be  examined  by  the  priest  of  his  district. 
After  seven  days  he  underwent  a  second  examination,  performed 
a  lustration,  and  then  went  to  Jerusalem,  where  he  offered  a  pre- 
Bci-ibed  sacrifice  and  was  j^ronounced  clean.  Thei-e  were  slight 
forms  of  leprosy,  as  still  may  be  found  in  Palestine,  whicth  were 
curaljle.  The  sanitary  regulations  referred  to  these.  But  still,  as 
they  were  forms  of  lei>rosy,  the  se})aration  had  to  be  made.  Seat- 
ed leprosy  was  considered  incurable,  and,  until  the  days  of  Jesus, 
no  cure  is  recorded  except  of  those  who  were  miraculously 
healed  in  the  times  of  the  pmphets.  Generally  Jesus  enjoined 
silence  u])on  those  Avhoni  he  restored,  and  the  reasons  are  appar- 
ent. The  importance  of  his  ministry,  as  is  always  the  case  with 
great  men,  lay  in  his  spiritual  inllueiu-,e  rather  than  in  the  mere 
words  and  acts  which  conveyed  it.  His  miracles  were  only  acces- 
sories. For  the  si)ii'itual  as  well  as  ])hysical  good  of  the  restored  lie 
commanded  quiet.  Nor  did  he  desire  to  have  his  deeds  so  bi'uitcd 
abroad  Jis  that  his  ministry  should  be  obstmu^ted  by  great  cr«.»wds, 
nor  such  enthusiasm  generated  as  should  lead  to  mobs  or  i)olitical 
conqilications.  These  were  general  i)rudential  reasons.  In  one 
<asc, <at  least  (]\Iark  v.  0),  we  shall  iind  that  he  gave  an  (>i)}>osite 
direction.     Ihit  in  each  case,  in  addition  to  the  general,  there  wae 


TIIE   FIRST   TOUR   OF   GALILEE.  189 

a  special  reason.  The  priest  liad  pronounced  him  a  leper:  if  the 
priest,  unmoved  by  the  knowledi^e  that  Jesus  had  cleansed  him, 
should  pronounce  him  healed,  the  "  testimony'  to  them  "  would  be 
complete  that  Jesus  had  really  performed  this  wonderful  deed 
and  had  thus  estal)lished  his  claims  to  the  Messiahship. 

l]ut  the  glad  and  grateful  man  could  not  be  restrained.     lie 

blazed  the  matter  abroad  so  much  that  crowds 

n      1  •        .      T  i.-i  1  11    1  i  Jesus  withdraws 

came  il()ckin2:  to  Jesus,  until  he  was  compelled  to    ,       ,,        ... 
p  _     '  _  '■  from  the  pubuc. 

withdraw   himself   into   a  solitary  place.     And 
there  for  some  days  he  refreshed  his  soul  by  devotional  exercises. 
It  was  needful,  for  trouble  was  brewing  for  the  great  teacher. 
A  Messiah  that  removed  himself  from  the  public  was  not  the 
Messiah  for  the  Jews.     lie  returned  to  his  chosen 
home  in  Capernaum.     His  fame  had  o-rown  in  his    ,,    '    '..    '/..->' 

^  «=  .  Mark     u.     4-13; 

absence.  People  flocked  to  the  liouse  he  occupied,  i.u.'ke  v.  17-28. 
"Wlietherit  was  a  residence  he  had  hired,  or  one  that 
belonged  to  some  disciple,  we  cannot  learn.  But  it  was  known  to 
the  inhabitants  of  Capernaum,  and  to  the  strangers  therein.  lie 
commenced  teaching.  Among  his  hearers  were  certain  Phari- 
sees and  doctors  of  the  law,  who  had  come  down  from  Jerusalem. 
It  is  not  quite  easy  to  determine  the  motives  of  these  listeners. 
They  may  ha\e  been  drawn  by  the  fame  of  Jesus,  or  they  may 
have  been  emissaries  come  to  collect  testimony  against  the  young 
rabbi  who  had  made  such  a  commotion  on  his  visit  to  Jerusalem. 
Both  classes  probably  were  represented  in  this  assembly,  for  Luke 
intimates  that  he  healed  some,*  while  some  were  severely  critical 
upon  his  mode  of  expression  in  a  miracle  which  he  performed  in 
their  midst.     The  miracle  was  on  this  wise : 

Four  men  brought  upon  a  pallet  their  friend,  who  was  a  paraly- 
tic. The  entrance  to  Oriental  houses  is  ordinarily  by  the  one  front 
door.     This  was  blocked  by  the  excessive  crowd, 

so  that   it  was  impracticable   to  press  througrh:  ^^'^^     e  s   a 

r     1  .1  1    Vi        Pfiralytic. 

bnt  the  desire  of  these  men,  mcreased  probably 

by  the  urgency  of  the  patient,  was  so  great  that  they  ascended 

the  roof,  probably  through  the  adjoining  house,  and,  crossing  the 

parapet,  either  removed  the  hatchway,  if  Jesus  was  sitting  in  the 

*  The  construction  here  is  a  little  |  these  Pharisees  and  doctors,  as  on  it-a 
difficult.  The  avrovs  in  the  original  has  ,  face  it  seems  to  do,  for  there  was  noth- 
no  grammatical  antecedent.  It  is  rather  ,  ing  in  their  cases  to  make  them  recep 
unnatural  to   interpret   it   as   meaning  i  tive  of  his  curative  power. 


190  FIRST   AXD   SECONT)    PASSOVER    IN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

upper  chamber  or  rei.ioved  tlie  awninp;,  if  Jesus  was  sitting  in  the 
court-yai-d.  In  rcadini^  tlie  statement  of  the  evangelical  histo- 
rians we  must  recollect  the  construction  of  eastern  houses.  What 
might  he  impossible  as  Eui-opean  and  American  houses  are  built  in 
our  cities  was  not  an  insuperal)lc  difKculty  in  the  East.  Jhit  it  was  a 
difficulty;  and  when  Jesus  saw  the  earnestness  of  all  ]>arties  he  said 
to  the  paralytic,  "Son,  be  of  good  cheer;  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee.'" 
How  much  depends  upon  a  little  word!  This  speech  by  Jesus 
was  the  turning-point  in  his  history.  If  he  had  said,  "May  thy 
sins  be  foi-givcn,"  he  would  simply  have  uttered 
Importance  of  a  ^^^  as])irati(>n  of  pietv.  But  undertaking  to  de- 
clare  upon  his  own  individual  authority  the  for- 
giveness of  the  man's  sins,  in  other  \v(n\U,for(/ii'in(/  him,  he  vol- 
untarily took  a  vast  step  forward,  ascended  to  a  higher  and  more 
conspicuous  platform  of  claim,  and  aroused  against  himself  all 
the  philosophic;,  religious,  and  traditionary  prejudi(;es  of  his  peo- 
ple. It  was  the  commission  of  a  most,  if  not  the  most,  grievous 
crime  known  to  the  Jews.  It  was  hlasphemy.  It  was  a  claim  to 
exercise  the  prerogative  of  God.  It  was  making  himself  equal 
with  God.  It  was  making  himself  God.  And  there  was  no  re- 
treat for  Jesus.  lie  had  said  it.  The  learned  visitors  sat  reason- 
ing with  themselves,  "  Who  can  forgive  sins  but  God  only  ? " 
Jesus  read  their  thoughts,  and  manifested  his  penetration  by  tell- 
ing them  just  what  was  passing  in  their  minds. 

He  proceeded  to  establish  this  awful  claim.     Any  fool  or  crazy 
man  may  claim  anything  which  is  not  susceptible  of  proof  or  dis- 
proof.    What  evidence  is  furnished  that  heaven 
An  awful  claim.    ^.^^-^^^^^  ^|j^.  assertion  of  any  human  being  that  the 

sins  of  another  human  being  are  forgiven?  It  is  a  pertinent 
question.  The  claim  maybe  at  once  futile  and. sinful.  Jesus 
asked  them  this  question  :  "Which  is  easier — to  say  '  Thy  sins  are 
forgiven,'  or  to  say  '  Tvise,  take  thy  bod  and  walk? '  "  To  forgive 
sins  is  not  less  difficult  than  to  heal  disease,  to  one  who  can  do 
both  ;  but  it  is  less'easy  of  proof,  as  the  latter  is  open  to  the  senses. 
But  neither  can  be  done  without  the  will  of  God,  and  God  Avill 
not  indorse  blasphemy  l)y  a  miracle,  and  therefore  Jesus  said  to 
them,  "That  you  may  know  that  I  have  power  to  forgive  sins, 
listen  and  behold."  And  turning  to  the  sick  man  he  said,  "Rise, 
take  up  your  bed,  and  go  to  your  own  house."  There  was  no 
Btniggle.  no  slow  stretching  of  himself,  no  painful  effort  to  drag 


THE   FIRST   TOUR   OF   GALILEE.  191 

himself  and  his  pallet  through  the  crowd.  Immediately  he  stood 
up  before  them,  he  gathered  up  that  on  wliicli  he  had  been  lyino- 
and  started  for  his  home.  The  crowd  disparted.  Tliey  made  way 
for  this  new  wonder.  The  man  went  home  shouting.  Amaze- 
ment, fear,  and  gladness  took  hold  of  the  people.  Tlie  great 
power  of  God  had  come  do-svn  among  men. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  how  Jesus,  in  the  methods  of  this  miracle,  sets 
forth  the  close  connection  between  an  nnwholesome  spiritual  con- 
dition and  the  physical  maladies  of  mankind. 
lie  treats  a  disease  somehow  as  if  it  were  a  sin.  °  y  ^  ^^  . 
"  Your  sins  are  forgiven,  rise  up,  go  home."  In  this  case,  as  per- 
haps invariably  in  cases  of  paralysis,  some  sin,  some  excessive 
self-indulgence,  lies  at  the  root  of  this  bodily  disablement.  Jesus 
is  compassionate  to  tlie  snffei-er,  but  honest  with  the  sinner.  He 
addresses  him  tenderly  but  faithfully.  He  calls  him  "'  son,"  but 
gives  him  to  understand  that  his  sympathy  with  suffering  does 
not  for  a  moment  blind  him  to  the  badness  of  the  sin  from  which 
it  sprang  So  indescribal)ly  sublime  was  the  self-possession  of 
Jesus  that  no  crisis  threw  him  from  his  balance,  and  yet  so  ob\nou8 
is  it  that  he  never  thinks  of  self-possession  and  mental  equipoise, 
[lis  greatness  inheres. 

Shortly  after  the  healing  of  the  paralytic  Jesus  was  found  at 
the  sea-side,  teaching  nmltitudes  who  gathered  about  him. 

Making  a  short  excursion  from  Capernaum  along  the  Lake  of 
Gennesaret,  discoursing  on  religious  subjects,  he  came  to  the 
road  from  Damascus,  which,  crossing  the  Jordan 
by  "Jacob's  Bridge,"  went  along  the  lake  coast  to  ^l^ttbew's  call, 
the  neighboring  cities.  On  this  road, near  Caper-  f "".^Ml^j-^i ^"^^ 
naum  or  some  other  town,  it  is  quite  probable 
there  would  be  a  toll-house.  Such  a  station  somewhere  Jesus 
came  upon,  and  there  found  Matthew,  called  also  Levi,  who  M-as 
discharging  the  duties  of  a  Uoman  poHito?%  or  tax-gatherer,  com- 
moidy  called  "  publican  "  in  our  version.  It  was  the  most  degrad- 
ing employment  in  which  a  Jew  could  be  found.  It  was  nuikiug 
himself,  for  gain,  a  servant  of  the  oppressor  of  his  people.  Jesus 
seems  to  have  known  him.  He  simply  said  to  him,  "  Follow  me," 
and  Matthew  immediately  obeyed.  Ilere  was  another  shock  given 
to  Jewish  prejudice.  It  was  intolerable  that  he  should  select  his 
circle  of  nearest  friends  and  disciples  fi*om  men  whose  reputation 
was  so  ruinously  bad. 


192 


FIRST    AND    SECOND    TASSOVER   IN    THE    LIFE    OF   JEStJS. 


Matthew's  feast. 


But  sometliiiig  more  was  done,  probably  on  tliat  very  day,  to  in- 
tensify tlie  groNviiif^  opposition.  The  newly  called  disciple  made 
a  great  feast  at  his  house.  iVll  his  old  compflnions 
were  welcome  to  his  table.  On  this  day  he  nnist 
have  consulted  Jesus,  who  did  not  object  to  dining  with  publicans 
and  those  technically  called  sinners  by  the  scientifically  religious 
Pharisees.  And  so  there  was  a  great  crowd  of  bad  men,  and  Jesus 
and  his  djsciples  eating  with  them.  This  seemed  the  crowning 
outrage.  lie  had  pronounced  a  man  forgiven  who  had  not  gone 
throuirh  the  ritual,  thus  bursting:  the  bands  of  sacerdotal  succes- 
sion  and  ecclesiastical  exclusiveness.  lie  then  broke  down  the 
pales  of  social  life,  which  were  also  themselves  of  ecclesiastical 
construction.  The  Pharisees  remonstrated  with  liis  disciples. 
But  when  Jesus  heard  it  he  said  to  them,  with  sj^lcndid  irony, 
''  They  that  are  mIioIc  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are 
sick.  Go  learn  what  God  meant  when  he  spake  by  his  prophet, 
'  I  will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice.'  (Ilosea  vi.  G.)  And  I  am 
not  come  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinnei-s,  to  repentance." 

His  rej^ly  was  silencing  to  the  Pharisees,  and  should  be  instruc- 
tive to  people  of  all  ages.     It  first  quotes  the  pi-overb,  "  The  physi- 
cian is  not  for  the  whole,  but  for  the  sick,"  which 

^   .u^«i°  •  ^''^    ^vas  known  to  Jews  and  Gentiles,  and  is  of  uni- 
te the  rhansees.  _    -    , 

verbal  use.*  It  was  em]>loyed  ironically  against 
these  Pharisees.  They  were  as  unsomid  as  the  sinners  that  sat  at 
meat  with  him,  the  difference  being  that  the  latter  knew  them- 
selves sin-sick  and  the  former  did  not.  Seriously,  the  place  for 
the  physician  is  in  the  wards  of  the  hospital,  and  not  in  the  cnnvd 
of  hearty,  healthy  laborers.  The  man  whose  purity  and  exaltation 
of  character  are  not  siu-h  as  will  di"aw  the  low  to  his  higher  plat- 
form, and  not  be  degraded  to  theirs,  is  not  the  man  to  be  even  a 
Moral  Reformer,  not  to  say  a  Great  Regenerator.  Men  cannot 
from  great  distances  do  good  to  their  fellow-men.  It  is  amid  the 
amenities  of  social  life  that  much  is  done  for  good  morals. 

And  then  he  quoted  from  their  sacred  books:  "I  will  have 
mercy  and  not  sacrifice,"  says  God.  "When  afilictions  come  in 
Ilis  providence  they  may  have  a  chastening  effect ;  but  lacerations 
of  oui*selve8  or  others,  of  our  bodies  or  our  souls,  are  not  acccpt- 


*  It  is  found  in  the  Talmud  ( Tul 
Babyl.,  tit.  Bara  Kama,  fol.  40,  col.  2). 
Used  by  Antisthcnes  in  Laertiu8,  Dio- 


genes in  Stoba:u8,  Pausanias  in  Plutarch, 
Ovid  in  "  De  Ponto." 


Ml,!   ■i.'i,iiiijj||;i 


«  THE   FIRST   TO  UK   OF    GALILFE.  193 

able  to  God,  who  prefers  a  life  of  love  to  all  self-tornieuting. 
Jesus  seems  to  teach  that  whatever  sacrifice  a  man  may  make  fcj* 
God,  if  there  be  no  charity,  it  all  counts  for  nothing  ;  that  charity 
must  animate  all  toils  to  make  them  beautiful  in  the  sight  of  God. 
As  if  he  had  said,  "  You  Pharisees  offer  great  sacrifices,  and  yet 
are  unmerciful  to  your  poor  brethren  who  make  no  religious  pro- 
fession.    You  are  merciless  ;  how  can  you  cxpec^t  mercy  ?  " 

From  the  proverb  and  the  scripture  he  ascends  to  an  authorita- 
tive declaration  concerning  himself :  "  I  am  come  to  call  sinners 
to  repentance,  not  the  righteous."  In  this  there  seems  some  irony, 
but  the  proposition  involves  a  profound  truth.  In  every  age, 
from  every  teacher,  t)nly  those  rccciN'e  benefit  who  are  conscious 
of  needing  help.  The  Pharisees  of  every  age  are  those  whose  ex- 
terior decei\'es  them  as  to  their  inward  condition,  and  they  are 
the  very  people  who  receive  the  least  good  from  the  beneficial 
agencies  abroad  in  the  world.  Sinners,  who  being  sinners,  know 
themselves  to  be  sinners,  are  those  to  whom  salvation  comes.  It 
is  not  the  lack  of  power  in  the  spiritual  agencies  that  keeps  men 
from  being  good,  but  generally  the  lack  of  a  sense  of  their  own 
need,  and  a  willingness  to  throw  themselves  open  to  the  sweet  in- 
fluences of  the  spiritual  world.  And  thus  he  answei-ed  the 
Pharisees. 

Tlicy  had  talked  to  his  disciples  ;  then  the  disciples  of  John 

talked  to  him,  and  said,  "We  and  the  Pharisees  fast  often  :  why 

do  not  your  disciples  fast?"     Let  us  make  all 

„  r>     1       •,      p       .1  mi     •  John's  disciplea 

allowance  or  charity  tor  these  men.     ihen-s  was     ,  •    . 

a  pitiable  condition.  Their  master  was  in  prison, 
and  they  could  not  bear  to  see  Jesus  in  the  midst  of  festivities. 
Their  school  had  wellnigh  broken  up.  Many  of  John's  disciples 
had  attached  themselves  to  Jesus.  There  were  probably  a  few  of 
the  stanchest  and  most  obstinate  followei-s  of  the  Baptist,  who 
were  ready  to  acknowledge  what  was  good  in  Jesus,  but  clung 
closely  to  the  modes  and  teachings  of  John,  and  in  their  obstinacy 
classed  themselves  with  the  Pharisees.  After  such  numberless 
demonstrations  of  the  folly  of  siich  a  course,  it  is  amazing  how 
men  persist  in  clinging  to  the  dawn,  and  in  suffering  as  it  broad- 
ens into  the  fulness  of  the  day.  Jesus  answered  them  by  almost 
echoing  the  words  of  their  great  master.  John  had  spoken  of  the 
pleasure  which  the  friend  of  the  bridegroom  enjoyed  as  he  heard 
the  voice  of  the  bridegroom.  Jesus  re])lies  to  these  querulous  dis- 
13 


194  riKST    AND    SI-X'OND    PASSOVER    IX    THE    LIFE    OF   JESL'S. 

ciplcs  of  Joliii,  "  Can  tlic  sons  of  tlie  hridechamhcr  monrr,  ns 
lon^  as  the  bfidcii^rooni  is  with  thein  ?  but  the  days  will  conie, 
when  the  bridegroom  shall  be  taken  from  them,  and  then  shall 
••hey  fast.  Xo  man  putteth  a  ])atcli  of  new  cloth  unto  an  old 
i-j  garment ;  for  tliat  wliich  is  pnt 

in  to  fill  it  np  taketli  from  tlie 
garment,  and  tlie  rent  is  made 
worre.  Neither  do  men  pour 
new  wine  into  old  skins:  else 
SKIN  iioTTLF.s.  ^]^q   skiiis  bi'eak,  and   the   wine 

rnnnetli  ont,  and  the  skins  perish  :  but  they  put  new  wine   into 
ncAV  skins,  and  both  are  preserved." 

He  thus  does  several  things  in  one  reply.     He  reminds  them  of 
the  light  in  whi(;h  their  mastei-  had  received  him,  namely,  as  ful- 
filling the   prophetnes  by  coming  to  espouse  the 

Reply  of  Jesus.       ^       ■   ^'  /t        •      ^•  k      -l/^  \     '  t-  1    .     ,        1  r       .' 

oride.     (Isai.  liv.  5-10.)     It  ought  to  be  a  icstive 

season.     The  gladdest  day  of  a  man's  life  should  be  the  day  of 

his  nuptials.      The   discijiles   were   represented   as  the   intimate 

fi'iends  of  the  bi-ide^rroom,  those  wlio  were  a(;customed  to  <ro  with 

him  to  the  bride's  liouse  to  brins:  her  to  her  home  with  iireat  re- 

joicings.      It  was  not  meet   that  they  should  fast,  for  it  was  the 

Jewish  teaching,  as  we  learn  from  Maimonides,  "  that  all  fasting 

should  cease  in  the  days  of  the  Messiah,  and  that  there  should  be 

then  only  holidays  and  festivals,  as   it   is  wi'itten  in  Zochariah 

viii.  19." 

lie  j-eminds  them  of  the  difference  between   the  old   and  the 

new.     The  old   must  i)ass  awav.     lie  Avas  come  to  inaugurate 

the  new.     In  the  old  hard  dispensation  tliere  were 
The  old  and  the     r     .    ■,  ^  i,  i.ri.rri  i.i 

last-days,  wlicii  all  must  fast,  lliere  was  to  he 
new.  -^   ' 

nothing  of  the  kind  thereafter.  It  is  amazing 
liow  this  is  overlooked  by  Church  and  by  State  in  the  absurd  ap- 
pointing of  special  days  when  all  the  community  must  fjist  or 
feast  together.  AVhat  is  one  man's  fast  may  be  another  man's 
festival.  When  a  man  has  the  sense  of  his  Maker's  love  and 
presence — his  Maker  is  his  husband,  accoi'ding  to  the  old  Hebrew 
idea — he  has  no  occasion  to  fast.  As  long  as  that  remains  he 
Bhould  keej)  ])erpetual  holiday.  It  is  only  a  sense  of  His  absence 
that  should  make  a  man  fast,  and  that  might  befall  him  on  an 
appointed  festival. 

And  so,  having  spoken  of  a  wedding,  garments  and  wine  ai-e 


THE   FIRST   TOUR   OF   GALILEE. 


195 


Illustrationa. 


naturally  suggested,  and  from  tliein  lie  derives  two  very  striking 
illustrations  of  the  proposition,  that  it  is  prepos- 
terous to  attempt  to  work  the  new  into  the  old, 
the  ne\v  Present  into  the  old  Past,  the  new  Jcsusism  into  the  old 
Judaism.  A  man  does  not  put  a  patch  of  new  cloth  on  an  old 
worn  garment,  lest  the  strong  patch  tear  away  the  weak  cloth  in 
which  it  is  inserted,  and  thus  the  rent  become  larger.  Jesusism 
is  t(^  be  a  totally  new  thing.  It  is  not  to  be  worked  into  the  cere- 
monials of  Judaism.  It  is  to  be  quite  a  new  robe,  all  new. 
There  is  no  more  need  of  the  old  Judaism.  You  may  give  it 
away  to  poor  beggarly  creatures  who  may  be  content  to  cover 
their  nakedness  with  the  faded  spangles  and  rent  skirts  of  its 
threadbare  ritualism,  but  the  new  ages  are  to  wear  a  new  dress. 
And  how  greatly  every  effort  of  the  later  times  to  make  the  work 
of  Jesus  a  mei-e  improvement  upon  Judaism,  has  made  the  whole 
matter  worse.  Jesus  swept  away  old  things ;  "  old  types,  old 
ceremonies,  old  burdens,  sacrifices,  priests,  saljbaths,  and  holy 
days  are  all  passed  away:  behold  all  things  have  become  new."  * 
It  M'as  the  style  of  Jesus  to  advance  from  sojne  thought  sug- 
gested by  an  occurrence,  or  question,  or  objection,  to  higher  and 
higher  truths,  drawing  men  up  to  spiritual  things 
b}'  the  ordinary  methods  of  human  intercommuni- 
cation. The  garment  is  external.  "Wine  in  the  skins  f  is  some- 
thing  internal.  If  these  skins  were  old,  the  new  and  fermenting 
wine  would  burst  them,  so  that  the  wine  would  be  lost  and  the 
bottle  be  rendered  worthless.  Just  such  a  result,  Jesus  taught, 
would  take  place  when  men  attempted  to  put  the  new  wine  of 
his  gospel  into  the  old  bottles  of  ceremonials  :  the  whole  would  be 
lost.  Very  early  men  tried  to  hold  the  living  spirit  of  Christian- 
ity in  the  dead  body  of  Pharisaic  Judaism,  and  the  result  was  that 
they  made  neither  good  Christians  nor  decent  Jews.  The  spirit 
which  Jesus  brought  into  the  world  was  the  spirit  of  regeneration 
rather  than  reformation  of  manners.  In  the  individual  man  tlie 
new  life  of  progress  comes  into  him,  and  works  itself  out  into  the 
production  of  all  proprieties.     He  cannot  be  made  a  new  man  by 


Hifflier  truths. 


*  Dean  Alford.  Greek  Testament^  in 
loco. 

\  Milk  and  oil,  water  and  wine,  are 
stUl  in  the  East,  as  they  were  in  the 
days  of  Jesus,  carried  in  bottles  made 


of  the  skins  of  animals,  commonly  of 
goats.  To  this  day  they  may  be  seen 
at  almost  every  turn  in  Egypt  and  Syria. 
It  is  an  ancient  arrangement,  as  appears 
from  Homer  and  Herodotus. 


196  riRST   AND   SECOND   TASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESTS. 

mending  liim  outwardly.  But  if  any  attempt  to  confine  the  cur- 
rent of  the  gospel  within  the  banks  of  certain  prescribed  forms, 
all  good  results  will  he  lost. 

Jesus  and  the  spirit  of  his  gospel  are  against  rubric  and  ritual 
and  ceremonial,  and  churchism  generally.  lie  does  not  seek  to 
make  churchmen,  but  Christians.  That  is  tani;ht  in  the  saviui; 
in  rei)ly  to  the  question  of  the  dist-iplcs  of  John.  It  is  taught 
everywhere.  But  it  is  a  lesson  professed  Christians  seem  loth 
to  learn.  They  have  repeated  in  all  times  the  folly  of  putting 
new  wine  in  old  bottles.  Examples  might  be  produced  from  all 
the  ages  and  all  the  sects.  Men  battle  heroically  for  the  liberty 
which  they  will  not  grant  othei-s. 

Tlie  history  of  the  world  is  divided  into  two  parts,  and  the  line 

is  the  life  of  Jesus.     Before  him  there  was  not  the  animatinjj 

s]>irit  of  proijress.     Humanity  M'ent  forward,  but 
Jesus,  the  divid-    .  r  ^  •  »  ,•         ,  .       .    , 

ing  line  of  history.    ^^  ^^'C"t  forward  m  a  rut.     After  lum  it  began  to 

spread  itself  in  all  directions.  But  still  men  en- 
deavored to  hand  it  down  from  generation  to  generation  in  old 
skins  that  would  bui-st  and  spill  the  wine.  Hence  the  delay  of 
Christianity  in  taking  the  world.  The  intention  of  Jesus  was  to 
establish  a  religion  which  should  have  no  binding  forms,  no  pre- 
scribed temple-service,  no  priei^thood,  nothing  of  the  old,  but  bo 
new,  and  in  spirit,  and  reside  in  the  hearts  of  men ;  and  this  we 
find  frerpiently  set  forth  in  his  teachings.  It  was  the  Hinging 
away  of  the  old  bottles  MJiich  has  made  mctdern  times  so  progres- 
sive. It  is  the  powerful  intluence  of  Jesus  which  helps  men  to 
do  broad,  great,  good  things,  even  if  it  be  ol)jected  that  they  are 
not  old  tilings. 

It  was  such  conduct  as  this,  and  such  teaching,  that  brought 
against  him  the  wrath  of  scribe  and  Pharisee,  of  priest  and  Levite. 
Old  Bottles  or    If  he  had  been  content  to  i)ut  /</.y  "new  wine" 
I^cath.  i„to  f/,^,;,.  ",,!,]  bottles,"   they  would  have  boeii 

ready  for  tlic  arrangement.  But  so  great  was  his  spirit,  and  so  far- 
seeing  his  indescribably  ch-ar  intellect,  tliat  he  never  for  a  moment 
yielded  to  dcnominationalism  and  sectarianism,  lie  knew  wliat 
the  result  would  be.  He  knew  that  lie  had  not  come  into  the 
world  merely  to  refoim  the  Jewish  Church.  He  had  come  to 
emancipate  and  regenerate  the  ages,  and  to  save  the  world.  Ho 
flung  the  glove  down  to  "  the  Church  "  then  existing,  and  the  re- 
sult was  that  he  was  finally  murdered.      Any  pure  man  who  at 


THE  FIEST  TOUB  OF   GALILEE. 


197 


tempts  to  follow  Jesus  in  tins  pai-ticular  may  expect  some  simi- 
lar fate.  Old  bottles  are  generally  considered  more  valiiablo 
than  new  wine,  by  sectarians.  "  The  Old  Bottles  or  Death !  "  is 
the  alternative  of  their  battle-cry.  Jesus  prefcn-ed  to  die  and 
trust  his  new  wine  to  the  coming  ojenerations. 


AXCIEirr   BOTTLES 


PART  IV. 

FllOM  THE  SECOND  UNTIL  TIIE  TIIIRD  PASSOVER 
IN  THE  PUBLIC  MINISTRY  OF  JESUS. 

ONB  TEAR — PROBABLY  FROM  A.D.  28  TO  A.D.  29. 


CHAPTER    I. 


THE    SABBATH    QUESTION. 

So  far  from  striving  to  allay  tlie  dislike  CTigciitlered  by  liis  dis 
regard  of  the  ceremonials  and  traditions  of  the  Jews,  Jesus  soon 
makes  an  attack  npon  Pliarisaism  in  its  stronghold,  namely,  the 
punctilious  observance  of  the  Sabbath. 

The  Passover*  drew  near,  and  Jesus  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to 

celebrate  it.   Within  the  city,  and  near  the  Sheci>-gate,  there  was  a 

Jerusalem.  Hoa»eK)f-  P'^o^  ^^^^cd  in  tlic  Syro-CluiUlee,  which  was  the 

Outpouring.    John  v.   vemacular  of  Jesus,  Baith-Hisdaw,  or  Bethcsda, 

1-47  .  .         I  . 

tliat  ]i=>,  Ilouse-r)f-Oufj)ouriiif/,t]\Q\n'ocisc  locatua) 
of  which  it  is  probably  now  impossible  to  indicate.  For  a  loug 
time  Bethesda  was  suitposed  to  be  identical  with  a  large  excava- 
ti<m  near  St.  Stephen's  Gate,  the  immense  depth  of  which,  sev 
enty-live  feet,  makes  this  most  improbable;  it  is  now  believed  to 
be  a  fosse  which  guarded  the  northern  side  of  the  fortress  of  An- 
tonia.     The  most  probable  site  is,  as  Dr.  Robinson  {Researches,  i. 


*  This  Passover  commenced  on  Wed- 
nfsday,  the  flth  of  April.  That  this 
fpHtival  is  here  meant,  is  evident  not 
only  from  the  whole  context  and  con- 
nected history,  bnt  from  a  variety  of 
otlu;r  contdderations,  which  cannot  here 


he  8pecifie<l  for  want  of  space.  Tlie 
absence  of  the  definite  article  ("  a 
foa.st,"  verse  1)  Ls  no  proof  against  this 
view,  for  where  John  refers  to  any  other 
fea.Kt,  he  expressly  mentions  its  appro- 
priate name  (John  viL  2  ;  x.  22). 


TIIE   SABBATH    QUESTION. 


199 


501,  50S)  has  shown,  tlie  "Fountain  of  tlie  Virgin,"  in  the  Yallcy 
of  Kcdion,  a  sliort  distance  above  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  Avith 
which  it  has  suhternuican  connection,  as  pcrliaps  also  with  the 
fountain  under  the  Great  Mosque.  AimuikI  this  pool  were  built 
five  porches,   which  gave  shelter  to   the   invidids  who  came   to 


POOL  OF   HEZEKIAH. 


enjoy  the  benefits  supposed  to  be  conferred  by  the  medicinal  pro- 
perties of  this  water.  It  Avas  the  popular  belief  of  the  Jews  that 
at  certain  seasons  an  angel  went  down  into  this  water  and  stirred 
it,  and  whoever  thereupon  first  stepped  into  the  pool  was  made 
whole.*     Great  number.^,  therefore,  of  chronic  cases  of  blindness, 


*  The  4th  verse  of  chapter  v.  of  John 
reads  thus:  "  For  an  angel  went  down 
at  a  certain  season  into  the  pool,  and 
troubled  the  water :  whosoever  then 
first  after  the  troubling-  of  the  water 
stepped  in,  was  made  whole  of  what- 
soever disease  he  had."  It  is  a  con- 
troverted passage,  but  the  weight  of 
authority  seems  to  mo  to  fall  against 


its  genuineness.  (But  Dr.  Howard  Cros- 
by, who  is  high  authority,  is  of  the  op- 
posite opinion  and  considers  it  genuine. ) 
It  is  easy  to  see  how  it  might  have  come 
into  the  text.  Take  it  out  and  you 
have  the  hi.story,  namely,  that  there 
was  such  a  pool,  and  that  impotent  folk 
lay  there,  and  that  Jesus  found  one  such 
and  made  him  whole.     To  account  for 


200  SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVER   IN   THE    LIFE   OF   .TESU8. 

of  paralysis,  of  otlier  diseases,  brought  themselves  to  these  porches, 
and  when  the  agitation  of  the  water  took  place  the  first  to  enter 
it  was  believed  wtnild  be  benefited. 

It  was  the  Sabbath-day.      Jesus,  in  liis  walk,  came  upon  the 

IIouse-of-Mercy.      Among  the  infirm  persons  he  saw  one  who 

ari'ested  his  attention.      He  had  been  an  invalid 

The  impotent  man.  , 

thirty-eight  yeai-s.  I  low  long  he  had  been  on  the 
watch  for  the  stirring  of  the  water  is  not  recorded.  Paralysis,  it 
would  seem,  had  stricken  down  body  and  mind.  He  was  liel])less 
and  hopeless.  Jesus  said:  "Will  you  be  healed?  "  The  man  an- 
swered :  "  Sir,  I  have  no  one,  when  thg  pool  is  troubled,  to  put  me 
in  ;  but  while  I  am  coming,  another  steps  down  before  me."  Poor 
man  !  He  had  long  and  longingly  gazed  at  the  pool,  and  when 
the  sudden  rising  came  he  strove  to  step  in ;  but  so  helpless  was 
his  body  that  he  failed  ;  another  preceded  ;  and  this  was  repeated 
until  he  had  grown  hopeless  and  languid.  Jesus  said :  "  Rise, 
take  up  your  bed,  and  walk."  It  was  a  command  of  power.  He 
was  not  a  convalescent ;  he  was  well.  He  was  not  recovering ; 
he  was  whole. 

"NYliat  was  life  to  this  man  was  death  to  the  peace  of  Jesus.  The 
cure  was  t)n  the  Sabbath-day.      The   joyful  man  went  homeward 
Cured  on  the  Sab-  caiTyiiig  liis  pallet.    Some  Jewish  elders  met  him 
both-dny.  j^j^d  rebuked  him  for  d<jing  this  on  the  Sabbath- 

day.  The  reply  of  the  man  contained  that  undesigned  appear- 
ance of  ingenuity  whicli  we  often  find  in  perfect  ingenuousness  : 
"He  that  made  me  whole,  the  same  said  to  me,  Take  vp  your  bed 

the  ajipcarance  of  all  these  people  at    Robinson  and  his  companion  discovered 


this  jiool  some  annotator  gave  ti"uth- 
fully  what  was  the  popular  opinion,  and 
in  many  copyings  it  would  easily  creep 
into  the  text,  and  thus  seem  to  be,  what 
it  might  not  have  been,  the  Opinion  of 
the  historian.  How  it  came  to  be  the 
popular  opinion  is  accounted  for  by 
some  on  the  ground  that  the  pool  did 
possess  some  qualities  which  were  bene- 
licial  to  some  invalids,  which  (pmliticH 
came  from  gases  generated  in  the  earth 
or  from  the  blood  of  the  victims  sacri- 
ficed in  the  Temple,  and  coming  by  pri- 
vate conduit  down  to  this  i)ool.  To 
this  day  there  is  an  irregularity  in  the 
flow   of    water  in   this  fountain.     Dr. 


it  one  day  when  they  were  measuring 
the  fountain.  The  water  very  suddenly 
rose  more  than  a  foot,  and  as  suddenly 
subsided.  A  woman  who  came  up  at 
the  moment,  and  who  was  accustomed 
to  wash  at  the  fountain  daily,  stiid  that 
she  had  seen  it  dry,  and  men  and  cattle 
suffering  from  thirst,  when  all  at  once 
it  would  boil  up  again,  and  that  this 
boiling  or. flowing  was  at  irregular  inter- 
vals. The  common  jieople  have  aban- 
doned the  beautiful  fancy  of  an  angel 
in  the  fountain,  an<l  now  say  that  n 
great  dragon  lies  within;  that  when  he 
sleeps  it  flows,  and  when  he  wak(»  it 
scops. 


THE   SABBATH   QUESTION.  201 

amd  walk.''''  His  argument  lay  in  the  assumption  that  whoso  could 
do  so  great  a  thing  as  by  one  sentence  to  give  entire  health  to  a 
paralyzed  man  is  one  whose  command  to  carry  burdens  on  the 
Sabbath  might  be  safely  obeyed.  But  the  leading  learned  men 
of  the  Jews  did  not  think  so.  The  health,  or  even  the  life  of  a 
human  being  was  not  to  be  set  in  the  scale  against  a  tradition  of 
the  elders.  They  knew  that  Jesus  was  doing  mighty  works.  They 
suspected  who  had  told  the  man  to  carry  his  bed.  If  Jesus — and 
who  else  could  it  be  ? — they  had  an  occasion  for  an  open  contro- 
versy with  him.  But  the  man  did  not  know  the  name  of  his 
benefactor. 

Afterward  Jesus  found  him  in  the  Temple,  and  said  to  him : 
"Behold,  you  are  made  whole  ;  sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing 
come  unto  you."    It  would  seem  that  his  excesses 

"  _  1        •      1      •!  Recognizes  Jesna. 

luid  been  the  occasion  of  his  physical  ailments, 
and  to  the  act  of  healing  Jesus  added,  what  is  often  better  than  a 
cure,  an  exhortation  to  a  more  sanitary  mode  of  life.  But  the  in- 
terview nia<le  Jesus  known  to  the  healed  man,  wlio  went  and  told 
the  elders  that  it  was  Jesus  who  had  made  him  whole.  It  was 
not  as  informer  that  the  man  could  have  communicated  this. 
The  Sabbath  question  was  not  so  important  to  him  as  his  own  re- 
covery. It  was  not  who  had  commanded  him  to  carry  his  little 
pallet  home  on  the  Sabbath,  but  who  had  healed  him.  He  looked 
on  that  side,  the  elders  on  the  other.  It  aroused  the  whole  hate 
of  their  nature,  and  they  opened  with  Jesus  a  controversy  that 
was  to  terminate  with  his  death. 

In  our  day  it  seems  strange  that  such  connection  should  exist; 
that  a  most  good  man  should  be  slaughtered  because  he  would  not 
conform  to  what  even  we  might  consider  a  wholesome  regulation. 
But  it  did  occur  in  the  case  of  Jesus,  and  has  occurred  in  times 
much  nearer  our  own.  At  this  point  in  the  progress  of  Jesus 
we  reach  the  Sabbath  question. 

The  references  to  this  subject  in  the  Old  Testament  may  be 
supposed  to  be  familiar  to  the  readers  of  this  book,  but  must  be 
glanced  at.  The  first  is  in  the  history  of  the  ere-  The  sabbath  before 
ation,  in  Genesis  i.  and  ii.  The  next  is  in  the  ^°"*- 
Patriarchal  period,  and  in  several  places,  some  more  patent  and 
some  more  obscure.  For  instance,  in  Genesis  iv.  3  is  the  phrase 
"//I  j[)rocess  of  time  .  .  Cain  brought  of  the  fruit  of  the 
ground  an  offering  unto  the  Lord."     In  the  Hebrew  it  is  ^^At  the 


203 


SECOND    AND    THIRD    PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESCS. 


end  of  dai/s.''''  Again:  in  chapter  vii.  4,  10,  "seven  days"  are 
mentioned,  as  also  in  cluiptcr  viii.  10  and  \'l :  these  in  reference  to 
the  dehige.  In  cliapter  xxix.  25-30,  the  "week''  is  mentioned  as 
a  well-known  division  of  time,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  that  other 
Sabbatic  period  of  seven  veal's  is  mentioned  in  the  same  jnissage. 
In  chapter  1.  it  is  said  that  "  Joseph  made  a  mourning  for  his  father 
seven  days." 

These  are  before  the  days  of  Moses.     In  Exodus  xvi.  we  have 
the  account  of  the  sending  of  manna,  and  the  ordinance  that  twice 
The  siibbath  in  the    tlic  usuul  aTuouut  sliould  bc  gathered  on  the  sixth 
Decalogue.  (]{^y_    Whether  tlus  wliolo  passagc  indicates  a  pre- 

vious Sabbath  observance  or  aimounces  it  as  a  new  institution,  each 
reader  must  determine  for  himself,  as  the  position  of  the  article  in 
the  Hebrew  and  the  general  passage  may  imi)ress  him.*  The 
next  passage  is  the  most  important  in  the  history  of  the  Sabl)ath. 
In  Exodus  XX.  it  is  embodied  in  the  Decalogue,  with  speciiications. 
To  the  Jew  the  Decalogue  was  not  merely  a  religious  symbol,  it 
was  also  a  national  ensign.  To  violate  the  Decalogue  was  to  be 
guilty  at  once  of  sin  and  of  treason,  and  they  came  afterwaid  to 
make  the  Sabbath  the  chief  of  these  ten  items  of  national  cove- 
nant, so  that,  as  one  of  their  writers  said,  "  He  that  violates  the 
Sabbath  is  .'is  he  that  worships  the  stars,  and  both  are  heathens." 

Whoever  fairly  reads  the  Old  Testament  at  large,  whether  he 
believes  the  Hebrew  institutions  to  have  been  given  by  Almighty 
(jod  or  to  be  the  product  of  the  wisdom  of  man, 
miist  know  that  the  Jews  believed  them  to  be  of 
divine  origin,  and  must  feel  that  under  all  the  circumstances  of 
Hebrew  nationality  they  were  wise  and  beneficent  regulations. 
The  law  of  the  Sabbath  is  obviously  such.  It  is  to  be  remarked 
tliat  a  Sabbatic  idea  runs  throu;;h  all  the  Hebrew  Institutes. 
There  was  to  be  a  seventh  day  conseci-ated  to  rest,  to  enjoyment, 
and  U)  leligion.  There  was  a  seventh  month  set  aside  to  festivals, 
(tpening  with  the  Eejist  of  Trumpets,  and  containing  that  most 
joyful  of  Hebrew  holidays,  the  Eeast  of  Tabernacles.  There 
was  the  seventh  year,  in  which  the  laud  was  to  rest  from  the  hand 
of  the  tiller.  At  each  close  of  seven  times  seven  yeai*s,  each  tcuJc 
of  yearft^  came  in  the  year  of  Jubilee,  when  debts  were  cancelled 


Of  divine  origin. 


*The  learned  Grotiua  believed  that 
the  diy  had  been  nlrondy  known  mid 
obHcrved  as  holy,  but  thut  the  law  as  to 


labor  was  now  given  for  the  first  time, 
and  Hhortly  after  more  impliiMtly  im 
l>o»cd  iu  the  Fourth  Coniraoiidmcut. 


THK    SAIJIJATII    QUESTION.  203 

and  ■vvIiGU  slaves  wont  free.  The  ori<i;inal  intent,  as  indeed  the 
()ri<^inal  ol)servance  of  the  Sabhatli,  was  not  oppressive  or  afflictive 
but  I'ather  festive.  At  only  one  point  of  the  Sabbatic  cycle  is  any 
mention  of  hnniiliation.  The  i)eople  were  to  "  afflict  their  souls 
on  the  Day  of  Atonement."  (Levit.  xxiii.  27-29.)  Every  Sab- 
bath excc})t  that  was  to  be  for  recreation,  by  rest,  by  enjoyment, 
or  by  glad  and  happy  devotion  to  the  offlces  of  relii^ion. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  the  physical,  social,  and  moral  welfare 
of  all  the  people  was  songht  by  these  wise  regulations.  The 
lesson  so  important  to  know  and  so  hard  to  learn.  Lessons  of  the  sai>- 
that  man  has  no  proprietorship  in  anything  earthly;  *^^'^'^- 
that  he  is  holding  it  for  God,  and  ol)tains  its  best  uses  oidy  as  he 
uses  it  f(^r  God:  this  is  the  great  lesson  of  the  Sabbath.  Time 
belongs  to  God,  which  man  ^vas  to  acknowledge  by  the  tribute  of 
the  seventh  day.  Land  belongs  to  God,  which  is  recognized  i'l 
the  Sal)batic  year.  All  things  npon  which  a  man  may  lay  any 
"claim  of  ownership,  as  uj3on  the  moneys  due  him  from  his  credit- 
ors, as  in  the  case  of  his  servants,  bought  or  inherited,  belong  at 
last  to  God,  and  to  him  must  be  remitted,  as  the  Jubilee  sots  forth. 
Socially  men  Avere  to  be  profited  by  the  Sabbath,  It  was  to  be  a 
festive  day.  The  rich  gave  feasts.  The  poor  saved  their  best  for 
the  seventh  day  enjoyment;  men  walked  abroad  and  visited,  as 
M'ell  as  met  amid,  joyful  celebrations  of  God's  ])raiso  in  taber- 
nacle, Temple,  or  synagogue.  Labor  was  suspended.  The  body 
must  rest;  it  rested  on  the  Sabbath.  No  journeys,  no  business, 
no  servile  labor  could  be  performed.  It  was  a  democratic  insti- 
tution. Master  and  servant  equally  susj^ended  toil  and  took  re- 
fi'cshment. 

In  other  parts  of  the  law  there  were  given  constructions  of  the 
prohibition  of  labor  in  the  Decaloo;ne.  It  was  forbidden  to  liirht 
a  fire.     (Exodus  xxxv.  3.)     For  gathering  sticks 

1         o    1  1        1  1  /-v-r  rrohibitions. 

on  the  babbatn  a  man  was  stoned.  (JN  um.  xv. 
32.)  Isaiah  uttered  solemn  warnings  against  the  violation  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  promises  of  blessings  to  those  who  should  scru])u- 
lously  observe  it.  (Isa.  Iviii.  13.)  Jeremiah  denounced  the  gen 
eral  violation  of  the  Sabbath  in  his  day,  when  men  wrought  as 
much  and  carried  burdens  in  their  traffic  as  much  as  on  other 
days.  (Jerem.  xvii.  21-27.)  And  in  the  days  of  Ezekiel  there 
was  such  a  general  falling  off  that  the  secularization  of  the  Sab- 
bath is  ranked  foremost  among  the  national  sins  of  the  Jews 


204 


SECOND    AND   THIKD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUB. 


(Ezekiel  xx.  12-24.)  Nehemiah  (xiii.  15-22,  and  viii.  9-12)  at- 
tnl)uted  their  severe  initioiiiil  calamity  to  the  specially  heinoua 
oiYenceof  neirlectinrr  the  Sahharli ;  and  he  crives  an  account  of  his 
measures  for  restoring  the  day  to  its  proper  obsen'ance,  among 
which  was  the  representation  to  the  ])e(jple  that  the  Sabhath  was 
a  festival.  "  This  day  is  holy  unto  the  Lord  your  God :  mourn 
not,  nor  weep.  Go  your  way,  eat  the  fat,  and  drink  the  sweet, 
and  send  portions  unto  tl»ein  for  whom  nothing  is  pre})ared  ;  for 
this  day  is  wholly  unto  our  Lord :  neither  be  ye  sorry  ;  for  the  joy 
of  the  Lord  is  your  strength."  "  "With  many  such  words  he  cheered 
the  people,  and  they  went  their  way  to  eat  and  to  drink,  and  to 
send  portions,  and  to  make  a  great  mirth,  because  they  had  under- 
stood the  words  that  were  declared  unto  them."*  It  will  be  seen 
that  this  method  of  observing  the  Sabbath  is  very  different  from 
that  prescribed  by  subsequent  Jewish  and  modern  Puritans,  who 
have  made  the  Sabbath  a  burden,  a  darkness,  and  a  cui-se,  whereas 
God  meant  it  for  a  blessing,  and  considers  "holy  day"  the  equiv- 
alent of  holiday. 

The  Pharisees  and  the  rabbins,  following  up  the  Avork  of  Ne- 
hemiah, committed  the  error  of  carrying  tlieir  exactions  too  far, 
and  thus  absolutely  abrogating  the  spirit  by  their 
super-exact  adherence  to  the  letter  of  the  law. 
Because  Moses  had  forbidden  the  Israelites  to  go  out  of  the  camp 
to  gather  manna  against  God's  command,  a  sect  was  established 
whose  prime  ai-ticle  of  faith  and  practice  was  the  maintaining 
throughout  the  day  the  posture  in  which  they  should  happen  to 
be  when  they  first  awoke;  a  terrible  way  of  resting.  This  of 
course  exceeded  even  the  usual  rigor  of  Sal)bath  observance. 
Because  Jeremiah  had  denounced  the  bearing  of  the  burdens  of 
traflic,  men  were  forbidtU-n  to  lift  any  article.  It  was  against 
the  law  to  hunt  on  the  Sabbath,  therefore  the  Pharisaic  and  rab- 


Pbarisaic  exactions. 


*  As  showing  that  the  Sabbath  waa 
not  t<i  ho  a  (hiy  of  gloom  and  weeping, 
compare  with  tlie  al)ove  what  is  written 
in  2  Chron.  xxx.  21-2(J,  Ph.  xcii.,  and 
many  other  panHagr-s  in  the  I'sahns  ;  Isa- 
iah xxx.  29,  Jeremiali  xxi.  12—14,  Ilosea 
ii.  11.  This  coutrostfl  greatly  with  cer- 
tain Puritan  regulations,  such  as  these : 
"21  No  one  shall  run  on  the  Sabbath- 
day,  or  walk  in  his  garden,  or  elsewhere, 


except  reverently  to  and  from  meeting. 
22.  No  one  shall  travel,  cook  victuals, 
make  beds,  sweep  house,  cut  hair  or 
shave,  on  the  Sabbath-day.  2:}.  No 
iromnn  shall  Icimi  her  rhild  on  th/i  Siibbnth. 
24.  The  Sabbath  shall  begin  at  sun.set  on 
Saturday."  See  JiUte  lAi<rit  of  Neie 
Hucrn  Colony,  etc.,  compiled  by  an  An- 
tiquary, R.  R.  Ilinman,  Esq.  (Hartford, 
18^8). 


TTIE   SABBATH   QUESTION.  205 

binical  schools  forbade  the  catching  of  a  fioa  as  a  species  of  hunt- 
ing. The  law  prohibited  the  gathering  of  sticks,  for  the  reason 
tliat  that  led  to  cooking,  and  while  the  Sahhath  was  to  be  a  festival 
it  was  also  to  be  a  rest,  so  that  the  feast  must  be  made  ready  on 
thesixtli  day:  but  these  priests  lield  that  it  was  a  violation  of  the 
law  to  mount  a  tree,  because  a  branch  or  twig  might  thus  be 
broken.  Grass  might  not  be  walked  upon,  as  it  might  be  bruised, 
and  that  is  a  sort  of  threshing ! 

An  examination  of  the  records  concerning  Jesus  will  show,  1 
think,  that  he  never  broke  the  Jewish  law  of  the  Sabbath,  nor 
did  his  disciples ;  they  were  never  charged  with  jesus  never  broke 
that.  But  he  did  set  at  naught  the  exactic^ns  of  *^^  ^"^^"'^  "'^• 
the  traditions  of  the  elders.  lie  would  not  be  bound  by  the  regu- 
lations of  those  who  had  no  authority  to  overload  the  word  of 
God  with  their  own  fanciful  interpretations;  but  he  did  employ 
the  Sabbath  for  all  its  sweet  restoring  uses,  and  did  affirm  the 
great  })rinciples  on  which  the  Sabbatic  institutions  rested. 

Thus,  he  walked  out  on  the  Sabbath-day.  Laborious  travel 
was  forbidden,  but  not  recreative  exercise.  lie  visited  the 
"House  of  Mercy,"  and  finding  an  abject  suffer-  But  disregarded  Pha- 
er  there  he  healed  him.  lie  commanded  him  to  "^'^ k'^'^'-'s. 
take  up  his  little  pallet,  such  as  beggars  carried  with  them  to  rest 
upon,  and  go  to  his  home.  This  was  no  toil  that  could  weary 
him.  He  \vas  in  fresh  strength.  It  would  have  been  preposter- 
ous to  lie  tliei-e,  just  where  Jesus  found  him,  and  continue  all  the 
remainder  o£  the  Sabbath-day  in  the  posture  which  he  held  when 
healed.  This  would  have  been  according  to  the  teachin<i:  of  the 
sect  of  Dositheus,  but  it  would  have  been  most  unnatural.  Jesus 
sent  him  home  with  his  bed  in  his  hands. 

The  Jews  raged  and  sought  to  kill  Jesus,  not  the  healed  man.  It 
was  not,  then,  the  burden-bearing,  but  the  healing,  that  exasperated 
them.  He  addressed  the  spiritual  leaders  of  the  Jews  in  defence 
of  himself.  He  docs  not  ap})ear  to  lia\e  been  called  before  the  San- 
hedrim, or  even  any  lower  court;  but  the  persons  to  whom  the  words 
were  addressed  had  ofiicial  position,  and  the  words  may  therefore 
be  considered  as  spoken  in  defence.  The  address  drawn  out  by 
this  Sabbath  incident  is  given  at  large  by  John  in  his  fifth  chap 
ter,  and  is  worthy  our  careful  study. 

In  reply  to  the  charge  of  working  on  the  Sabbath,  Jesus  said 
to  them.  "  ]\Iy  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work."   He  corrects 


20C         SECOND    AND   THIRD   TASSOVER    IN   THE    lAVE   OF   JESUS. 

their  false  ideas  of  God's  rest,  as  if  it  Avcre  a  barren  eessatioE 
Hu  reply  to  accu«i-  froiii  all  activity.    All  the  Sabbaths  from  the  crea- 
''"'^  tioii  had  been  marked  by  the  holy  activity  of  the 

Creator,  waiiniug  and  shriiiii^  in  the  sun,  brightening  in  fiowei-s, 
glowing  and  Howing  in  fountains  and  streams.  As  the  Son  ol 
the  Father,  being  in  special  relationshii)  to  him,  Jesus  claimed 
that  just  so  he  woiked,  and  that  his  woi-ks  were  no  more  viola- 
tions of  the  Sabbath  than  were  the  works  of  the  Father.  Thi? 
intensified  their  exaspci-ation.  lie  had  broken  the  Sabbath  law; 
he  had  involved  Jeho\ah  in  the  crime;  and  he  had  claimed 
equality  with  Jehovah.  Tliis  last  was  the  most  specially  aggra- 
vated oflence.  The  wonls  themselves,  standing  alone,  hardly 
seem  to  justify  this  inter) )retation.  The  Jewish  rulers  must  have 
heard  something  else  from  him  before  this,  which  gave  this  par- 
ticular conii>le\ion  to  this  short  statenient.  ]>ut  their  belief  that 
he  did  mean  this,  he  himself  proceeded  to  justify  by  the  remark- 
able discourse  which  John  has  preserved,  and  which  we  give 
entire : 

"Verily,  I  say  to  you,  Tlic  Son  can  do  notliini^  from  hinisi-lf.  Imt  what  ho 
seeth  the  Fatlitr  doin;;:  for  wliat  tilings  Ik-  doitli,  these  also  tloeth  the  Son 
likewise.  For  the  Father  loveth  the  Son,  and  showeth  him  all  things  that  lie 
Himself  doeth:  and  lie  will  show  him  greater  works  than  these,  that  ye  may 
marvel.  For  as  the  Father  raiseth  the  dead,  and  giveth  life,  even  so  the  Son 
giveth  life  to  whom  /(/;  will.  For  the  Fatlicr  jiidgcth  no  one,  hut  hath  com- 
mitted all  judgment  to  tlie  Son:  that  all  should  know  the  Son,  even  as  they 
know  the  Father.  He  that  honoreth  not  the  Son  honoreth  not  the  Father  who 
hath  sent  him.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  to  you,  lie  that  heareth  my  word,  and 
believetli  on  Ilini  that  sent  me,  hath  i)eri)etual  life,  and  doth  not  come  into 
condenmation  for  judgment),  hut  hath  passed  from  death  unto  life.  Verily, 
verily,  1  say  to  you,  An  liour  is  coming,  and  now  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear 
the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God:  and  they  who  hear  shall  live.  For  as  tip- 
Father  hath  life  in  Himself,  so  also  hath  he  given  to  the  Son  to  have  life  in 
himself;  and  hath  given  liim  authority  to  execute  judgment  also,  because  he 
is  the  Son  of  man.  Marvel  not  at  this,  for  an  hour  is  coming  in  which  all 
that  are  in  the  graves  .«hall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come  forth;  they  wlm 
liave  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life;  and  tliey  that  have  done  evil, 
unto  the  resurre(;tion  of  judgment. 

"I  can  of  nunc  own  self  do  notliing:  as  I  hear  I  judge;  and  my  judgm.  nt 
is  ju.st ;  because  I  seek  not  mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  ITnu  who  sent  ni.\ 
If  I  Ijcar  witness  of  myself,  my  witness  is  not  true.  There  is  another  tli.it 
bcareth  witness  of  mc;  and  ye  know  tliat  the  testimony  which  he  tesfilietli  o( 
me  is  true.  Ye  sent  unto  Jolm,  and  he  bare  witness  unto  the  truth.  Hut  I 
receive  not  testimony  from  man:   but  tliesc  things  I  say  that  ye  may  In-  .sivcd 


TIIE    SABBATH    QUESTION. 


207 


He  was  the  burning  and  shining  lamp :  ye  were  wiling  for  a  season  to  rejoice 
in  his  light. 

"But  I  have  a  greater  witness  than  that  of  John  :  for  the  works  which  tlie 
Father  hath  given  me  to  finish,  the  same  works  that  I  do,  l^ear  witness  of  me, 
that  the  Father  hath  sent  me.  And  the  Father  Himself,  wliich  hath  scut  me, 
hath  borne  witness  of  me.  Ye  have  ncitlici"  heard  His  voice  at  anj^  time,  nor 
seen  his  shape.  And  ye  have  not  His  word  ahidiiig  in  you:  for  whom  He 
hath  sent,  him  ye  l)elieve  not. 

"  Ye  search  the  Scrijitures ;  for  in  thorn  ye  think  to  have  eternal  life:  and 
they  are  they  which  testify  of  me.  And  ye  will  not  come  to  me  tliat  ye  ma} 
ha';e  life.  I  receive  not  glory  from  men.  But  I  know  you,  that  ye  have  not 
the  glory  of  God  among  j'^ourselves.  I  have  come  in  my  Fatlier's  name,  and 
ye  receive  me  not :  if  another  shall  come  in  his  o"uti  name,  him  ye  will  receive. 
How  can  ye  believe,  receiving  glory  one  of  another,  and  seek  uot  tlie  glory 
that  Cometh  from  the  only  God  ?  Do  not  think  tliat  I  will  accuse  you  to  tlie 
Father:  there  is  one  that  accuseth  you,  even  Moses,  in  whom  ye  have  hoped. 
For  had  ye  believed  ]\Ioses  ye  would  have  believed  me :  for  he  wrote  concern- 
ing me.     But  if  ye  believe  not  his  writings,  how  shall  ye  believe  my  words  ? " 

It  would  seem  that  lio  one  can  rCad  this  speech  without  being 
impressed  with  tlie  thorougli  sincerity  of  the  speaker.  lie  be- 
lieved all  he  said.*  lie  made  assertions  of  himself,  wliich,  if 
true,  are  not  only  profound,  and  tou(;hing  all  the  awful  mysteries 
of  life  and  eternity,  but  separate  him  from  all  other  known 
human  beings. 

lie  first  assumes  the  fatlierhood  of  the  Deity.  God  is  father. 
It  is  of  His  essence.  He  does  not  become  a  father  by  creating, 
but  creates  because  lie  is  a  fatlier.     The  human      ^^v,    ^  ,x,  ^,   ^    , 

The    Fatnernooa    oi 

relationship  between  the  begetter  and  the  begotten  coa  and  the  sonhood 
furnishes  ics  witli  the  idea,  but  it  lias  always  sub- 
sisted in  God.  Unbeginuing  fatherhood  implies  unbeginuiug 
sonhood.  In  point  of  fact,  i.?  there  such  a  son?  Jesus  not  only 
declares  that  there  now  is,  and  consequently  always  has  eternally 
been,  but  that  he  himself  is  that  very  son,  not  a  son,  as  any  other 
man  may  claim  to  be,  but  t/ie  Son  of  God.  If  the  unbegun  son, 
the  always-existent  son,  then  he  does  make  himself  equal  with  the 


*  It  must  be  remarked  here,  as  else- 
where in  the  speeches  of  Jesus,  that  our 
comments  are  not  made  in  order  to  form 
a  system  of  theologj'.  This  is  iutcndod 
to  be  purely  a  history — a  history  of  the 
deeds  and  speeches  and  consciousness  of 
Jesua     We  are  concerned  merely  to  dis- 


cover what  he  meant  to  say,  and,  havuig 
found  that  meaning,  not  to  defend  or  to 
condemn,  but  to  show  the  effect  of  the 
holding  and  the  propagating  of  such 
thoughts  upon  the  life  of  the  man  Je- 
sus, and  perhaps  upon  the  subsequent 
history  of  the  world. 


208         SECOXD   AND   TITTRT>   TAPPOVER   TN   TTIE    I.TFR   OF   JESUS. 

Father,  as  there  cannot  be  two  Gods.  The  long-inculcated  mono- 
theism of  the  Hebrews  made  it  impossible  for  them  to  conceive 
two  persons  in  one  God,  and  it  is  probably  a  meta[)hysical  im- 
practicability for  any  mind  in  which  the  idea  of  God  is  that  of 
an  infinite  or  even  of  a  supreme  Existence,  to  conceive  two  God>. 
If,  then,  Jesus  claims  to  be  the  Onlv  Bcijotten,  being:  one  witli 
the  Father,  the  Father  and  the  Son  not  having  had  precedent  and 
subsequent  existence,  then  he  stands  before  all  the  laws  of  human 
thought  the  equal  of  God,  the  very  God.  Right  or  wrong,  such 
eternity  of  sonship  and  such  divine  equality  Jesus  believed  lie 
held,  and  he  acted  and  spoke  always  as  we  should  a  prioj'i 
expect  a  person  with  such  a  belief  to  sjieak  and  act. 

lie  confirms  the  impression  u])on  tlie  minds  of  his  enemies  by 
statements  made  with  the  formula  he  always  employed  when  he 
designed  to  make  his  asseverations  spccnally  solemn,  "  Verily, 
verily  ;"  "Amen,  amen."  If  they  regarded  him,  the  man  Jesus, 
visil)le  to  them,  as  the  sole  and  egoistic  |)erformer  of  such  mira- 
cles as  that  wliicli  had  been  wrouirht  at  the  House  of  Mercv,  thev 
were  mistaken.  He  does  them  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  does  wliat 
the  Fatlier  shows  him.  He  asserts  that  the  sul)si.stcnce  of  the 
existence  of  Father  and  Son  is  love.  They  are  one  in  their  love. 
Xothing  is  done  by  the  Father  which  is  not  known  to  the  Son. 
These  things  they  had  seen  are  but  a  small  ]>art  of  a  stupendous 
"whole.  God  is  j)erpetually  vivifying  and  revivifying,  wherefore 
the  Son  must  also  be  constantly  discharging  the  quickening  f  unc 
tion  of  the  life-])ow('rtliat  is  in  him  as  the  Son  of  God.  Not  only 
does  all  life  proceed  from  liiin,  but  he  is  the  judge  of  the  living 
and  the  dead  ;  so  that  no  liouoi-  is  to  go  to  God  which  does  not 
come,  to  Jesus  as  the  Son. 

He  asserts,  fui-thermore,  that  those  who  hear  his  teachings,  and 

thus  believe  in  God  by  believing  in  him,  have  already  everlast- 

ini;  life, — do  not  wait  for  death  to  introduce  them 

PtTpctanl  life.  i  •  •      i        i   i  •      •,  n-ii 

tncremto,  indeed  hare  no  judgment  to  pass,  llie 
hearinjj  of  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God  irivcs  passaije  into  a  life 
that  is  perpetual,  and  that  is  wholly  unafTected  by  the  mere  inci- 
dent of  physical  dissolution.  But  as  touching  the  judgment  of 
men,  he  asserts  tliat  that  is  j)laced  in  his  hands,  because  he  is  the 
Son  of  ^lan.  !Man  judges  man.  He  that  has  had  the  trials, 
weaknesses,  human  emergencies,  fearful  despondencies,  a]i]>etites 
and  passions  of  a  man,  and  tliereforc  hath  all  human  sympathy,  is 


THE    SAnBATII    QUlCS'l'IOX.  209 

to  pass  judgment  on  the  character  and  acts  of  men.     He  is  God's 
eqnal  in  divine  purity  and  man's  equal  in  humaneness. 

The  proof  of  the  truth  of  what  he  says  lie  rests  upon  several 
grounds.  In  the  first  place,  he  was  not  bearino;  egotistical  testi- 
mony  to   himself.      All   that  he  said   and   did 

''  /~t  y        -r^         ^         -  Jcsiis  no  egotist. 

brought  glory  to  the  great  God,  the  Lvcrlastiiig 
Father,  and  in  this  he  was  to  be  distinguished  from  the  pseudo- 
Messiahs.  In  the  next  place,  they  had  sent  to  John,  who  was  a 
resplendent  light,  and  had  from  him  received  testimony  to  the 
Messiahship  of  Jesus,  M-ho,  nevertheless,  makes  little  of  all  human 
testimony  to  himself,  even  of  John's  ;  and  says  that  he  was  willing 
for  them  to  hear  John,  that  they  might  have  all  helps  to  their 
faith  they  could  find,  because  he  desired  that  they  might  be  saved. 
But  the  really  reliable  external  proof  is  the  works  he  did,  and 
the  really  reliable  internal  proof  each  man  should  have  would  be 
the  voice  of  God,  bearing  witness  in  his  soul  that  this  Jesus  had 
come  out  from  God.     But  the  Jews  had  silenced  that  voice. 

Without  this  subjective  evidence  men  will  not  believe  on  him, 
no  matter  what  quality  and  quantity  of  evidence  may  be  adduced. 
For  instance,  thev  had  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 

"  Til  Subjective  c\'idence. 

Testament  in  their  midst,  and  studied  them. 
They  believed  that  the  way  to  life  lay  mapped  out  therein.  But 
those  Scriptures,  Jesus  held,  pointed  clearly  to  him.  He  fulfilled 
them.  And  yet  he  does  not  glorify  himself  therefor,  but  he  docs 
glorify  the  Father.  And  yet  they  will  not  believe  him.  Let 
another  come  *  glorifying  himself,  and  although  he  fulfil  no 
scripture,  he  will  be  received  by  these  hard-minded  men  who 
desire  to  kill  Jesus — not  so  much  for  blas})heiny,  nor  for  the  vio- 
lation of  the  real  Sabbath  law,  as  for  disregarding  a  legcd  Sab- 
bath, 

It  is  a  deformity  of  the  will.  They  had  put  a  gloss  on  the 
Scripture.  They  had  narrowed  it  to  their  national  hopes.  They 
looked  for  national  deliverance  and  splendor,  and  for  a  Messiah 
wiu)  should  bring  grandeur  to  Judaism,  and  thus  glory  to  God  ; 
and  they  could  not  undei-stand  how  God  could  be  glorified  and 
the  Jewish  nation  not  aojorrandized.  The  verv  ground  on  M'hich 
they  reject  him  is  the  very  ground  of  his  proof  that  he  had  conic 
out  from  God, 

*  This  assertion  was  verified  by  the  I  who  were  manifest  impostors.     Coin- 
crowds  that  subsequently  followed  those  |  pare  Acts  v.  3C,  37, 
14 


210         SECOND   AND   TTTTKD   TAi^SOVER   IN   THE    EFFE   OF   .TESU8. 

And  now  he  retorts  upon  tliem.     They  accuse  him  of  violat- 
ing 07ie  law  of  Moses.     lie  accuses  them  of  rejecting  the  writings 
of  Moses  bodily.     He  asserts  that  ^Moses  wrote 

Jesus  retortii.  .   —  «.,  ...  .  .  11*1 

of  Jesus,  i hey  did  nt)t  understand  and  did  not 
believe  Moses.  So  Jesus  may  hardly  expect  them  to  believe  him. 
If  they  extinguish  their  light  tliey  cannot  see.  If  they  truly 
believed  in  Moses  it  woiild  be  impossible  to  avoid  believing  in 
Jesus,  if,  as  he  asserts,  the  writings  of  Moses  are  full  of  Jesus. 
So,  then,  the  greatest  human  authority  to  the  Jews, — that  under 
which  their  Icadei-s  are  arraigning  and  endeavoring  to  try  and 
convict  Jesus  that  they  may  destroy  him, — that  very  authority  is 
a<minst  them.  Moses,  not  Jesus,  will  rise  up  in  the  judgment  and 
condemn  them,  for  ''if  they  believed  not  the  writings  of  Moses, 
how  should  they  believe  the  words  of  Jesus?" 

^V^lethertlley  were  a  "  I'oard  of  Jewish  Magistracy,"  or  merely 
leading  Jewish  magistrates  contriving  a  conspiracy  to  crush  him, 
disarmed  by  this  ])Owerful  and  im]>ressive  discourse,  his  persecu- 
toi-8  were  compelled  to  let  him  go.  They  could  not  gainsay  the 
words  he  had  uttered. 

Ihit  the  battle  had  been  begun.     The  assault  was  on  the  strong- 
hold of  Phaiisaism,  namely,  such  rigorous  observance  of  the  Sab 
bath  as  should  nuike  it  a  burden  to  the  people 

The  battle  bognn.  ,  .       .  .       p    .       ^  •      ^i       1  i         r   xi 

and  an  instrument  of  torture  m  the  liaiuls  or  tlie 
priesthood.  Jesus  had  attacked  that,  and  they  determined  to 
destroy  him.  He  never  sought  and  never  declined  a  conflict  for 
princi})le,  but  went  steadily  on  his  way,  avoiding  giving  any 
"•round  of  justification  to  the  charge  that  he  recklessly  rushed 
against  even  men's  foolish  and  hurtful  j)rejudices,  but  never 
avoiding  doing  what  was  right:  because  the  popular  prejudice 
was  ajrainst  it. 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE    SABBATH   QUESTION   AGAIN. 


IIe  departed  for  Galileo.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  Sabbatli 
after  tliat  on  which  he  had  healed  the  man  at  the  Bethesda  Pool, 
when,  passin<r  thvouirh  a   field  of   ri])e  barlev  *      „ 

.,?...■  1  -  '  Matt.  xii.  ;  Mark  ii. ; 

accompamed  by  his  disciples,  they  bea:an  to  pluck  Lukevi.  TheSabbath 
the  ears  of  ^n-ain  and  eat  them  to  satisfy  their  '''^'''"' 
hunger.  The  Sanhedrim  at  Jerusalem  had  entered  upon  a  rigor- 
ous persecution  of  Jesus.  He  was  to  have  no  more  peace.  De- 
tectives dogged  his  footsteps  everywhere.  Some  of  them  lurked 
about  this  field,  and  when  they  saw  the  disciples  eating  thev  came 
upon  Jesus  with  the  allegation  that  he  and  his  comjjany  were 
violating  the  Sabbath.  They  could  not  accuse  them  of  stealing, 
for  the  law,  as  stated  in  Deuteronomy  (xxiii.  25),  allowed  a  hun- 
gry man  when  passing  through  his  neighbor's  field  to  pluck  what 
grain  would  appease  his  craving,  while  it  forbade  putting  the 
sickle  in.  They  did  not  care  to  make  issue  on  such  a  charire : 
the  Traditional  Sabbath  was  the  chosen  ground  of  conflict.  Ac- 
cording to  its  enactments  a  man  might  be  stoned  for  plucking 
grain  if  he  did  it  to  desecrate  the  Sabbath,  and  not  to  remove 
hunger,  as  such  plucking  was  a  species  of  threshing. 

Jesus  defended  his  disciples.  They  had  done  no  wrong.  lie 
retorts  u])on  their  accusers,  charging  them  Avitli  ignorance  or  wil- 
ful neglect  of  the  Scriptures.     He  referred  them 

,^,1,  ^    ^       r       •    .        T\       •  1         1  ,         ,.,  The  example  of  David. 

to  that  model  of  piety,  David,  Avhat  he  did  in  an 
emergency,  how  he  took  the  shewbread,  which  stood  in  the  Tem- 
ple as  the  sign  of  Jehovah's  communion  with  the  priests,  which 
bread  was  given  him  by  a  distinguished  priest  and  was  shared  by 
David  with  his  followers.  Here  was  not  a  question  of  tradition, 
but  a  distinct  violation  of  a  divinely  ordered  ceremonial,  between 


*  We  say  barley,  as  wheat  does  not 
ripen   in  Galilee    until  a  month    later. 


this  passage  having  occurred  probablj 
in  April. 


212  SECOND    AXD    THIRD    PASSOVER    IN    THE    LIFE    OF    JESUS. 

whose  ()l)ser\ance  and  the  ])roservation  of  hfo  siieh  men  as 
Abiathar  the  priest,  and  David,  God's  elect,  did  not  long  hesi- 
tate.* 

But  his  enemies  might  have  replied,  and  probably  did  reply, 
tliat  that  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  case;  that  Sabbath  profana- 
tion was  the  culmination  of  offences,  the  Sabbath 

Example  of  the  priests. 

law  being  the  greatest  of  the  commandments,  llid 
reply  to  that  is,  that  in  the  Temple  the  priests  in  carrying  forward 
the  ceremonials  of  worship  do  continually  violate  what  all  agreed 
was  the  distinct  law  «)f  the  Sabbath,  as  to  outward  observance,  as, 
instead  of  resting,  they  were  to  do  Temple-work,  In  preparing  and 
presenting  sacriiices.  (X um.  xxviii.  9.)  l>ut  they  were  blameless. 
It  was  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  ])ublic  worship.  The 
Temple  was  greater  than  the  Sabbath.  lie  then  made  the  re- 
markable assertion  :  "  A  {/reciter  t/timj  than  the  Temple  is  here^ 
It  would  seem  to  be  a  reference  to  himself,  and  the  meaning  to  bo 
that  these  discii)les  weie  in  the  discharge  of  religious  duties  in 
following  him,  and  in  a  much  higher  sphere  than  the  priests  in 
the  Temple,  so  that  if  these  wei-e  not  in  fault,  much  more  those 
were  not  to  be  blamed. 

Again  he  repeats  to  them  the  woixls  of  the  pr()])het  Ilosea :  f 
"  I  will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice,"  teaching  them  that  all 
God's  laws  are  laid  ujion  the  basis  of  mercy  and  not  pain-giving; 
and  that  no  amount  of  sacrifice  in  any  shape,  whether  in  offering 
victims  upon  the  altar  or  in  the  alliicting  of  one's  self,  is  at  all 
acceptable  to  God  unless  the  heart  be  full  of  love  and  mercy. 
And  thus  out  of  their  law,  and  out  of  their  most  cherished  his- 
tory, and  out  of  their  prophets,  he  confutes  them. 

But  he  does  not  rest  on  that;  he  lays  down  the  memorable  pro- 
position whicth  is  tlie  key  of  the  whole  Sabbatic  idea  and  arrange- 

Kcy  to  the  Sabbath   uieut  I    "  The  Sahbath  was  made  for  man,  afid 
thought.  j,^,f  in  an  for  the  Sabbath.''^     AVhatcvcr  regidatiun 

for  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  may  be  set  up  by  human  au- 


•  Compare  1  Sam.  xxi.  ;  also  xxii. 
20-23;  2  Sam.  viii.  17;  1  Chron.  xv. 
11.  In  the  first  of  these  references 
Ahimelech  is  uienticmcd  as  the  priest 
who  gave  the  bread  ;  but  in  Mark  ii.  2(i 
the  occurrence  is  stated  as  in  the  days 
of  Abiathar.  Both  are  historically  true. 
Ahimelech  was  the  father,  Abiathar  the 


son.  The  latter  became  distintpiished 
in  the  reign  of  David,  and  seems,  from 
the  Old  Testament  narratives,  to  have 
been  j)re.Hent  when  the  shewbread  was 
given  by  his  father  to  David. 

f  See  Ilosca  vi.  G,  with  which  com- 
pare the  beautiful  wonLi  in  1  Samuel 
XV.  22. 


THE    SABBATH    QUESTION    AGAIN.  213 

tlioritj,  wliicli  fails  to  make  it  a  doliglit,  a  profit,  a  culture  in 
happy  goodness,  is  wholly  invalid  and  is  to  be  rejected.  Man  is 
not  to  be  the  slave  of  the  Sabbath  ;  the  Sabbath  is  to  be  the  ser- 
vant of  man.  Man  is  greater  than  the  Sabbath.  lie  rules  it. 
And  then  Jesus  added  those  other  words,  which  he  connects  with 
the  former  by  Logical  process  :  "  Wlierefore  the  So7i  of  Man  is 
Lord  of  the  Sabbath-day?''  He  who  is  the  Consummate  Man,  who 
is  Essential  Manhood,  who  is  to  exist  in  the  minds  of  the  coming 
ages  as  the  Representative  Man,  he,  in  virtue  of  this  Manness,  is 
the  Ruler  of  the  Sabbath-day,  and  has  a  right  to  say  what  may 
be  done  and  what  may  not  be  done  on  the  Sabbath.  It  will  be 
seen  from  this  that  he  made  no  intimation  of  the  abrogation  of 
the  Sabbath ;  no  man  abrogates  a  kingdom  by  declaring  himself 
king.  lie  reaffirms  it.  He  re-estal)lishes  it  by  removing  it  from 
the  wretched  circumstances  of  tradition  and  placing  it  where 
God  originally  intended  it,  on  the  rational  basis  of  being  the  sup- 
ply for  a  demand  widely  created  in  man.  liow,  it  commends 
itself  to  the  reason  of  men.  IS^ow,  we  can  take  the  ideas  of  Jesus 
and  by  their  light  survey  the  Sabbath  as  an  institution  of  divine 
beneficence.     If  it  be  not  that,  it  is  a  curse. 

The  battle  on  the  Sabbath  question  continued  to  be  urged  by 
the  Pharisees  and  bravely  fought  by  Jesus.  He  shrank  from 
none  of  its  issues.     lie  was  retiring  into  Galilee.      „  ,,    ..    „  ,  . 

O  JIatt.  xu.  :  Jfark  iv. ; 

On  the  very  next  Sabbath  after  the  scene  in  the  Luke  vi.  The  battle 
barley-field  he*  entei-ed  into  a  synagogue.  It  is  *'°"'^""''  • 
not  certain  in  what  town  this  particular  synagogue  was  located. 
Some  infer  from  Mark  iii.  1  that  it  was  Capernaum,  but  there 
is  no  authority  for  this,  and  the  absence  of  the  article  in  the 
original  slightly  favors  the  opinion  that  it  was  some  other  syn- 
agogue. As  his  custom  was,  he  began  to  teach  the  peoj)le  when 
occasion  for  exhortation  was  given.  The  intense  hatred  of  the 
Pharisaic  party,  and  their  conspiracy  to  crush  him,  reappear  in  a 
still  more  significant  manner.  It  seetns  to  have  been  arranged 
that  there  should  be  present  a  man  who  had  an  arm  that  had  been 
withered  by  a  M'ouud  or  by  disease,  that  they  nn'ght  see  whether 
Jesus  would  heal  on  the  Sabbath. 

That  they  might  direct  the  attention  of  Jesus  to  this  afl^licted 
man,  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  asked  him  :  "  Is     Question  of  hcniing 
It  lawful  to  heal  on  the  Sabbath-days  I "     Accord-  ^"  ^**'=  sabbath. 
ing  to  the  strictest  teacliiiiir  of  tlieir  school  it  was  not.     Sham- 


214 


SECOND    ANT)   THIRD   PASSOVEK   IN   THE    LIFE   OF  JESUS. 


inai,  the  preceptor  of  the  Great  Ilillel,*  and  one  of  the  earliest 
founders  of  their  sect,  had  distinctly  laid  down  the  law  :  "  Let  nc 
one  console  the  e,n•^\  nor  visit  the  mourning  on  the  Sabbath-day." 
They  might  therefore  accuse  Jesus  if  he  healed  on  tlie  sacred 
day.  Heading  their  intents,  Jcsiis  said  to  the  man  witli  the  with- 
ered liand  :  "  llise  and  stand  fortli  in  the  midst."  And  tlie  man  f 
arose  and  tc»ok  a  conspicuous  position.  It  is  to  be  lU'ticed  that 
when  a  man  has  a  real  malady,  and  there  appeal's  any  prospect  of 
relief,  how  indiffci'cnt  he  becomes  to  all  the  ])hilosophical  theories 
of  the  modes  of  treatment,  and  how  absoi-bcd  in  the  practical 
matter  of  fact  in  which  his  pereonal  comfort  is  most  deeply  con- 
cerned. 

This  was  a  fine  sti'oke  upon  the  part  of  Jesus.     It  held  up  the 

sufferer  to  the  gaze  of  the  assembly.     It  ajipealed  tathe  humanity 

of  the  i)ersecutors,  and  invited  the  sympathy  of 

A  counter-question.  .  ,  ,   . 

the  Spectators.  Jesus  then  turned  upon  ins  pur 
suers  M-ith  this  movement.  They  liad  narrowed  the  question  to 
the  doiiuj  OY  i\\(i  not  doing  on  the  Sabbath.  l>y  a  counter-cpies- 
tion  he  lifted  the  whole  subject  to  a  loftier  light :  "  Is  it  lawful 
to  do  good  on  the  Sabbath-days,  or  to  do  evil?  to  save  or  destroy  ? " 
The  question  was  double-edged:  on  one  side  it  cut  the  knot  of 
their  question  ;  on  the  other  side  it  smote  them.  They  were  filled 
with  hatred.  They  were  ])ui-suing  him  on  the  Sabbath-day,  trying 
to  kill  him.  lie  was  about  works  of  goodness,  giving  life,  and 
more  life, — nuikiug  life  joyful  that  had  been  almt)st  intolerable. 
''Now,  who  Mill  be  to  be  blamed,  you  who  are  full  of  murderous 
intent,  or  I,  if  1  heal  this  sufferer?  "     They  were  silenced. 

Ihit  he  pushed  the  (juestioii  home  to  them:  "Suppose  one  of 
you  owned  a  single  slieej),  and  on  the  Sabbath  it  shotdd  fall  into 
a  cistern;   would  he  not  lav  hold   11)1011  him  and  pull   him  out? 


*  Hillel  was  held  in  the  very  highest 
esteem  as  the  most  loanicd  in  the  laws 
of  the  Jews.  He  was  more  lil)cral  than 
his  master  Shammai,  and  the  differ- 
ences of  their  teaching  led  their  disci- 
ples to  blows,  which  resulted  in  the 
death  of  several  iwrsoiis.  Hillol  is  re- 
ported by  some  as  tl.f  grandfather  of 
that  Ganialii'l  who  was  preceptor  to 
Saul  of  Tarsus. 

\  St.    Jerome,     who    tran.sluted    the 


''  Gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews " 
(an  npocryi>hal  book,  .seemingly  an  adul- 
terated version  of  St.  3Iatthew,  and 
much  in  use  among  the  Nazarenes  and 
Ebionites),  says  that  this  man  was  a 
stone-mason,  and  told  his  occupation  to 
Jesus,  adding  that  he  was  comjielled  to 
obtain  his  food  by  the  labor  of  his 
hands,  and  jirayed  Jesus  to  heal  hira, 
that  he  might  no  longer  basely  beg  hia 
bread. 


THE   SABBATH   QUESTION   AGAIN.  2l!) 

A  man  is  mucli  better  than  a  sheep.  Wlierefore  to  do  good 
on  the  Sabbath  is  lawful."  It  appears  from  An «.  w... 
this,  that  in  the  days  of  Jesus,  this  pulling  of  nuestion. 
a  sheep  out  of  the  pit  on  the  Sabbath  was  a  thing  allowed 
amongst  them  ;  else  this  ad  Tiominem  appeal  had  had  no  force. 
Subsequently  it  was,  in  express  terms,  forbidden  in  the  Gemara ; 
and  only  permitted  to  ky  planks  for  the  animal  to  come  out ! 
Stier  suggests  that  this  explicit  regulation  was  made  because  of 
the  words  of  Jesus.  But  the  puritanic  instinct  would  dominate, 
holding  on  to  the  property  while  appearing  very  sanctimonious 
about  the  moral  law. 

His  enemies  were  still  silent.  Their  hardness  towards  the  suf- 
ferer, their  hatred  towards  himself,  their  spiritual  blindness  in 
not  seeing  the  merciful  intent  of  all  moral  law, 
aroused  mingled  feelings  in  Jesus.  He  was  angry  ^^«  ™'"<^°f  thewith- 
and  was  sorry.  He  exhibited  in  the  most  sur-  '""''"'^ 
passing  manner  that  which  appears  in  all  noble-  souls,  a  tender- 
ness for  the  sinful  man,  while  the  sin  is  hated.  But,  turnin<>- 
toward  the  waiting  patient,  he  said,  "  Stretch  forth  thy  hand." 
The  man  ol)eyed.  He  lifted  it.  It  was  as  M-hole  as  the  other 
arm.  The  cure  was  instantaneous  and  complete.  It  was  a  dis- 
play of  mighty  power  and  goodness.  He  flung  himself  into  the 
hands  of  his  foes  to  save  this  unknown  sufferer.  No  selfishness 
lield  him.  He  saw  his  peril,  but  he  chose  to  face  his  fate  rather 
than  turn  from  a  work  of  beneficence  standing  before  him  to  be 
done. 

The  Pharisees  were  filled  with  rage  at  this  ncM-,  bold,  defiant 
disregard  of  their  traditions.     If  their  Sabbath  laws  could  be  set 
aside  thus,  then  was  their  authority  at  an  end.     The  blasphemy 
of  two  weeks  ago  they  might  o^•erlook;  the  apparent  violation  of 
the  Sabbath  by  his  disciples  they  might  forgive,  as  it  had  not  been 
done  by  him  in  person ;  but  this  distinct  avowal  that  their  tra- 
dition was  of   no  force  was  intolerable:  they  hated  him     But 
what  could  they  do  with  him?     He  had  not  mixed  medicines  to 
give  the  sick.     He  had  made  no  journeys  to  hunt  up  and  console 
sutterers,  in  the  simple  way  of  ordinary  Jewish  dutv.     He  had 
gone  into  the  synagogue,  and  simply  said  to  a  man,  "Stretch 
forth  thy  hand."     It  seemed  im])racticable  to  make  a  judicial 
case  on  such  ground.     They  were  as  much  puzzled  as  they  were 
enraged;  and  so  they  went  out  and  took  counsel  with  the  Hero- 


21 C         BECOND   A^TD   TiriKB   PASSOVER    IN   THE   LIEE   OF   JESUS. 

diaiis,  how  tlicy  might  compass  the   destruction  of  him  wliose 
crime  was  tl;e  lieuling  of  a  fellow-man  on  the  S:il)bath-day. 

"The  Ilcrodians  "  are  mentioned  several  times  by  the  Kew- 

Testament  historians.     They  were  those  who  were  the  open  and 

avowed  political  adherents  to  the  family  of  the 

Tlic   Herodians.         -i  t  i         •  i  •  i  '         i 

llcrods,  m  whose  interest  they  were  i-eady  to 
make  any  combination,  and  use  any  of  the  ecclesiastical  parties 
and  theological  sects  that  might  be  in  existence  from  time  to  time. 
They  were  Jews  more  iniliicnced  by  political  than  by  religious 
considerations.  The  independent  nationality  of  the  Jews  was  the 
first  and  last  consideration  with  them.  They  believed  that  the 
Ilerodian  family  had  the  talent  and  the  ambition  to  make  liead 
against  the  Roman  power,  and  so  were  willing  to  submit  to  them, 
although  they  ■were  of  foreign  origin,  and  not  sti'ict  observers  of 
the  Mosaic  ritual.  If  they  were  lending  their  intluence  to  a  do- 
mestic tyi-anny,  they  were  thus  at  least  saved  from  a  direct 
heathen  domination.  On  this  ground  some  of  the  Pharisees  would 
be  of  their  party.  Then  there  were  those  who  might  l>e  called 
liberal  Jews,  who  had  become  quite  lax  in  their  belief  in  the 
dogmas  of  Judaism  and  in  the  observance  of  its  stringent  ceremo- 
nials. They  favored  the  Ilerods  as  being  the  most  promising 
airents  in  briuixini;  about  a  combination  of  the  Hebrew  faith  with 
the  heathen  civilization.  On  this  ground  some  of  the  Sadducces 
would  be  of  their  })arty.  Thus  the  leading  sects  would  be  found 
at  different  times  co-operating  with  the  Ilerodians,  and  the  Ilero- 
dians  using  either  of  these  sects,  as  the  occasion  might  seem  to 
indicate  it  could  be  used,  for  increase  of  political  power. 

In  this  particular  case  the  poj)ularity  of  Jesus  was  so  great  that 
the  Pharisees  could  not  openly  attack  him.  The  Ilerodians  nn'ght 
be  indiu-cd  to  employ  their  influence  with  Herod  to  have  Jcsiis 
put  out  of  the  way  on  political  gromids. 

Discovering  the  formation  of  this  powerful  cons])i racy  against 

him,  Jesus  retired  with  his  disciples  to  the  shore  of  the  Lake  of 

(Jcnuesarct.    Vast  crowds  followed  him,  not  mere- 

Crowds  follow  jo«„«.   ]v  fr-.m   the   neiirhburing  district  of  Galilee,  but 

Mnrklii.;  MntlliLWxii.       •  -^  '^ 

also  from  Jiuhea  generally,  as  well  as  Irom  the 
city  of  Jerusalem,  and  even  from  Llmiuva  on  the  south,  and  from 
Perea  beyond  the  Jordan,  and  from  the  coasts  of  Tyre  and  Sidon 
on  the  north-west.  It  was  the  fame  of  his  miracles  that  drew 
them.     Among  the  orientals,  to  this  day,  the  name  and  fame  of  a 


THE    SAr.RATII    QUESTION    AGAIN.  217 

prophet  or  a  miracle-workei*  will  agitate  large  sections  of  country, 
and  people  will  abandon  their  ordinary  employments  to  follow 
him.  Jesus  healed  their  diseased  people  and  restored  their  insane. 
All  had  the  benefit  of  his  marvellous  power  and  surpassing  good- 
ness. "Wlien  those  who  had  "unclean  spirits"  cried  out  to  him, 
"  Thou  art  the  Son  of  God,"  addressing  him  in  language  that  ac- 
knowledged him  as  the3Icssiah,  he  rebuked  them,  and  very  strictly 
charged  all  who  received  his  favor  to  abstain  from  proclaiming 
him.  It  would  seem  to  have  been  his  intent  to  do  all  the  good 
lie  could,  scattering  his  l)lessings  with  royal  bounty,  but  to  do  this 
unobtrusively,  so  as  not  to  appear  to  provoke  a  controversy  with 
his  ecclesiastical  and  political  enemies.  Whenever  they  provoked 
it  he  never  shrank,  but  met  them  promptly,  skilfully,  and  with 
blows  aimed  so  adroitly  and  delivered  so  powerfully  that  the  pop- 
ulace rejoiced  in  the  discomfiture  of  the  rulers.  In  all  other  par- 
ticulars he  so  carefully  avoided  publicity  and  general  popularity 
that  to  C)ne  of  his  biographers  at  least  (Mark  iii.  17)  were  recalled 
the  striking  words  of  Isaiah  (xlii.  1-4):  "  Behold  my  servant  whom 
I  uphold;  my  chosen,  in  whom  my  soul  delighteth :  I  have  put 
my  spirit  upon  him  ;  he  shall  bring  foi-th  judgment  to  the  nations. 
lie  shall  not  cry,  nor  lift  up,  nor  cause  his  \-oice  to  be  heard  in  the 
street.  A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break,  and  the  smoking  flax 
shall  he  not  quench."  To  us  at  a  distance  this  reticence,  with  this 
power,  seems  to  be  marvellous.  To  those  who  were  in  daily  and 
full  sight  of  both  it  must  have  produced  a  wonderful  impression. 
So  great  was  the  crowd  that  his  friends  procured  for  him  a 
small  boat,  which  could  be  used  as  a  kind  of  movable  pulpit,  so 
that  from  it  he  could  preach  to  the  peo])le  on  the 

..,,,,,,  .A  movable  pulpit 

beach  at  a  distance  wJiicli  should  not  render  his 
voice  inaudible,  while  it  should  save  him  from  the  pressure  of  the 
crowd.     There  might  also  have  been  the  additional  reason  of  being 
able  to  go  quickly  from  one  side  of  the  lake  to  the  other,  and  thus 
elude  the  machinations  of  his  enemies. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE   TWELVE. 


It  was  a  crisis  with  Jesus.     He  liad  attained  imnieiise  popular- 
ity with  the  masses,  and  had  aroused  the  deadly  hatred  of  power- 

A  crisia  Matthew  ful  ecclesiastics  and  politicians.  The  posture  of 
X. ;  Markiii.;  LukevL  j^jg  affairs  was  sucli  that  it  became  him  to  move 
with  great  caution,  and  to  act  with  great  despatch.  "We  have 
learned  what  his  opinions  of  himself  were,  and  have  seen  some- 
thing of  his  character  by  his  words  and  acts  in  the  emergencies 
into  which  his  career  brought  him.  lie  must  have  had  the  sa- 
gacity to  see  now  that  there  was  only  one  of  two  courses  before 
him :  to  go  forward  in  what  he  believed  to  be  the  establishing  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  or  to  retreat,  give  up  the  mission,  and  retire 
into  the  utmost  privacy  and  draw  out  an  insignificant  life,  and 
leave  the  world  merely  a  torso  of  a  memory.  To  do  the  former 
was  certain  death ;  to  do  the  latter  was  an  abandonment  of  the 
Mcssiahship. 

Out  of  Capernaum  he  went  to  a  neighboring  mountain  alone, 
and  spent  the  night,  we  must  suppose,  in  looking  the  dread  near 

A  night  is  a  moun-  futurc  in  tlie  face.  He  must  have  canvassed  all 
**^  the  probabilities  on  both  sides.     It  must  have 

been  a  night  of  torture  to  him.  But  he  saw  his  way  clear,  and 
came  forth  in  the  morning  prei)ared  to  walk  it  at  all  hazards.  He 
must  not  take  measures  to  avoid  the  su])reme  fate,  if  death  were 
necessary  to  achieve  the  great  result  he  had  set  before  himself  as 
the  mission  of  his  life.  But  he  must  not  both  die  and  fail.  He 
must  manajre  himself  and  his  affairs  in  such  a  manner  that  before 
his  enemies  could  kill  him  he  should  have  so  implanted  the  germ 
of  his  doctrines  in  the  world  that  it  would  grow  after  his  dcpar- 
tui-e.  He  must  so  instruct  others  in  the  kingdom  of  God  that 
they  might  be  able  to  place  the  torch  of  light  in  tlie  upturned 
hands  of  the  coming  generations.  He  must  so  breatlie  his  spirit 
into  other  souls  that  even  when  dead  ho  could  through  thein 
cause  his  religion  to  live  and  grow  in  the  hearts  of  men. 


THE  TWELVE.  219 

Wlien  the  morning  came  lie  called  together  all  those  who,  from 
whatever  motive,  had  followed  him,  or  shown  attachment  to  hi.s 
person,  or  interest  in  his  movements.     And  from 

,11.,.,  ,  ,       Selection  of  the  Twulvo. 

tJiem  he  set  apart  twelve  men,  who  were  to  be 
ifear  his  person,  to  be  carefully  instructed  in  his  doctrine,  to  re- 
ceive of  his  power  to  cure  physical  and  mental  maladies,  ami  to 
be  representatives  to  the  woi-ld  of  the  princii)le?  lie  had  taught. 
It  will  be  interesting  to  make  a  study  of  the  chai-acter  of  each  of 
the  men  wliom  Jesus  would  put  in  this  extraordinary  position,  the 
men  whom  his  choice  has  made  inunortal.  We  shall  take  them 
in  the  order  in  which  they  are  named  in  the  sixth  chapter  of 
Luke,  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  they  are  there  catalogued 
in  pairs,  as  we  are  informed  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  Mark  they 
were  sent  out  "  by  two  and  two."  It  will  also  be  noticed  that  the 
first  seven  had  recei\ed  some  kind  of  call  from  Jesus  before  this 
definite  setting  apart  to  the  Apostleship. 

1.  At  the  head  of  the  list  stands  the  name  of  Simon  I.,  whonj 
Jesus  named  Peter.    Simon,  rrTiaJ,  signifies  "  hearer."    Kr}cf)a<;,  Ce- 
phas,  or  JTeVpo'?,  Peter,  signifies  "rock."     It  will 
be  recollected  that  Mhen  Jesus  first  saw  him  this 
name  was  gi\  en  the  Apostle.  (Matt.  xvi.  18.)  Ills  father's  name  was 
Jonas  ;  his  mother's  name,  according  to  traditicm,  was  Johanna. 
He  resided  originally  at  Bethsaida,  and  afterward  in  his  own  house, 
or  the  house  of  his  motlier-in-law,  in  Capernaum.     (Luke  xiv.  38.) 
He  was  brought  nj)  to  his  father's  occupation  ;  he  was  a  fisherman 
on  the  lake  of  Tiberias.     This  was  not  a  vei-y  exalted  employment, 
nor  was  it  degrading.     It  developed  his  courage,  his  watchfulness, 
his  fortitude,  in  the  self-denying  labors  on  the  sea,  the  night-watches, 
the  frecpient  and  trying  postponements  which  men  who  make 
their  livelihood  by  fishing  often  encounter.     He  became  a  rough, 
ready,  impetuous,  hard  man.     He  had  the  vices  of  his  class.     He 
was  not  always  truthful,  and  he  was  profane.     "We  judge  these  to 
have  been  the  vices  of  his  youth,  as  we  generally  find  that  when 
a  fierce  temptation  assails  a  man  in  advanced  life  it  bi-ings  out 
jn's  earliest  vices.     When  Peter's  crisis  came,  in  the  hour  of  his 
Master's  trial,  he  used  both  falsehot)d  and  profanity  for  his  own 
safety.     (John  xviii.  15,  17,  25-27.)     He  was  not  a  wholly  unedu- 
cated man.*     He  must  have  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  the  public' 

*  Smith  well  remarks  that  the  state-  I  perceived  that  they  (Peter  and  John) 
ment  in  Acts  iv.  13,  tha^  "the  council  I  were  unlearned  and  ijpiorant  men,"  ia 


220 


6EC0XD    AND    TIIIIU)    PASSOVKK    IN    THE    LIFK    OF   JESUS. 


Fcliools  maintained  by  the  commnnity  in  which  lie  lived,  Avliieh 
the  young  were  compelled  to  attend,  according  to  a  law  enacted 
l)y  Simon  Ben-Slielach,  one  of  the  great  leadei-s  of  the  Pharisaic 
party  under  the  Apmonean  dynasty.  The  Holy  Scriptures  and  the 
history  of  his  country  he  probably  knew  from  his  eai-Iiest  child- 
hood. The  regular  attendance  upon  the  synagogue  service  would 
have  been  a  species  of  education.  And  these  remarks  a}>i)ly  to 
all  the  disciples.  Moreover,  in  the  case  of  Peter  there  was  the 
culture  which  came  from  trade  and  intercourse  with  cultivated 
foreigners.  He  seems  to  have  picked  up  some  rudimental  knowl- 
edge of  the  Greek  tongue,  and  to  have  profited  generally  by 
mingling  with  his  fellow-men  of  diverse  education. 

He  was  not  a  very  poor  man.  His  father,  Jonas,  was  a  pei*son 
in  good  circumstances.  Fishing  was  lucrative.  The  great  pf)pn- 
lation  of  the  district,  the  influx  of  ])C()ple  from  among  the  culti- 
vated heathen,  and  the  pleasure-seekers  whom  the  beauty  of  the 
lake  attracted,  must  have  afforded  a  good  market.  He  may  have 
also  acfpiired  money  by  his  marriage,  as  the  house  to  which  he 
invited  Jesus  and  his  fellow-disciples  would  "seem  to  have  been 
roomy,  and  to  have  been  his  property,  or  that  of  liis  mother-in- 
law.  He  makes  mention  of  the  sacrifices  which  he  had  incurred 
to  follow  his  Master,  and  Jesus  does  not  deny  that  they  were 
great.*  Peter  seems  to  have  married  in  early  life,  and  to  have 
been  a  devoted  and  affectionate  husband.  CMement  of  Alexan- 
dria, whose  testimony  is  made  more  valual)le  by  the  fact  that  he 
was  connected  with  the  church  founded  by  St.  Mark,  tells  us  from 
very  ancient  traditions,  as  other  historians  do,  that  the  name  of 
Peter's  wife  was  Pcrpetua,  by  whom  he  had  a  daugliter,  and  per- 
ha]is  other  childivn,  and  that  she  suffered  martyrdom.  Paul 
informs  us  that  Peter  was  accustomed  to  be  accompanied  by  his 
wife  on  his  apostolic  journeys. 

The  quality  Peter  most  lacked  is  precisely  that  which  seems  to 
be  indicated  by  his  name,  finruiess.  In  no  way  docs  the  word 
"  rock "  recall  Peter,  except  as  it  reminds  us  of  his  hardneax. 


aot  at  all  incompatible  with  the  state- 
ynent  made  above,  and  tlio  translation 
of  this  pa«.sago  in  the  autlioriznd  version 
is  rather  ex!4Jgoratod.  the  wonl  ren- 
dered "unlearned"  beinjf  rather  equiv- 
alent to   "  laymen  "—men  of  ordinaiy 


education,  not  Bpccially  trained  in  the 
schools  of  the  rabbis— so  that  the  tenn 
miffht  have  been  api)lied  to  a  man  thor- 
oughly conversant  with  the  ScriptureH. 
♦  Mutt.  xix.  27. 


THE    TWELVE. 


221 


He  was  hard  and  unstable.  He  asked  Jesus  to  invite  him  to 
come  to  him  on  tlie  water,  and  when  bidden  lie  started  off  boldly, 
soon  lost  courage,  and  began  to  sink.*  At  the  last  supper  which 
Jesus  had  with  his  apostles,  the  Master  offered  to  wash  the  feet 
of  his  disciples  as  a  symbol.  Peter  vehemently  refused,  but  at  a 
word  from  Jesus  iinpetuotisly  thrust  forward  his  hands  aud  his 
head.f  When  his  Master  was  betrayed  he  frantically  undertook, 
single-handed,  to  fight  the  whole  body  of  Koman  soldiers;  but 
when  Jesus  ordered  him  to  put  up  his  sword  he  fled,  and  left  his 
Master  in  the  hands  of  his  foes.:}:  With  another  disciple  he  fol- 
lowed Jesus  into  the  palace  of  the  high-priest,  and  when  the 
crisis  came  he  denied  all  knowledge  of  his  Master,  and  did  this 
with  oaths  and  vehement  protestations.§  After  the  Christian 
society  began  to  take  form,  he  was  in  the  front  of  the  inovement 
to  baptize  conveited  Gentiles ;  but  when  opposition  came  from 
the  Judaizing  element  in  the  Christian  community,  he  inglorious- 
ly  abandoned  his  position.]! 

And  yet  there  was  something  so  daring  and  dashing,  so  eagle 
swift,  so  unthoughtful  of  consequences,  so  sympathetic  and  elas- 
tic in  this  nuin,  as  to  nuike  him  most  receptive  of  such  spiritual 
influences  as  the  character  of  Jesus  would  produce  upon  the 
human  heart,  and  most  capable  of  being  the  ardent  pioneer 
preacher  of  a  new  faith,  lie  led  the  band  of  Apostles  as  a  bold 
chieftain  would  his  chui. 

2.  The  next  Apostle  in  the  catalogue  is  Andrkw,  whose  name  is 
Greek, 'AuSp€a<i,  and  signifies  "manly."  lie  may  have  had  a 
Hebrew   name,  and    this    Greek   surname   been 

'  ^  ...  Andrew. 

eriven  him  as  indicative  of  the  manliness  of  his 
spirit.  The  name,  we  know,  was  in  use  among  the  later  Jews.^ 
Andrew  may  have  been  a  Hellenist  on  his  mother's  side,  a  con- 
jecture perhaps  favored  by  the  circumstance  of  his  introducing 
to  Jesus  certain  Grecians  who  desired  to  see  the  Great  Master.** 
His  position  in  the  New-Testament  history  is  not  nearly  so  im- 
portant as  that  of  his  brother  Peter ;  but  the  few  glimpses  we  catch 
of  him  show  the  eager  spirit  of  one  who  is  anxious  for  the  spir- 
itual welfare  of  others,  and  who  has  a  simple  manly  trust  in  his 


♦  Matt.  xiv.  28-30. 

\  John  xiii.  G,  8,  9. 

X  John  xviii.  10 ;   Matt.  xsvi.  5(5. 

§  John  xviii.  15,  17,  25-37. 


1  Acts  X.  47,  48. 
T[  Josephus,  A/it.,  xii.  2,  2. 
**  John  xii.  23.     See  also  p.  114  of 
this  book. 


222         BECOXD    AND    THIRD   PASSOVER   IN   THE    LIFE   OF   JESUS. 


great  spiritual  Leader.  He  had  been  a  disciple  of  John  tlie  Bap- 
tist, but  he  became  one  of  the  earliest  followei-s  of  Jesus,  to 
which  course  he  was  ])rt)in])ted  by  John's  expressly  iK>inting  out 
Jesus  as  "  the  Lamb  of  God.*'  "  His  earliest  act  as  a  follower  of 
Jesus  was  his  bringing  his  brother  Peter  to  the  newly  found  Mas- 
ter. He  is  mentioned  with  thi-ee  other  disciples  as  being  in  a 
confidential  interview  with  Jesus,  making  inquiries  concerning 
tlie  destruction  of  the  holy  city.f  lie  also  appears  in  connec- 
tion with  the  history  of  the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand.:}:  Be- 
yond this  there  appears  no  reference  to  Andrew. 

3.  The  third  Apostle  is  James,  whom  we  designate  as  James  I., 
to  distinguish  him  fi-om  James  the  son  of  Alphaius.  There  were 
perhai»s  eight  of  this  name  mentioned  in  the  New 
""*^  Testament  Scriptures.     As  held  by  the  Apostles 

it  was  "  Jacob,"  and  it  has  been  noticed  that  in  them  it  reai)i)ears 
for  tlie  fii-st  time  since  it  was  borne  by  the  Patriarch  himself. 
The  Greeks  called  it 'Ia/ca/8o?,  accenting  the  fii-st  sylhible,  and 
the  Latins  Jacobus,  probably  accented  as  the  (Jreek  name,  since 
the  Italian  is  Giacomo,  or  lacomo.  In  Sj^anish  it  took  two  fcjrms, 
lago  and  Xaymc,  or  Jayme,  pronounced  Ilayme,  with  strong  ini- 
tial guttui-al.  In  French  it  became  Jaccpies  and  Jame,  from  which 
the  transition  is  easy  to  our  James.  It  exists  in  Wycliffe's  Bible, 
i381.§     In  the  East,  St.  James  is  still  St.  Jacob,  2lar  Yakoob. 

This  James  was  the  son  of  Zebedee,  a  well-to-do  fisherman  on 
the  Lake,  of  Galilee.  lie  was  the  brother  of  that  John  who, 
according  to  his  own  account,  became  such  a  favorite  with  his 
Master.  The  year  before  his  appointment  to  the  Apostolic  col- 
lege he  had  been  called  to  be  a  disciple  of  Jesus.l  As  we  trace 
the  history  of  Jesus  we  shall  find  James  admitted  to  the  raising 
of  Jairus's  daughter,!  and  also  nuide  one  of  the  three  witnesses 
to  the  Transfiguration.**  His  furious  temper  is  shown  in  his  de- 
sire to  call  down  lire  from  heaven  to  destroy  a  Samaritan  village.t+ 
The  ambition  of  himself  and  his  brother  John  is  shown  in  their 
re(piest,  thron^h  their  nK.tlier,  to  be  ])romoted  to  the  joint  premiei- 
ship  in  the  new  kingdom  which  they  believed  Jesus  as  the  Messiah 


♦  John  i.  30. 
f  M.irk  xiii.  3. 
X  Jolm  XV.  9. 

t^  For   thiH   Bf-e    a  full   note    by  Mr. 
Grove,  in  Smith's  Dictionary. 


I  Mark  i.  20. 

i  Mark  v.  37  ;  Luke  viii.  51. 
*»  Matt.  xvii.  1  ;  Luke  ix.  28L 
f  f  Luke  ix.  54. 


THE   TWELVE.  223 

was  about  to  inaugurate.*  He  was  present  at  the  agony  in  tho 
garden  of  Gethseniane,t  and  is  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  Ascension.:}:  In  the  year  44,  as  it  is  supposed,  about  the  time 
of  tlie  Passover,  lie  was  put  to  death  by  Herod  Agrippa,  a  bigoted 
Pliai'isee,  who  slew  James  with  the  sword,§  according  to  the 
Jewish  law,  that  if  seducers  to  a  strange  worship  were  few,  they 
should  be  stoned  ;  if  many,  they  should  be  beheaded. 

It  has  been  noticed  that  earlier  in  the  history  John  is  mentioned 
as  the  brother  of  James,  showing  the  superior  age  or  position  of 
the  latter ;  but  in  the  later  history  the  place  of  honor  is  assio-ned 
to  John  by  calling  James  his  brother.  James  was  the  first  of  the 
Ajwstles  to  suffer  martyrdom. 

4.  John,  son  of  Zebedee  by  Salome,  being  brother  to  James,  is 
or.  linarily  mentioned  with  him,  as  Andrew  is  with  Peter.     These 
fo  ir  were  the  leading  spirits  of  the  body  of  the 
dirciples.     To  James  and  J(^hn  Jesus  gave  the  ^°^' 

name  ^ayr.?,  Boan' erget' s,  the  Gaiila^an  pronunciation  of  the 
Syro-Chaldee  words  i':-]  ^33,  Benai  Rhjaz,  "  Sons  of  Commotion," 
or  "  Sons  of  Thunder,"  probably  given  because  of  their  impetuous 
temper.  The  name  John  has  its  equivalent  in  Theodore  meanino- 
"  the  gift  of  God."  " 

In  the  Kew-Testament  memoirs  he  is  represented  as  the  inti- 
mate friend  and  almost  constant  companion  of  Simon  Peter,  and 
as  the  most  single-minded  and  devoted  of  all  the  men  who  loved 
and  followed  Jesus.  He  had  been  brought  up  to  a  life  of  labor, 
but  does  not  seem  to  have  come  from  the  very  poorest  class.  His 
father,  Zebedee,  and  mother,  Salome,  were  above  many  of  their 
fellow-citizens.  AVe  hear  that  the  father  employed  "  hired  ser- 
vants "  on  his  fisheries  CMark  i.  20) ;  that  probably  after  his  death 
the  mother  had  some  substance  (T.uke  viii.  3),  and  that  John  him- 
self had  '<  his  own  house."  (John  xix.  2.7.)  He  had  had  the  usual 
instruction  of  Jewish  lads,  had  gained  what  a  quick  boy  would 
gather  from  his  regular  religious  visits  to  the  Temple,  and  had 
probably  sympathized  with  the  occasional  political  movements 
that  contemplated  the  throwing  off  the  Eoman  yoke  from  the 
Hebrew  neck.  His  name  was  one  which  began  to  be  given  to 
children  born  in  the  sacerdotal  circles,  and  was  probably  rendered 


*  Mark  x.  35.  j     J  Acts  i.  13. 

t  Matt.  xxvi.  37.  j     g  Acts  xiL  1. 


224         SECOND    AND   THIRD    PASSOVER   IN   THE    LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

all  the  more  popular  by  the  circumstances  of  marvel  which  had 
attended  the  birth  of  John  the  Bajitist,  and  by  the  general  hope 
tliat"  God's  i^ift,"  Jehovah's  special  gift  of  grace,  the  Messiali, 
was  aljout  to  be  bestowed  upon  the  world. 

John  nnist  have  been  quite  young  when  called  to  the  Aposto- 
late,  as  we  learn  that  he  was  still  alive  in  the  days  of  the  Emperor 
Trajan,  The  appearance  of  John  the  Baptist  at  Jordan  roused 
the  religious  fervor  of  the  young  man,  who  became  a  disciple  of 
his  namesake.  lie  was  an  earnest  seeker  after  truth,  and  this  led 
him  to  follow  Jesus  on  Jolm's  saying  that  he  was  the  Lamb  of  God 
that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world,  and  this  predominant 
characteristic,  notwithstanding  his  faults  of  temj)er,  won  him  the 
love  of  Jesus.  AVith  Peter  and  James  we  find  him  in  the  cham- 
ber where  the  dead  daughter  of  Jairus  was  brought  to  life,  amid 
tlie  dazzling  si)lendoi*s  of  the  Transfiguration,  at  the  solenm  an- 
nouncement of  tlie  impending  destruction  of  the  holy  city,  in  the 
garden  of  Gctlisemano,  at  the  fearful  agony,  and  near  the  cross 
as  Jesus  expiiod.  lie  had  nothing  of  that  soft  effeminate  manner 
which  is  so  ut^ually  assigned  to  him. 

lie  never  married,  lie  was  very  passionate,  narrow-minded, 
ambitious,  and  vain,  as  is  shown  in  his  hatred  of  the  Samaritans, 
liis  desii-e  to  consume  a  village  with  iii'e,  his  attempt  to  extort  a 
pledge  from  Jesus  to  share  the  highest  honors  of  the  new  dynasty 
between  himself  and  his  brother,  and  the  way  he  alludes  to  him- 
self in  his  writings.  But  he  loved  the  ti-uth,  and  he  loved  Jesu3 
with  a  supreme  passion,  which  subsequently  ripened  and  mellowed 
his  character  into  exce(;ding  sweetness  and  beauty.  And  Jesus 
loved  him.  lie  leaned  on  the  bosom  of  the  Master  at  the  Last 
Supper,  and  received  from  him  the  tender  consignment  of  his 
mother  when  the  Master  died.  To  him  and  Peter,  Mary  of  Mag- 
dala  brought  the  news  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus.  Although 
Peter  had  denied  the  Lord,  the  old  friendshij)  survived,  and  the 
penitent  friend  was  received  again  with  warmth.  John  grew  out 
of  his  narrowness  so  much  as  to  lose  all  his  ])rejudices  against  the 
Samaritans,  and  to  become  willing  to  re(H3ive  them  into  the  Chris- 
tian society,  in  which  his  8ubse<]uent  position  wsis  one  of  honor 
and  usefulness,  or<>:anizin<r,  teachini;,  encoura<;in;'.  There  is 
nnich  legendary  notice  of  his  latest  years,  some  very  trivial  and 
some  very  beautiful,  but  not  nmch  that  is  reliable  or  worth  men- 
tioning in  a  history. 


THE   TWELVE.  225 

5.  The  Apostles  are  catalogued  in  groups  of  fours,  Simon  Peter 
being  at  the  head  of  the  iirst,  and  Philip  of  the  second  quaternion. 
Of  tliis  Apostle  the  Gospels  give  us  very  slight 
memorials.  lie  is  said  to  have  been  of  Betlisaida, 
the  city  of  Andrew  and  Peter,  whether  a  native  or  inhabitant 
does  not  appear.*  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  Jesus  is  said  to  have 
found  him  (Jolm  i.  43),  as  though  he  had  been  seeking  him,  and 
that  to  Philip,  first  of  all  the  Apostles,  does  he  address  that  re- 
markable appeal,  "  Follow  me,"  which  was  to  become  the  terms 
of  Christian  discipleship  for  all  succeeding  ages.  He  was  quite 
eager  to  declare  the  discovery  he  had  made  of  the  character  of 
Jesus  to  Nathanael,  with  whom  he  seems  to  have  been  in  relations 
of  intimacy,  botii  being  men  of  earnest  simple-heartedness,  and  both 
looking  for  the  Deliverer.  Yet  the  faith  of  Philip  was  not  such 
as  to  make  him  ready  to  expect  any  miraculous  display.  At  the 
feeding  of  the  great  multitude,  Jesus  addressed  Philip  specially, 
as  to  how  to  provide  food  for  so  large  a  number  rf  and  this  he 
did  "  to  try  him."  It  does  not  easily  appear  why  this  should  have 
been  done,  as  Philip  does  not  seem  strikingly  weak  in  the  faith 
which  soars  above  the  externals,  as  Chrysostom  suggests.  But  his 
calculation  of  the  money  in  hand  and  the  cost  of  feeding  such  a 
multitude  shows  that  Philip  was  not  expecting  a  miracle. 

The  next  glimpse  we  have  of  him  is  in  John  xii.,  where  we  are 
told  that  certain  Greeks  who  had  come  up  to  the  feast  had  a  great 
desire  to  see  Jesus,  and,  attracted  probably  by  the  Greek  form  of 
Philip's  name,  applied  to  him  to  introduce  tliem  to  his  Master. 
With  a  modesty  to  be  noticed,  Philip  first  goes  to  his  friend 
Andrew,  and  they  together  convey  to  Jesus  an  expression  of  the 
desire  of  the  Greeks.  He  must  have  heard  the  voice  from  heaven 
which  replied  to  the  remarkably  striking  words  of  Jesus,  which 
we  shall  consider  when  we  reach  them  in  the  regular  narrative. 
Philip  probably  brooded  over  the  address,  "  Father^  save  me  ! 
Father,  glorify  thy  name  ! "  and  so  when,  in  his  latest  interviews 
with  his  disciples,  Jesus  spoke  of  going  to  the  "Father,"  the 

*  John  i.  44.    Greswell  calls  attention  i  tinction  futile.     ( Or.  Test. ,  in  loco. ) 

to  John's  use  of  the  prepositions   oiro  f  John  vi.   5.     Bengel,  on  this  pas- 

and  «| ,  the  former  meaning  an  inhabi-  sage,   suggests  that   Philip  was  one  of 

tant,  and  the  latter  a  native  of  the  place  the  disciples  to  whom  the  domestic  ar- 

mentioned.     {Dissert,  xxxii. )     The  for-  rangements  for  the  company  were  com- 

mer   is    the   preposition    used  in   this  mitted.     See  p.  1 15,  ante. 

passage.      But  Alford  thinks  this  dis-  1 

15 


22G       SECOND  Airo  TnmD  tassovek  in  the  life  of  jesus. 

childlike  simplicity  of  Philip  gave  vent  to  the  request,  "  Lord 
bIiow  us  the  Father,  and  it  suihccth  us." 

Tliis  is  the  last  we  see  of  Philip,  unless  we  suppose  him  to  have 
been  one  of  tlie  two  unnamed  disciples  in  that  group  to  whom 
Jesus  is  said  to  have  exhibited  himself  after  his  resurrection,  in  a 
scene  described  in  John's  last  chapter. 

6.  Of  the  excellent  Natiianael,  who  was  of  Cana  in  Galilee, 
only  two  notices  are  made,  both  in  John's  Gospel :  one  in  the 

early  ministry  of  Jesus,  and  one  after  his  resur- 
rection. When  Philip  was  fii-st  called  by  Jesus, 
shortly  after  the  terrible  passage  of  his  temptation,  he  went  im- 
mediately in  search  of  his  friend  Nathanael,  whom  he  brought  to 
the  person  announced  by  John  the  Baptist  as  the  Messiah.  Upon 
eight,  Jesus  declared  Nathanael  to  be  "  an  Israelite  indeed,  in 
whom  was  no  guile."  (John  i.  47.)  And  then  no  more  mention 
is  made  of  him  until  after  the  resurrection,  when  he  is  named  in 
the  company  of  the  fishermen  who  had  such  a  fruitless  m'ght  of 
toil,  to  be  followed  by  a  morning  in  which  the  crucified  and  buried 
Master  should  reveal  himself  to  them.     (John  xxi.  2.) 

And  this  is  all  that  is  said  of  this  guileless  man  Avhom  Jesus  so 
commended.  But,  being  thus  associated  with  the  chief  of  the 
Apostles,  and  praised  above  them  all  by  the  Master  of  the  com- 
pany, it  is  perplexing  to  find  so  little  mention  of  Nathanael.  This 
has  led  to  the  belief  that  Bartholomew  is  the  same  as  Nathanael, 
the  former  signifying  son  of  Tholniai,  being  a  surname  of  the  lat- 
ter, as  Barjonas  was  of  Simon.  The  reason  assigned  for  this  be- 
lief is,  that  .Tohn  mentions  Nathanael  twice  and  Bartholomew 
never,  while  the  name  of  Bartholomew  occurs  in  the  other  three 
Gospels,  but  that  of  Nathanael  is  totally  omitted.  In  John, 
Nathanael  is  associated  with  Philip  in  both  instances,  while  in 
the  other  gospels  Bartholoin<no  is  in  like  manner  always  associated 
with  Philip.* 

If  Nathanael  and  Bartholomew  be  the  same  individual,t  he  was 
associated  after  the  ascension  with  the  body  of  the  Apostles,  as 
we  learn  from  Acts  i.  13. 

7.  MA'rniEw  is  the  surname  of  Levi.  lie  calls  himself  "the 
publican,"  in  his  own  Gospel,  but  is  not  bo  called  by  the  other 


♦  See  Matt.  x.  8  ;  Mark  iii.  18;  and 
Luke  vi.  14  ;  and  p.  Ill),  ante. 


wa.s  an  Apostle ;  so  docs  St.  Gregory. 
Others  have  held  that  Nathanael  and 


f  St.  Augustine  denies  that  Nathanael  I  Bartholomew  were  different  persona. 


THE   TWELVE.  227 

biographers.     We  learn  that  he  was  tlie  son  of  Alphseus.    lie 
must  have  been  a  man  of  low  estate  and  of  i^en- 

,  ,       -  ,  .         ,  ,  -  ,*"  I<evj  or  Matthew. 

eral  bad  cliaracter,  otherwise  he  would  not  nave 
accepted  the  position  of  sub-collector  of  taxes,  a  post  filled  only 
by  the  meanest  of  the  Jews.  The  real  publican  was  one  who 
farmed  the  taxes  of  a  province,  paying  so  much  to  the  empire  for- 
the  privilege.  The  sub-collectors  {portitores)  were  those  to  whom 
the  collection  of  the  taxes  was  relet.  The  former  were  generally 
Koman  knights;  the  latter,  mercenary  inhabitants  of  the  pro\nnce, 
who  made  all  they  could  by  oppressing  the  people.  In  the  case 
of  a  Jew,  a  jportitor  was  a  special  object  of  dislike,  as  he  kept 
before  the  Hebrew  mind  perpetually  the  sign  of  the  national 
degradation.  Of  course  no  Jew  of  any  respectability  would  ac- 
cept such  an  odious  office.  Matthew  (x.  3)  frankly  acknowledges 
that  he  had  fallen  that  low,  a  circumstance  which  the  other  biog- 
raphei'S  refrain  from  mentioning. 

Of  this  man,  in  whom  Jesus  saw  something  of  a  religious  ele- 
ment, and  Avhbm  he  called  to  be  one  of  the  earliest  and  chief 
propagatoi-s  of  his  religion,  this  is  all  we  know,  except  that  he 
contributed  one  of  the  four  collections  of  Memorabilia  of  his 
great  Master,  upon  which  the  world  depends  for  its  knowledge  of 
Jesus,  His  reticence  concerning  himself  is  a  remarkable  display  of 
modesty  in  a  biographer  who  had  every  temptation  and  occasion 
to  glorify  himself  as  being  so  intimately  associated  with  liis  hero. 

8.  The  last  of  the  second  quaternion  of  Apostles  was  Thomas, 
who  is  coupled  with  Matthew  in  Matt,  x,  3,  Mark  iii,  IS,  and  Luke 
vi.  15.  His  name  in  Hebrew  signifies  "twin," 
and  is  so  translated  by  Jolm,  who  calls  him  Didv- 
mus,  which  is  the  Greek  for  "  a  twin."  It  is  not  kno^m  where  he 
was  born.  A  tradition,  however,  indicates  Antioch  as  the  place. 
There  are  three  prominent  incidents  mentioned  of  his  connection 
with  the  history  of  Jesus.  When  his  Master  determined  to  go  to 
Bethany,  upon  learning  that  Lazarus  was  dead,  Thomas  appealed 
to  his  colleagues  to  accompany  Jesus  and  share  his  peril  on  a  jour- 
ney which  Thomas  believed  would  prove  ruinous  to  the  whole 
party.  (John  xi.  16.)  At  the  Last  Supper,  when  Jesus  had  been 
speaking  in  an  exalted  and  poetic  strain  of  his  departure  into  the 
realms  of  the  unseen  world,  Thomas  showed  his  prosy,  incredu- 
lous nature  by  saying,  "  Lord,  we  know  not  whither  thou  goest, 
and  how  can  we  know  the  way  ? "     (John  xiv.  5.)     After  the  Cru- 


228      SECOND  A^^)  third  tassover  in  the  life  of  jesus. 

cifixion  his  brotlier  Apostles  reported  to  liim  that  they  had  seen 
Jesus.  (John  xx.  25.)  He  broke  into  the  vehement  exdama- 
tion,  "  Except  I  shall  see  in  his  hands  the  print  of  the  nails,  and 
put  my  fiiifjer  into  the  print  of  the  nails,  and  thrust  my  hand  into 
liis  side,  I  will  not  believe." 

These  incidents  show  that  lie  was  skeptical,  slow  to  believe, 
demanding  nnnsnal  proofs, — that  he  was  not  sanguine,  but  rather 
despondent, — and  that  he  loved  Jesus  ardently.  Although  he  re- 
garded the  journey  to  Bethany  as  almost  certain  destruction,  his 
love  for  Jesus  prompted  him  to  go  and  die  with  him.  Although 
he  could  see  nothing  before  him  in  the  future,  and  his  practical, 
matter-of-fact  mind  could  not  appreciate  the  spiritual,  and  dark- 
ness lay  on  the  path  into  the  unseen  world,  his  love  for  Jesus 
made  him  long  to  know  how  to  follow  him  in  those  paths  which 
the  Master  dimly  indicated.  Altliough  he  would  not  believe 
that  Jesus  liad  risen  from  the  dead,  and  allhougli  he  demanded 
what  Jit  fii"st  sight  seems  to  be  a  most  gross  and  rcpulsi\c  metliod 
of  conviction,  the  very  form  in  which  he  puts  it  shows  liow  the 
pei*son  of  Jesus,  in  tlie  mangled  condition  in  which  he  had  last 
seen  it,  was  the  most  affecting  picture  of  all  things  retained  l)y  his 
memor}'. 

Beyond  this  we  know  nothing,  but  that  he  was  with  the  Apostles 
after  the  Ascension.     (Acts  i.  13.) 

9.  In  the  lead  of  the  last  class  of  the  Apostles  is  the  other 
James,  whom  we  distinguish  as  James  II.  lie  is  also  called 
James  the  Less.  He  was  the  son  of  Mary  by 
Alj)ha3us,  who  was  brother  of  Joseph,  whom  John 
calls  Clopas,  and  thus  cousin  to  Jesus.  I  am  satisfied  that  tliis 
James  was  not  the  one  who  is  called  "  the  brother  of  the  Ixird." 
None  of  the  children  l)orn  of  Mary  to  Joseph  after  the  birth  of 
Jesus  became  l)eHevei-s  in  him  until  after  the  resurrection.  They 
were  not,  therefore,  among  the  Apostles.  On  one  occjision  they 
became  indignant  at  him  for  what  they  considered  his  intemperate 
zeal  and  excessive  laboi*s  in  preaching,  bo  much  so  that  they 
were  going  to  lay  hold  on  him  and  compel  liim  to  suspend  In'a 
work.  (l^Iark  iii.  20,21,31.)  This  James,  the  Aj)ostle,  was  in- 
side the  house  while  that  James,  the  brother,  stood  out.side  with 
his  mother.  During  the  lifetime  of  Jesus  James  11.  is  no  more 
seen,  except  at  this  organization  of  the  Apostolato,  when  Iio 
and    his   brother    Jude    are    in    the    catalotruu    of    the    twelve. 


THE    TWELVE. 


229 


After  the  Kesurrectiou  lie  continued  with  the  Apostles,  and  is  sc 
mentioned. 

Twenty-four  years  afterward  we  find  him  still  at  Jerusalem,  and 
now  holding  a  high  position  and  discharging  important  ecclesiasti- 
cal functions.  Saul  of  Tarsus  had  been  a  convert  to  Jesus  by  the 
space  of  seventeen  years,  and  then  visited  Jerusalem,  where  he  was 
introduced  to  the  Christian  brethren  by  Ijarnabas,  and  found 
James  sharing  the  management  of  the  infant  society  with  Peter. 
All  allusions  to  him  afterwards  seem  to  set  him  forth  as  the  Bishop 
at  Jerusalem,  that  is,  as  chief  pastor  of  the  congregation  and 
President  of  the  Apostolic  Council.*  A  large  number  of  quota- 
tions might  be  made  from  the  earliest  Christian  writers  confirm- 
ing this  view. 

So  excellent  was  the  character  of  this  man  that  he  obtained 
among  his  countrymen  the  title  which  Aristides  won  from  the 
Greeks,  "  the  Just,"  He  is  represented  as  being  held  in  great 
reverence  by  the  Jews,  notwithstanding  his  connection  with  the 
Christian  sect,  lie  was  a  most  strict  and  exemplary  observer  of 
all  the  Jewish  rites  and  ceremonies,  so  much  so  that  there  is  a 
tradition,  hardly  probable  as  to  the  fact,  but  showing  his  lofty 
reputation,  that  he  was  allowed  to  enter  the  holiest  place.  A 
stringent  ritualist  himself,  he  was  so  very  liberal  that  he  did  not 
believe  the  yoke  and  burden  of  Leviticism  should  be  laid  on  new 
converts  to  the  Christian  faith  who  came  in  from  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, He  had  a  practical  mind,  and  was  manifestly  the  man  of 
common  sense  among  the  Apostles,  as  his  admirable  "Epistle" 
shows.  That  letter  reminds  us  of  his  work  in  Jerusalem,  lookino: 
after  the  Jewish  converts,  both  resident  and  visitors. 

There  is  a  tradition,  handed  down  from  Hegesippus,  a  Christian 
of  Jewish  origin,  who  lived  in  the  second  century,  as  to  the  man- 
ner of  the  life  and  the  mode  of  the  death  of  James  the  Just,  He 
was  a  Nazarite,  abstaining  from  animal  food  and  strong  drink, 
and  oils  and  baths.  He  wore  only  linen  clothing,  and  prayed 
so  much  that  his  knees  grew  as  hard  as  a  camel's.  And  thus  he 
came  to  have  great  influence  of  the  people  because  of  his  sanc- 
tity.    When  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  bei^an  to 


*  Compare  the  following  passages: 
Acts  xii,  17;  Acts  xv.  13,  19;  Gal.  ii. 
9  ;  Acts  xxi.  18.  In  the  passage  in  Gal. 
pre-eminence  is  assigned  him  over  Peter 


and  John,  and  with  them  he  is  called 
a  "pillar  in  the  church."  On  his  first 
visit  Paul  seems  to  have  met  that  other 
James,  "the  Lord's  brother." — Gal.  i.  19. 


230         SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVEE   IN   THE   LIFE    OF  JESrS. 

have  great  power  of  the  people,  some  of  the  Scribes  and  Phari- 
Bees  placed  James  in  one  of  the  galleries  of  the  Temple,  that  he 
might  teach  the  people  about  Jesus,  expecting,  it  would  seem,  that 
he  should  teach  them  what  would  correct  their  impression  that 
Jesus  had  risen  from  the  dead.  AVhen  cpiestioned  he  answered  : 
"  A\niy  ask  ye  me  about  Jesus  the  Son  of  Man  ?  He  sits  in  heaven, 
on  the  right  hand  of  great  power,  and  will  come  on  the  clouds  of 
heaven."  This  convinced  man}',  who,  on  the  weighty  authority  of 
James,  cried  aloud,  "  Ilosamiah  to  the  Son  of  David."  This 
made  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  so  angry  that  they  threw  him 
from  the  gallery,  and  stoned  him,  while  he  prayed  for  his  pei-se- 
cutors ;  and  a  fellow  took  the  club  with  which  he  was  accustomed 
to  beat  out  the  eL)thes,  and  despatched  the  Just  James  by  striking 
him  a  blow  on  tlie  head.  The  tradition  further  s^^ates  that  they 
buried  him  on  the  spot  where  he  was  killed,  and  erected  a  monu- 
ment to  him.  ANHiile  there  are  several  points  of  difficulty  in  this 
tradition,  it  comes  from  so  early  an  age,  and  is  so  vivid  a  picture 
of  a  good  man,  and,  as  to  his  general  cliaracter,  so  confirmatory 
of  what  we  know  of  him  from  other  sources,  tluit  Ave  furnish  it 
to  our  readei-s.* 

Josephus  {Aiit.,  XX.  0)  gives  a  different  account  of  the  death  of 
James.  He  says  that,  in  the  interval  between  tlie  recall  of  Festus 
and  the  entry  of  Albinus  upon  the  procuratorship,  the  younger 
Ananus,  the  high-})riest,  called  together  the  Sanhedrim  and  pro- 
cured the  condemnation  of  James  the  Just,  Avhom  he  delivered 
over  to  be  stoned  ;  that  the  ])eople  complained  to  Albinus,  who 
was  angered  by  the  i)roceeding,  and  that  Agrippa  was  moved  tc 
deprive  Ananus  of  the  office  of  high-priest.  "Whether  this  be 
strictly  accurate  or  not,  we  have  in  it  ant)ther  continuation  of  the 
tradition  of  the  high  respect  in  which  James  Avas  held  by  the 
people. 

10.  The  next  in  the  Apostolic  Catalogue  is  the  name  of  Judas, 
"not  Iscariot."  Matthew  (x.  3)  calls  him  "Lcbbeus,  whoso 
surname  is  Thaddeus ; "  Mark  (iii.  IS),  simply 
"  Thaddeus  ;  "  LidvO  (vi.  ID)  niul  the  writer  of  the 
Acts  of  the  AiMjstles  (i.  13),  "Judas  of  James.'"  That  these 
three  names  attached  to  one  pereon  I  think  must  be  conceded; 
but  that  Judas  was  "  the  brother "  of  James   is   not  so   clear. 

•  See  Euscbius  ii.  23,  and  Routh's  lidiqua  Sacra,  Ox.  ed.  p.  208. 


THE   TWELVE.  231 

Indeed,  it  is  contrary  to  the  nsage  of  language.  "  Tlie  son  of 
James"  is  probably  the  proper  tilling  of  the  ellipsis.  But  of  lohat 
James  we  have  now  no  means  of  knowing.  lie  is  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  the  Judas  who  wrote  tlie  General  Epistle,  who  was 
not  of  the  number  of  the  Apostles.  (Jude,  ver.  17.)  Of  the  Apos- 
tle Judas  we  have  no  record  except  in  John's  Gospel  (xiv.  22), 
where  mere  mention  is  made  of  his  taking  part  in  the  last  con- 
versation which  the  disci[)les  had  with  Jesus,  and  asking  him  how 
it  was  that  he  would  manifest  himself  to  them  and  not  to  the 
world,  showing  the  material  views  his  disciples  had  of  Jesus  up 
to  the  last  moment  of  his  mission,  and  how  little  they  sympathized 
with  Ills  lofty  spiritual  ideas. 

11.  SoioN  II.  we  so  call  to  distinguish  him  from  Simon 
Peter.  Matthew  *  and  Mark  f  call  him  "  Simon  the  Canaanite ; " 
Luke  i  speaks  of  him  as  "  Simon  called  Zelotes," 

.,  nri*  11'  •  1  Simon  II. 

and  m  the  Acts  §  of  the  Apostles  he  is  mentioned 
as  "  Simon  Zelotes."  All  we  know  of  this  man  we  gather  from 
the  names  "  Canaanite"  and  "  Zelotes,"  both  words  signifying  the 
same  thing,  and  given  to  distinguish  him.  The  writers  of  the 
Xew-Testament  memorabilia  fail  to  record  anything  he  may  ever 
have  said  or  done.  The  descriptive  addendum  to  his  name  does 
not  imply  that  he  was  a  descendant  of  Canaan,  nor  that  he  was  a 
native  or  inhabitant  of  Cana.  The  Greek  word  in  each  case 
would  have  been  different.  It  comes  from  the  Syro-Chaldee  word 
Kanean  (or  Kanaun)  which  has  its  Greek  equivalent  in  "  Zelotes," 
and  signiiics  "  zealous."  Simon  most  probably  had  belonged  to 
a  sect  who  exhibited  great  zeal  against  all  who  proposed  any 
innovation  on  the  Mosaic  ritual.  At  a  later  period  it  degenerated 
into  a  fierce  political  sect,  whose  outrages  are  chronicled  by 
Josephu6.ll  Simon  probably  brought  to  the  work  of  the  Christian 
ministry  the  warmth  of  character  which  had  formerly  led  him  to 
attach  himself  to  the  Zealots,  moderated,  it  is  to  be  supposed,  by 
the  better  teachings  of  Jesus. 

12.  Judas  the  Second  is,  in  all  the  lists  of  the  Apostles,  named 
last,  and  distinguished  by  the  epithet  "  Iscariot "  in  Matthew,^ 
Marlv,**  and  Luke,tf  each  of  whom  also  adds  a  mention  of  the 


*  Matthew  x.  4. 
f  Mark  iii.  18. 
X  Luke  vi.  IG. 
g  Acts  L  13. 


J  Wars  of  tlie  Jews,  iv.  3,  §  9. 
T[  Matt.  X.  4. 
**  Mark  iii.  19. 
ft  Luke  vi.  16. 


232         SECOND   AND    THIRD    PASSOVER   IN    THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

betrayal,  John  says  that  he  was  the  son  of  Simon,  a  commoL 
name  among  the  Jews  of  that  day.  The  name 
Iscariot  is  supposed  to  be  a  Greek  form  for  the 
Hebrew  Jsh-Kerioth,  the  man  of  Kerioth,  a  town  in  the  limits  of 
the  tribe  of  Juduh,  of  which  i)lace  he  is  supposed  to  have  been  a 
native.  Other  derivations  are  suggested,  but  none  seem  so  pro- 
\)able  as  this.  lie  was  the  only  Apostle  who  was  not  a  Galila^an. 
The  part  which  Judas  came  to  play  in  the  tragedy  which  closed 
the  life  of  Jesus  has  always  excited  a  horror  which  has  been  so 
intensified  by  oi-atoi-y,  i)()etry,  and  })ainting,  that  it  requires  some 
effort  to  examine  his  case  with  jjcrfect  fi-ecdoin  from  all  ]u-eju- 
dice,  which,  however,  it  is  necessary  to  do,  not  only  for  strict  his- 
torical fidelity,  but  in  order  to  com})rc'hend  the  relations  which 
Jesus  voluntarih',  as  well  as  those  which  he  involuntarily  sus- 
tained toward  Judas.  We  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  his 
childhood  and  youth  were  marked  with  any  more  i)rognostications 
of  a  bad  manhood  than  those  of  Peter  and  John.  Indeed,  he  was 
not  60  much  exposed  to  the  danger  of  contracting  vicious  habits 
as  those  vouuirsters  in  a  small  fishinG:  town.  His  subsequent 
defection  flings  its  shadow  back  ;  but  it  is  to  be  remembered  that 
crimes  have  been  committed  in  his  maturer  yeare  by  many  a 
man  who,  if  he  had  died  young,  would  have  been  canonized 
because  his  youth  had  been  so  saintly.  The  foolish  stories  of  the 
Apocryphal  Kew  Testament  are  mere  fantasies.  The  first  inti- 
mation of  him  in  the  Gospel  histories  is  that  he  had  ^Icssianic 
liopes,  was  looking  for  the  deliverance  of  Israel,  with  ])robable 
Becular  aspirations,  but  not  more  worldly  than  those  which  ani- 
mated the  sons  of  Jonas  and  of  Zebedee,  and  thousands  of  other 
ardent  young  Hebrews.  It  is  possible  that  lie  was  among  the 
disciples  of  John,  and  had  been  led  by  his  indication  to  follow 
Jesus  as  the  leader  of  the  great  national  hopes. 

There  is  this  much  certain,  that  nothing  had  ai)pcared  in  his 
conduct  to  arouse  any  suspicion  in  tlie  minds  of  his  brother  Ajws- 
tles.  There  was  no  i)iejudice  against  him.  On  the  contrary,  he 
uas  a  trusted  man  among  them,  and  was  made  the  treasurer  of 
the  exchecpier  which  contained  their  own  slender  means,  and 
whatever  was  contributed  from  time  to  time  to  be  disbureed  by 
their  charity  to  the  juwtr.  This  post  of  trust  and  honor  he  held 
to  the  very  last,  and  no  one  seems  to  have  suspected  any  baseness. 
And  Jesus  chose  to  add  him  to  the  number  of  those  who  diould 


THE   TWELVE.  233 

lay  the  foundation  of  his  kingdom  in  the  hearts  of  men.  And 
yet  he  betrayed  his  great  and  good  Friend. 

The  selection  of  Judas  as  one  of  his  Apostles  is,  to  historians, 
perhaps  the  most  puzzling  of  all  the  movements  of  Jesus,  the  act 
which  is  s])ecially  pressed  by  unfriendly  critics.  But  perhaps  it 
is  not  wliolly  inexplicable  even  upon  critical  grounds.  Judas  was 
a  i^owerful  man.  lie  had  prodigious  passions  and  he  had  enor- 
mous self-control.  AV^lien  Jesus,  as  a  warning  to  the  other  dis- 
ciples, dissected  the  character  of  Judas,  rumiing  the  scalpel 
around  his  heart,  this  wonderful  man  had  such  iron  nerve,  and 
muscle,  and  blood,  that  by  neither  twitch  nor  pallor  did  he  allow 
his  colleao'ues  to  see  that  Jesus  was  dissecting;  him.  He  had  g-reat 
financial  skill,  and  men  of  thought  have  always  had  a  kind  of  awe 
for  the  man  who  can  make  money.  Merchant  })rinces  are  greater 
wondei-s  and  objects  of  homage  to  the  scholar  than  the  profound 
and  scholarly  i)hilosophe]-s  are  to  the  wealthy  tradesman.  The 
disciples  admired  this  in  Judas,  and  probably  expected  that  when 
the  "  kingdom  "  should  be  set  up  their  friend  Judas  would  be 
made  "  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer." 

Judas  had  undoubtedly  professed  great  attachment  to  Jesus, 
and  must  have  felt  npon  his  rugged  nature  the  sweet  influences  of 
such  a  character.  He  was  also  among  the  expectants  of  the  Mes- 
siah. The  other  disciples  kept  him  in  their  circle,  and  as  Jesus 
winnowed  and  winnowed,  and  the  chaff  flew  away, — such  as  loved 
father  or  mother  more  than  Jesus,  such  as  must  bury  their  dead 
before  they  could  follow  Jesus,  such  as  must  be  as  secure  of  a 
bed,  at  least,  as  the  foxes  and  the  birds, — as  those  who  could  not 
endure  the  tests  of  the  new  discipleship  dropped  back,  strange  as 
it  may  seem,  it  is  nevertheless  the  historical  fact,  that,  for  some 
motive,  Judas  clung  to  Jesus.  The  motive  may  have  been  very 
base, — we  all  now  agree  in  believing  that  at  least  some  baseness 
was  in  the  motive, — but  the  disciples  did  not  detect  what  nuiy 
have  been  ver\'  apparent  to  their  sagacious  Master.  When  he 
came  to  say  which  twelve  of  all  the  disciples  had  exhibited  tliu 
greatest  devotion  to  his  cause  and  his  person,  it  was  manifest  tc» 
the  whole  crowd  that,  after  the  other  eleven  had  been  named,  \\u 
one  else  stood  in  the  company  who  had  any  claims  npon  Jesus  and 
upon  his  nearest  friends  which  could  compete  with  those  of  Judas 
Iscariot. 

Now,  if  Judas  had  not  been  selected,  who  should  have  been  tho 


234         6EC0NT)   AND    THIRD    TASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

twelfth?  The  disciples  trusted  hiin.  He  had  the  purse  of  tlia 
company.  lie  was  as  well-beliaved  as  any,  probably  much  more 
polished  than  the  rude  GuliUvan  fishermen  about  him.  lie  had 
followed  Jesus  as  closely,  he  had  been  as  useful  as  the  others. 
Wliy  should  he  not  be  chosen  ?  Some  reason  would  have  been 
demanded  bytlie  eleven,  at  least.  He  could  7nar,\ve  know:  such 
men,  it  is  usually  believed,  can  make.  He  had  probal)ly  painted 
the  glories  of  the  coming  Messianic  reign  very  brilliantly  to  the 
imagination  of  his  co-disciples.  Why  should  he  not  continue  of 
them  ?  They  had  selected  him  as  their  treasurer.  These  twelve 
had  been  coming  into  closer  communion  every  day  for  many 
months.     AVliy  should  Jesus  reject  one  of  the  friends  ? 

Jesus  knew  what  was  in  man,  what  was  in  Judas.  If  he  re- 
jected Judas,  that  man  of  powerful  passions  might  have  thwarted 
the  designs,  disordered  the  discipleship,  and  precipitated  the  des- 
tiny of  Jesus.  If  added  to  the  munber  of  the  Apostles,  Judas 
could  be  kept  nnder  the  eye  and  under  the  magnetism  of  the 
presence  of  Jesus,  so  that  if  he  had  "  a  devil,"  as  Jesus  declared, 
and  if  he  should  betray  his  Master,  as  Jesus  predicted,  that  evil 
might  be  postponed  until  the  "  seed  (;f  the  kingdom  "  should  be 
BO  planted  as  no  longer  to  need  the  personal  presence  of  Jesus, 
but  be  vigorous  and  well-grown  enough  to  need  only  his  spiritual 
fostering  f(jr  its  grcjwth  to  maturity.  '  On  this  account  it  were  well 
to  retain  Judas. 

And,  then,  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  no  historical  pei-sonage 
displays  so  much  lovingness  as  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  His  power 
over  the  world  to-day  lies  not  so  much  in  his  position  in  histor}', 
not  in  his  superior  brain,  not  in  any  s})ecial  thing  he  has  done,  nor 
in  the  remarkable  thoughts  he  has  uttered,  as  in  the  transcendent 
lovingness  which  intensiiies  and  transfigures  and  glorifies  all  his 
deeds  and  all  his  words.  Devilish  as  might  have  been  the  char- 
acter of  Judas,  why  nn"ght  it  not  have  been  right  to  afford  him  all 
the  sweet  influences  which  reside  in  the  tender  communings  of  a 
noble  br(»therh()od,  whose  spiritual  father  was  such  a  soul  as  Jesus? 
He  could  but  betray  Jesus  at  the  last.  Let  Jesus  do  nothhig  to 
hasten  catastrophes.  His  life  is  to  be  too  grand,  and  his  intluenco 
over  the  ages  too  powerful  to  make  him  afraid  lest  some  critic  of 
subsetpient  times  should  suggest  that  in  one  case  at  least  he  com- 
inittcd  a  blunder.  It  was  no  blunder  j  it  was  a  sublime  adven* 
ture  of  love. 


THE   TWELVE.  235 

As  in  the  case  of  the  other  Apostles,  we  shall  trace  the  historjF 
and  examine  the  motives  of  Judas  Iscariot  more  minutely  in  con- 
nection with  that  of  his  Master.  For  the  present  we  are  merely 
taking  a  view  of  the  general  characteristics  of  those  whom  Jesua 
first  admitted  to  his  intimacy  and  subsequently  appointed  hisi 
lieutenants. 

That  this  was  a  special  setting  apart  to  a  special  work  seema 
quite  apparent  from  the  very  face  of  the  history.  Up  to  this  date 
these  men  had  mingled  with  the  crowd  of  disci- 

1  11  •  n  "The  Twelve." 

l)les,  and  bore  no  signs  of  separation  from  their 
Lrethi-eu,  except  as  they  closed  up  in  more  solid  friendship  for 
each  other  and  for  Jesus.  The  language  of  the  historians  shows 
that  they  were  now  regarded  as  charged  with  a  mission  peculiar 
and  responsible.  The  whole  body  received  a  name.  JVever  before, 
but  almost  always  after  this  election  they  are  called  The  Twelve, 
01  StoScKa,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  other  disciples.  JVever 
lefore,  but  by  Jesus  at  their  election,  and  by  their  brethren  after- 
wards, they  were  called  "Apostles."  (Luke  vi.  13.)  It  is  noticed 
that  not  before,  but  after  this  event  the"  name  "Peter "  is  con- 
stantly applied  to  Simon  the  son  of  Jonas,  as  his  Master  had  con- 
ferred this  name  upon  him  at  his  selection,*  according  to  a  well- 
known  Oriental  custom, f 

The  inmiber  of  the  Apostles  deserves  some  consideration. 
Although  many  very  foolish  and  fanciful  things  have  been  writ- 
ten in  regard  to  the  symbolism  of  numbers,  no 
careful  student  of  the  ancient  records  can  fail  to  ^y*^'^"^^'^''''^' 
see  that  some  meaning  was  among  all  nations,  and  not  the  least 
among  the  Hebrews,  assigned  to  special  numbers.  Thus  1  sym- 
bolizes unity;  2,  antithesis ;  3, synthesis  and  the  divinity;  4,  hu- 
manity, or  the  world,  as  we  are  reminded  of  the  four  corners  of 
the  earth  and  the  four  elements,  as  anciently  supposed,  of  the  four 
seasons  and  the  four  points  of  the  compass ;  7,  the  sum  of  3  and 


*  See  Mark  iii.  16  and  Luke  vi.  14. 
There  seems  to  be  an  exception  in  Luke 
V.  8,  but  there  the  name  "Peter"  is 
merely  added  to  that  of  Simon,  and 
this  addition  is  supposed  to  be  a  mar- 
ginal note  which  has  crept  into  the  text. 

Again:    Matthew  introduces  the  name  _    _  _ 

Peter  with  that  of  Simon  before  the    right  acquired  over  them 
ordination,  but  he  couples  both  names 


(as  in  ch.  iv.  18),  and  after  the  ordina- 
tion uses  only  the  name  Peter.  See 
Greswell,  i)m.  xxvi. 

t  This  custom  still  prevails  in  the 
East.  Chrj'sostom  notices  that  masters, 
upon  purchasing  slaves,  frequently 
changed  their  names,  as  a  sign  of  the 


230 


SECOND    AND    TIIIED   PASSOVER   IN   TUE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 


Their  onlcr. 


4,  the  relation  of  God  to  the  ^vol•ld ;  10,  completeness ;-  12,  the 
product  of  3  and  4,  God's  indwelling  in  the  world,  and  we  call  to 
mind  the  twelve  patriarchs  and  twelve  tribes,  and  the  tM'clve  foun- 
dations and  twelve  gates  of  the  heavenl}'  Jerusalem.  That  Jesus 
had  the  twelve  tribes  in  his  mind  in  fixing  the  number  of  the 
Apostles  is  evident.  "When  Peter  asked  him  what  should  be  tlie 
'reward  of  those  who  foi-sook  all  and  ftillowed  him,  Jesus  said  that 
they  should  "sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel."!  Their  original  mission,  we  shall  see,  was  to  the  twelve 
tribes. 

Their  mode  of  appointment  must  have  had  in  it  something 
that  solemnly  designated  them,  whether  a  mere  call  to  step  for- 
ward from  the  crowd,  or,  in  addition  thereto,  the 
imi)osition  of  hands — something  that  put  them 
apart  fi-oin  the  ]»romiscuous  crowd  of  disciples.  And  there 
niust  have  been  some  order  in  which  they  were  called.  In  the 
enumeration  above  I  have  followed  the  catalogue  as  recited  by 
Matthew,  except  that  I  have  put  his  name  before  that  of  Thomas, 
as  Mark  and  Luke  do.  Ilis  modesty  seems  to  have  led  him  to 
nuike  this  ti-ansposition,  thus  yielding  to  Thomas  what  the  other 
historian?  do  not  give,  a  precedence  over  himself.  His  modesty  is 
further  seen  in  adding  to  his  own  name  the  reproachful  designation 
"a  publican,"  which  Mark  and  Luke  considerately  omit.;}:  Tiiat 
the  reader  may  have  before  his  eye  the  slight  variations  in  the 
roll  of  Apostles,  he  will  find  in  a  note  the  order  as  given  by  ^lat- 
thew,  Mark,  and  L\ike,  severally. §     The  precise  order  in  which 

♦  Biihr  (in  his  Si/tnljolik,  I  p.  175) 
Bays :  ' '  Ten,  by  virtue  of  the  general 
laws  of  thought,  shuts  up  the  series  of 
primary  numbers  an  J  includes  all  in 
itself.  The  first  decade,  and  of  course 
also  the  number  ten,  is  the  representa- 
tive of  the  whole  numeral  system ;  so 
that  10  is  the  natural  symbol  of  i)crfec- 
tion  and  completeuess. "  This  view  is 
adopted  by  Dr.  Fairbaim  {Ti/jxi.  of 
»Sv//».,  vol.  ii.  p.  yS),  who  conuect*  it 
with  the  U'n  plagues  of  Kgypt.  the  Ten 
CummandineiitH,  and  the  Tithes. 

f  Matt.  xi.x.  28. 

X  This  is  the  view  taken  of  this  cir- 
cumstance by  Euscbius,  Demons.  Etan- 
gel. ,  iiL  T. 


$  MATTHEW'S  ORDEB. 

LUKE'S. 

MAllK'S. 

1. 

Simon  I.  (sur- 
named  Peter) 

Simon  I. 

Simon  I. 

2. 

Andrew. 

Andrew. 

James  I. 

3. 

James  L 

James  I. 

John. 

4. 

John. 

John. 

Andrew. 

5. 

Philip. 

Philip. 

Philip. 

0. 

Nathanael  Nathanael.  Nath:uiacl 

(surnamed 

B  a  r  t  h  o  1  0- 

mew). 

7. 

Thomas. 

Matthew. 

i^Iatthew 

8. 

Matthew. 

Thomius. 

Tliomas. 

9. 

James  II. 

Jami's  II. 

James  II. 

10. 

Judas        I. 
LebbiL'us   (or 
Thaddajus). 

Simon  11. 

Judas  L 

THE  twt:lve. 


237 


Types. 


they  were  called  may  not  be  a  matter  of  vital  importance,  but  as 
the  selection  shows  something  of  the  mind  of  Jesns,  it  is  interest- 
ing to  know  whose  name  fell  first  from  his  lips,  whose  next,  and 
next,  to  the  very  close  of  the  calling. 

In  these  men  some  writers  have  seen  fundamental  types  of 
certain  qualifications  needed  for  the  propagation  of  Christianity 
Thus,  Peter  represents  Confession  ;  Andrew,  the 
manly  pioneer.  Missionary  Zeal ;  James  I.,  the 
son  of  Thunder,  Martyrdom ;  John,  "  the  beloved  disciple,"  ^ 
Mysticism  aiid  Depth  and  Calmness ;  Philip,  Com,m,union 
("Come  and  see");  Nathanael,  Sincerity,  Simplicity,  Devout- 
ness  ;  Matthew,  Ecclesiastical  Learning  /  Thomas,  Inquiry  and 
Sacred  Criticism  ;  James  II.,  Union  and  Ecclesiastical  Govern- 
ment ;  Judas  I.  (Lebbseus),  Pastoral  Faith fidness,  Discipline  ; 
Simon  II.,  Pastoral  Activity ,'  and  Judas  II.  (Iscariot),  Church 
Property.^  But  these  seem  to  be  rather  fanciful.  Gentlemen 
who  have  been  missionary  secretaries  and  treasurers,  and  heads 
of  church  publishing  houses,  would  scarcely  consent  to  recog- 
nize Judas  Iscariot  as  their  representative  in  the  Apostolic  col- 
lege. Calm  and  unprejudiced  historians  would  say,  that  while  on 
one  side  of  their  lives  these  characteristics  were  manifested,  quite 
as  conspicuously  on  the  other  side  were  other  things  exhibited ; 
and  so  Peter  might  just  as  well  represent  Falsehood  and  Coward- 
ice; James,  Bigotry  and  Ill-Temper;  John,  Vanity  and  Ferocity  ; 
Thomas,  Blind  Infidelity  ;  Matthew,  Yenality  and  Baseness ;  Si- 
mon II.,  Intolerance  and  Ritualism  ;  Judas  Iscariot,  Corruption 
and  Treachery  ;  and  all  the  rest  of  the  disciples,  Want  of  Character. 


Matthew's  order.         luke's  mark's. 

11.  Simon  II.  Judas  I.     Simon  II. 

12.  Judas  II.  (Is-  Judas  II.    Judas  II. 

cariot). 
It  will  be  perceived  that  they  all 
agree  as  to  the  relative  places  of  five  of 
the  Apostles,  making  Peter  1st,  Philip 
5th,  Nathanael  6th,  James  II.  9th,  and 
Judas  Iscariot  12th.  Matthew  and 
Luke  make  Andrew  2d,  James  I.  3d, 
and  John  4th.  Luke  and  Mark  make 
Matthew  7th,  and  Thomas  8th.  Mat- 
thew and  Mark  make  Judas  I.  as  the 
10th,  and  Simon  II.  as  the  11th.  It 
will  be  seen  that  Matthew  and  Luke 
agree  throiighout,  except  where  modesty 


led  Matthew  into  putting  himself  last  in 
the  second  class,  and  in  the  relative  po- 
sition of  Judas  I.  and  Simon. 

*  John  twice  speaks  of  Idmself  as  the 
disciple  "whom  Jesus  loved  "  (.xiii.  23  ; 
XX.  2),  a  fact  which  the  other  historians 
did  not  think  important  enough  to  men- 
tion. But  who  could  help  adverting  to 
the  most  beautiful  fact  of  his  own  life, 
or  make  memorable  a  love  so  exaltod 
and  so  distinguishing?  It  may  have 
been  vanity,  but  it  was  a  sweet  and 
lovely  and  loving  vanity,  which  is  not 
offensive  to  God,  and  ought  to  be  par- 
donable to  man. 

t  See  Lange  on  Matthew  x. 


238         SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

The  fact  is,  that  when  tliey  were  called  to  be  P|X3cial  messen- 
gers and  ambassadore  from  Jesus  to  the  nations,  tliey  were  not 
The  selection  not  po-  such   men  as   Ordinary   prudence   would   select, 
"^•^  There  was  not  one  that  would  compare  with  Saul 

of  Tareus,  who  afterward  t<x)k  the  whole  moulding  of  tlieir  infant 
society.  They  were  all  from  the  middle  ranks.  They  were  not 
learned  in  the  schools,  and  seemed  wholly  unfitted  to  cope  with 
the  scholai-ship  and  measure  arms  with  the  philosophy  f)f  the 
times.  They  had  no  money,  nor  rich  connections,  nor  political 
associations  or  influence.  They  were,  as  compared  with  refined 
society,  ill-bred,  stujiid,  and  incredulous.  If  the  purpose  had 
been  a  political  revolution,  there  was  not  a  man  among  them  who 
could  compare  with  the  Swiss  Tell,  or  perhaps  even  the  Neapolitan 
Masaniello.  If  they  were  to  overthrow  Jewish  prejudice  and 
silence  the  Tiabbis,  there  was  no  one  amongst  them  who  could 
talk,  except  Peter,  and  he  was  always  so  uncertain  that  no  reli- 
ance could  be  placed  upon  him.  In  advnnce,  one  could  not  tell 
whether  he  would  brag,  or  lie,  or  run.  There  were  j)robably  only 
two  who  knew  anything  of  the  Greek  tongue,  namely,  Peter  and 
Philip.  If  the  nations  were  to  be  speedily  moved  by  Christianity, 
it  must,  as  men  would  reason,  be  done  thi-ough  the  Roman  power 
or  Greek  civilization.  I>ut  these  men  were  all  laymen,  and  had 
neither  political  influence  nor  intellectual  culture;  they  had  no 
standing  even  among  their  own  people,  and  certainly  no  influence 
■with  their  conquerors  and  civil  rulers.  Peter  and  Andrew  were 
brothei-8.  So  were  James  I.  and  John,  the  friends  of  Peter  and 
Andrew.  So  were  James  II.  and  Judas  I.  Four  of  them  had  been 
disciples  of  the  ascetic  John  the  Baptist.  All  of  them,  except 
Judas  Iscariot,  were  of  the  most  uncouth  part  of  the  Jewish  popula 
tion  ;  they  were  Galileans,  and  several  of  them  fishermen.  They 
spoke  their  vernacular  brokenly.  It  is  as  if  a  man  should  select 
a  dozen  negroes,  of  average  character,  from  the  plantations  of  the 
Southern  States  of  America,  and  set  them  on  the  work  of  revolu 
lionizing  the  ])hilosophy  of  all  schools,  and  the  elements  of  all 
civilization,  and  the  systems  of  all  religi(»n. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  they  did  not  choose  liim :    he  chose 

them.     This  he  tells  them.     (John  xv.  IG.)     This  is  true  of  their 

They  did  not  choo«,  p"blic  Work.     They  had  gathered  about  him  and 

^^  clung  together  through  pereonal  love  of  him,  but 

thcv  liad  not  settled  it  in  their  minds  precisely  what  he  was,  and 


THE   TWELVE. 


239 


their  re^^ard  for  him  was  largely  mingled  with  an  expectation  of 
future  secular  good  and  glorj,  if  their  general  expectation  should 
prove  correct.  "  Wliat  shall  we  have,  therefore  ? "  was  the  ques- 
tion of  Peter,  who,  with  all  liis  faults,  was  certainly  not  the  most 
selfish  among  the  disciples.     (Matt.  xix.  27.) 

It  is  to  be  specially  noticed  that  there  is  nothing  of  the  modern 
Church  idea  in  anything  done  by  Jesus  on  this  or  any  other  occa- 
sion.* These  men  were  not  inducted  into  any  Nothing  of  the 
priestly  office,  or  given  any  pre-eminence  over  "Chiirch"idea. 
their  brethren.  They  were  distinguished,  discriminated,  set  apart 
for  a  special  work,  but  not  clothed  with  corporate  powers.  There 
was  no  baptism  or  any  other  rite  indicative  of  an  entrance  upon 
church  membership.  Jesus  did  not  baptize.  Ilis  disciples  had 
done  so,  but  they  had  taken  the  idea  from  John  the  Baptist,  wha 
baptized  those  who  were  already  in  the  church,  and  whose  ba|> 
tism  was  to  indicate  the  Messiah.  If  an  outward  formal  sign  did 
no  good,  it  did  no  hurt,  and  Jesus  had  allowed  it.  But  he  had 
established  no  sacrament.  These  men  hod  no  creed.  There  was 
no  creed.  They  loved  Jesus.  They  h^ped  great  things  from 
Jesus.  lie  loved  them,  and  intended  to  instruct  them,  and  leave 
with  them  "  the  gospel  of  tlie  kingdom,"  What  he  seems  to  have 
seen  in  them,  and  what  was  the  basis  of  their  call,  was  the  reli- 
giousness of  their  general  character.  Whatever  culture  they 
lacked,  and  whatever  faults  they  had,  they  had  devoutness,  devo- 
tedness,  the  capability  of  giving  themselves  finally  and  fully  up  to 
an  idea:  they  had  some  certain  noticeable  genius  for  religion. 
Them  he  selected  to  instruct ;  but  he  gave  them  no  eaoteric  cul- 
ture ;  told  them  nothing  about  himself  which  he  did  not  tell  the 
multitude ;  imparted  nothing  which  should  in  any  manner  give 
them  any  title  to  rule  others  who  believed  on  him.  Luke  (vi.  13) 
says  that  he  "  named  them  Apostles,"  and  Mark  (iii.  14,  15)  says 
that  "  he  ordained  twelve,  that  they  should  he  with  him,  and  that  he 
might  send  them  forth  to  preach,  and  to  have  power  to  heal  sick- 
ness and  to  cast  out  devils."  To  be  wholly  given  to  the  work  of 
teaching  the  truth,  and  doing  good  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men, 
was  the  work  of  these  men  sejit  of  Jesus,  and  therefore  called 


*  The  word  translated  "church" 
occurs  only  twice  in  the  histories  of 
Jesus,  namely,  in  Matt.  x\\.  18,  and 
Matt,  xriii.  17,  in  neither  of  which,  it 


seems  to  me,  can  impartial  criticism 
find  anything  like  the  modem  "  close 
corporation  "  idea.  They  will  be  exam* 
iued  in  their  places. 


240 


SECOND   AXD   THIKD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESITS. 


Apostles.  Some  organization  naturally  took  place,  after  the 
death  of  Jesus,  keeping  together  those  who  loved  him.  But  that 
they  were  to  be  considered  a  close  corporation,  keeping  all  of 
Christianity,  all  the  beautiful  and  precious  legacy  of  Jesus,  tc 
themselves,  with  powers  to  transmit  to  future  generations  of  suc- 
cessors by  mesne  descent,  never  seems  to  have  entered  the  mind 
of  Jesus,  or  any  of  The  Twelve. 


AXCISMT  lAKF-BTUriX 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE   SERMON   ON   THE   MOUNT. 


Having  set  apart  liis  cliosen  ambassadors,  it  remained  that 
Jesus  should  set  forth  the  principles  of  his  religion,  give  some 
such  evidence  of  liis  divine  right  to  teach  as  Koar  capemaum. 
should  be  able  to  move  the  generation  around  ^''"-  "■'■'  ^''•'  '"- 
him,  and  impart  his  spirit  to  those  who  were  to  infuse  it  into  the 
world.  He  proceeded  at  once  to  this  work.  The  first  movement 
was  the  delivery  of  a  discourse,  wliich  has  been  known  generally 
as  the  ^'Sermon  on  the  Mount ^^  reports  of  which  are  furnished 
us  by  Matthew  and  Luke. 

It  would  require  a  much  larger  volume  than  this  to  give  the  lit- 
erature which  has  grown  around  the  questions  of  tlie  time  and  place 
of  delivery  of  this  "  sermon,"  and  whether  Matthew  and  Luke 
report  the  same  or  different  discourses.  And  the  literature  of  the 
sermon  itself  would  make  a  library  quite  respectable  in  point  of 
size.     It  is  clear  that  much  must  be  condensed. 

The  place  was  a  mountain.  It  could  not  have  been  very  far 
from  the  lake.  The  earliest  tradition  of  the  spot  is  as  late  as  the 
middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.     That  makes  it 

TT  p    TT        •      M    1  riacc  of  delivery. 

what  is  now  called  the  "  Horns  of  Hattin,  be- 
tween Tiberias  and  Mt.  Tabor,  seven  miles  from  Capernaum,  in  a 
south-westerly  direction.  Dr.  Robinson  {Researches,  ii.  p.  307) 
gives  the  following  description  of  this  spot :  "  The  road  passes 
down  to  Hattin  on  the  west  of  the  Tell ;  as  we  approached,  wo 
turned  off  from  the  path  toward  the  right,  in  order  to  ascend  tho 
Eastern  Horn.  As  seen  on  this  side,  the  Tell,  or  mountain,  isi 
merely  a  low  ridge,  some  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  height,  and  not  ten. 
minutes  in  length  from  east  to  west.  At  its  eastern  end  is  an 
elevated  point  or  horn,  perha])S  sixty  feet  above  the  ])lain  ;  and 
at  the  western  end  another,  not  so  high  ;  these  give  to  the  ridge,  at 
a  distance,  the  appearance  of  a  saddle,  and  are  called  Ivuruii 
Hattin,  '  Horns  of  Hattin.''  But  the  singularity  of  the  ridge  is, 
10 


242         SECOND   A^'D   TllIUD   I'ASSOA'EK    IN    TflK    I.IFE    OF   JESUS. 

that,  on  reacliiiig  the  top,  you  fintl  tliut  it  lies  along  the  very  bor- 
der of  llie  great  sontliern  plain,  where  this  latter  sinks  off  at  once, 
by  a  precipitous  offset,  to  the  lower  j)lain  of  Hattin,  from  M-hich 
the  northern  side  of  Tell  rises  very  stee})ly  not  nineh  less  than  four 
hunilred  feet.  .  .  .  21ic  suiiiniit  of  tJie  luifnterii  llorn  ?.s-  a 
little  circular  plain.,  and  the  top  of  tlui  lower  ridge  hetween  llf 
two  Jiorns  is  also  fattened  to  a  plain.  The  whole  mountain  is  of 
limestone."  Dr.  Stanley  (Staidey's  iSinai  and  Palestine,  p.  ?,(\0) 
gives  the  following:  "  The  ti'adition  [of  the  Latin  Church,  w  liich 
selects  this  si>ot  as  the  'Mount  of  ]*>eatitudes ']  cannot  lay  claim 
to  any  early  date  ;  it  was  in  all  i)robability  suggested  lirst  to  the 
Crusaders  by  its  remarkable  situation.  Cut  that  situation  so 
strikingly  coincides  with  the  intimations  of  Gospel  narrative,  as 
almost  to  force  the  inference  that  in  this  instance  the  eye  of  those 
who  selected  the  spat  was  for  once  rightly  guided.  It  is  the  onl}' 
lieight  seen  in  this  direction  from  the  shores  of  the  Lake  Clcnne- 
saret.  The  plain  on  which  it  stands  is  easily  accessible  from  the 
lake,  and  from  that  plain  to  the  summit  is  but  a  few  minutes'  walk. 
The  platform  at  the  top  is  evidently  suitable  for  the  collection  of 
a  nudtitude,  and  corresponds  precisely  t(;  the  '  level  place'  (tottou 
Trehcvov),  (mistranslated  'plain'  in  Luke  vi.  17)  to  which  he 
'would  come  down'  as  from  one  of  its  higher  horns  to  addi'ess 
the  ])eople.  Its  situation  is  central  both  to  the  peasants  of  the 
Galihean  hills  and  the  lishermen  of  the  Galiloian  lake,  between 
•u-hich  it  stands,  and  would,  therefore,  be  a  natural  resort  both  to 
'Jesus  and  his  disciples  '  (Matt.  iv.  25,  and  v.  1),  when  they  retired 
for  solitude  fi-om  the  shores  of  the  sea,  and  also  to  the  crowds 
who  assembled  'from  Galilee,  fiom  Decapolis,  from  Jerusalem, 
from  Juda'a,  and  from  beyond  Jordan,'  None  of  the  other 
mountains  in  the  neighborhood  could  answer  equally  well  to  this 
description,  inasnmch  as  they  are  merged  into  the  uniform  l)ariier 
of  hills  iMund  the  lake  ;  whereas  this  stands  separate, — ^  the  momi- 
tain,'  which  alone  could  lay  claim  to  a  distinct  r.ame,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  one  height  of  Tabor,  which  is  too  distant  to  an- 
swer the  re<piircments." 

The  (piestion  as  to  whether  tlu^  discourse  beginning  in  the  tiflh 

chapter  of  Matthew  and  that  in  the  sixth  of  Luke  be  different  or 

Rn,K>rt«  by  Mnithcw   identical   is  (piite  peri>lexiug,  Jis  there  seem  to  be 

andLuko.  gravc  objectious  to  both  supjKjsitious.     That  they 

are  identical  is  believed  by  most  readci-s  upon  a  superiicial  in 


THE   SEKMON   ON   TTIE   MOUNT.  243 

Bpcction,  find  is  inaintained  generally  by  most  German  commen- 
tatoi's.  And  then  efforts  must  be  made  to  explain  the  diiferencea 
•which  occur  in  the  two.  In  Luke  we  have  only  about  one-third 
the  matter  given  by  Matthew,  four  of  the  beatitudes  being  "  bal- 
anced by  four  woes,"  as  Dean  Alford  notices;  and  some  intro 
ductory  sayings  are  recorded  M'hich  do  not  appear  in  Matthew. 
That  tliey  are  two  different  discourses  is  held  by  a  number  of 
writers,  and  among  them  Greswell  {Dissert,  xxvi.).  Against 
this  it  is  ui-ged  as  improbable  that  he  should  have  delivered  two 
distinct  discourses  so  nearly  alike,  and  both  so  near  the  begin- 
ning of  his  public  ministiy.  The  beginnings  and  the  conclu- 
pions  in  both  discourses  agi'ec.  They  seem  to  be  the  same,  and 
different.  Matthew  tells  us  that  the  sermon  was  delivered  on  a 
mount ;  Luke,  that  it  was  on  a  })lain.  If  both  histories  be  read 
carefully  and  without  prejudice,  I  think  the  following  will  occur 
to  the  reader  as  the  probable  state  of  the  case  : 

AVHiat  we  find  re])ortcd  l)y  both  Matthew  and  Luke  must  have 
been  delivered  during  the  same  journey  through  Galilee,  and  at 
the  close  of  that  journey.  AVliat  Luke  reports,  if  it  be  not  the 
same,  must  have  been  delivered  immediately  after  the  discourse 
Matthew  gives  ;  but  his  report  is  so  connected  as  to  compel  the 
abandonment  of  the  theor}'  that  it  is  a  number  of  the  apoph- 
thegms, delivered  at  different  times,  recollected  by  Matthew  and 
strung  together.  The  people  had  gathered  in  great  crowds  about 
Jesus.  lie  went  up  into  the  mountain.  His  disciples  came  to 
him.  Others  must  have  accompanied  his  disciples.  lie  deliv- 
ered the  discourse  which  is  begun  in  ]\Iatt.  v.  3.  When  that  was 
completed  he  commenced  to  descend  the  mountain.  On  the 
plateau  below  he  found  gi-eater  multitudes.  He  repeated  some 
things  he  had  just  spoken,  and  added  others,  making  together  the 
ppeech  which  begins  in  Luke  vi.  20.  It  is  not  right  to  speak  of 
tlic  former  as  esoteric  and  the  latter  as  exotey^c.  There  was 
nothing  of  that  style  in  Jesus,  All  is  outspoken  truth — such 
truth  as  individual  men  in  every  stage  of  culture  need.  But  it  is 
to  be  admitted,  to  his  more  select  and  friendly  audience  he  should 
have  spoken  more  freely  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  than  to  a 
promiscuous  assemblage. 

This  statement  of  the  case  is,  at  least,  a  natural  one,  as  all  who 
liave  preached  to  crowds  in  rural  districts  must  know,  and  consists 
with  all  the  major  and  minor  incidents  related  by  both  historiani 


244         8EC0.VT)   A>.'D   TUIKD   PASSOVER   IN    THE   LIFE    OF   JF^US. 

It  ao;reos,  too,  ■with  tlie  pliysical  conditions  of  tlic  Mount  of 
Beatitudes,  if  that  Bolected  by  tradition  be  the  mount,  as  tlie  do 
Bcriptions  given  above  exhibit,  especially  the  i)assage  from  Dr. 
Ro]>inson  uhich  is  italicized.  It  agrees  with  such  iucidents  as 
this:  Matthew  says  that  he  sat,  Luke  that  he  stood  ;  and  the  former 
he  naturally  woidd  do  on  rising  ground,  the  latter  on  a  plain. 
Matthew  represents  his  audience  as  coining  to  him  after  he  had 
taken  his  scat,  Luke  as  being  about  him  when  he  began  ;  and  this 
is  just  what  would  have  taken  place  if  the  case  be  as  is  suj)posed 
above.  It  is  to  be  noticed,  also,  that  the  case  of  the  centuiion  in 
Capernaum  ft>ll()ws  close  upon  Matthew's  account,  and  innuedi- 
ately  npon  Luke's,  thus  drawing  these  two  discoui-ses  together  in 
the  history. 

CIKCITMSTANCES. 

Before  entering  nix)n  a  consideration  of  the  teachings  of  this 
extraordinary  sermon,  let  ns  endeavor  to  place  ourselves  amid  the 
circnmstances  of  its  delivery. 

The  si)ot  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  all  Palestine.  "While 
on  other  occasions  Jesus  "  preferred  the  unostentatious  and  obscure. 
he  seems  to  have  selected  the  most  enchanting  spot  in  nature  as 
the  tem)»lc  in  which  to  o}>en  his  ministry.  Travellei-s  ai-e  wont 
to  liken  the  mountain  scenery  of  (ialilee  to  the  iinest  in  their  na- 
tive lands, — the  Swede,  llasselquist,  to  E;\st  Gothland,  and  Clarke, 
the  Englishman,  to  the  romantic  dales  of  Kent  and  Surrey.  The 
environs  of  the  Galilajan  Sea  have  been  compared  with  the  border 
of  the  lake  of  Geneva."*  The  blooming  landscape  lay  before 
the  speaker,  the  neighboring  hills  enriched  with  vineyards,  while 
to  the  west  stood  wooded  Carmel,and  snowy  Ilermon  to  the  north, 
and  down  before  him,  seeming  almost  at  his  feet,  the  bright  Lake 
of  Galilee,  glittering  and  ripi)ling  in  its  frame  of  forest.  The  vault 
of  that  cathedral  was  the  oriental  sky,  seen  through  an  atmosphere 
BO  transi)arent  that  one  who  had  spent  a  tpiarter  of  a  century  in 
tlic  Holy  Land  says  of  it :  "  One  seems  to  look  quite  to  the  bot- 
tom of  heavc^n's  i)rofoundcst  azure,  where  the  everlasting  stai-3 
abide;"  and,  standing  in  licirut,  he  says,  "  Ilow  sharply  defined 
18  every  rock  and  ia\inc,  and  tree  and  house,  on  h)fty  Lebanon! 
That  vir«'in  snow  on  its  sunnnit  is  thirty  miles  off,  and  yet  you 


♦  Tholuck,  Edinb.  Bib.  Cab.,  No.  vi.  p.  73. 


THE    SERMON    ON    THE    MOUNT.  245 

could  almost  read  your  o\vii  uame  there,  if  "written  with  a  bold 
liand  on  its  calm  cold  brow."  "■ 

It  was  in  the  sprini^  or  early  sunnner,  when  Xature  was  in  hei 
most  luscious  richness.  It  was  in  the  early  morning,  when  the  fresh 
est  sweetness  of  the  day's  smile  fell  on  land  and  sea. 

m  .  *"  '         .  .  The  tiiuc. 

The  birds  had  not  fallen  from  the  height  of  their 
morning  songs  to  the  drowse  of  the  heated  hours.  The  crowds  were 
collecting  from  every  part,  dra^'n  b\'  curiosity,  wonder,  love,  or 
by  the  strange  power  with  which  all  crowds  of  people  have  to  swell 
themselves.  The  Messianic  expectations  had  become  more  vehe- 
mently excited,  and  it  was  supposed  that  Jesus  would  soon  declare 
himself,  and  let  the  people  know  what  he  intended  to  do,  and  what 
to  teach.  As  it  was  the  iirst,  so  it  was  the  grandest  specimen  of 
field-preaching.  The  journeyings  of  Jesus,  and  his  works  and 
words,  had  drawn  great  multitudes  from  the  thickly  settled  Galilee, 
from  Decapolis,  from  Jerusalem,  and  the  neighboring  disti'icts  of 
Judiea  ;  from  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  and  from  as  far  west  as  the 
coasts  of  Tyre  or  Sidon.  (Mat.  iv.  25,  and  Luke  vi.  17.)  It  was 
an  occasion  of  transcendent  religious  intci-est  and  iuijtortance. 
The  congregation  was  great,  the  exj>ectation  was  great,  the  Teacher 
was  great.  No  discourse  ever  delivered  is  so  worthy  of  study 
and  analysis  as  this.  It  is  worth  the  while  to  endeavor  to  dis- 
cover what  there  is  in  it  which  has  produced  such  an  impression 
upon  men  and  done  so  much  for  the  moral  elevation  of  the  world. 

THE    TEXT. 

If  it  may  be  permitted  to  suggest  the  text  of  this  sermon  as  it 

lay  in  the  mind  of  the  great  and  influential  Speaker,  I  should  say 

that  it  is 

"  Character:' 

AVith  the  suddeimess  of  lightning  and  with  the  sharpness  of  a 
Burgeon's  seal  pel  he  penetrates  to  the  core  of  all  life  in  the  very  fii-st 
Fcntence.  lie  has  no  exordium,  no  pompously  announced  plar, 
no  rhetorical  rests  and  starts  and  other  tricks.  Without  prefa- 
tory, introductory,  or  apologetic  remarks,  he  plunges  right  into 
his  subject.  His  first  announcements  tear  away  all  the  shams  of 
Pharisaism,  all  the  millinery  of  churchism,  and  all  the  pretensions 
of  perfunctory  and  transmitted  religion.     To  him  succession  is 

•  Thomson,  Land  and  Book,  voL  L  p.  17. 


^46         SECOND   AND   TTimD   PASSOTER   IN   THE   LITE   07   JESUS. 

rotliing;  nothing  to  be  of  Abraham's  seed  or  Aaron's  lineage. 
Each  man  stands  out  before  him,  the  subject  of  Iiis  study,  tlio 
object  of  liis  description  ;  and  each  man  stands  in  the  loneness  of 
his  individual  responsibility,  with  no  claim  upon  attention  but  his 
character,  and  no  fountain  of  happiness  but  his  character.  Cir- 
cun^iStances  count  for  nothijig.  Hiches,  rank,  and  honors  do  not 
make  the  supreme  distinction  among  men.  Being  i)i  the  chuj-ch 
or  outside  does  not  discriminate  men  as  touching  their  chief  dif- 
ference. I>y  waters  of  baptism,  by  imposition  of  hands,  by  priestly 
garments,  by  bishop's  mitre,  by  high-priest's  breastplate,  a  man 
docs  not  attain  to  the  jx>sition  for  which  he  was  designed  and  for 
which  he  longs.  Nor  do  even  outward  acts,  however  consonant 
with  prevailing  ideas  of  morality,  however  conservative  of  the 
commonwealth,  however  consistent  with  all  the  best  men's  views 
of  what  should  be  a  good  man's  life.  All  these  things  may  be- 
long to  a  man,  and  yet  he  may  not  be  what  he  should  be — ILvrry. 
The  great  distinction  among  men  lies  in  this  :  the  being  hai>py 
and  blessed,  or  otherwise.  Kot  in  being  free  from  care,  bereave- 
ment, the  saddening  facts  of  human  history  which  fall  into  every 
man's  life  at  some  time,  but  in  having  such  a  character  that  the 
outward  shall  neither  weaken  nor  contaminate  the  imifcr,so  that  the 
man  shall  not  depend  upon  fountains  outside,  but  be  secure  in  the 
possession  of  springs  inside.  A  man  is  like  a  walled  city.  If  the 
supply  of  its  water  be  from  lakes  or  rivei-s  outside,  that  are  brought 
down  by  acpieducts  into  reservoii-s,  from  which,  by  leading-pii)es,  it 
is  distributed  through  the  city,  then  when  the  enemy  destroys  the 
aqueducts  the  city  nuist  capitulate  or  the  inhabitants  perish.  So 
with  a  man's  soul.  If  he  is  compelled  to  hrlng  in  joys  his  condi- 
tion is  most  precarious,  and  he  is  not  happy  ;  it  is  most  undignilied, 
and  he  is  not  Idesscd.  But  if  he  sends  out  joys  his  condition  is  in 
his  own  liands,  and  he  is  happy;  he  is  im[)arting  to  others  and 
he  is  blessed.  It  must  be  recollected  that  the  company  whom 
Jesus  was  addressing  was  surrounded  on  the  ecclesiastical  side  by 
chui-chism,  by  teachci-s  who  insisted  upon  everything  consisting 
in  being  Abraham's  children;  an<l  on  the  secular  side  by  the 
oi>prcssion  of  an  empire  that  had  no  sympathy  with  their  religion, 
and  no  care  for  their  temporal  ])rospei'ity,  beyond  the  point  at 
which  they  could  be  plundered  to  enrich  their  heatlien  eonijueroi-s. 
They  were  longing  for  a  !^^essi:lll,  a  n)essenger  from  Jeho\nh,  who 
ehould  be  their  Deliverer.    Ihithe  would  not  hasten  hiscomin;r,  and 


THE   SERMON   ON   THE   MOUNT.  247 

their  souls  M^erc  faint  -with  expectation.  Naturally  these  people 
needed  rest  and  ]iaj)piucss.  This  i^reat  Teacher  taught  them  the 
lessons  men  need  in  all  ages,  a  religion  which  makes  the  man  the 
nuister  of  circumstances  by  breaking  the  tyranny  of  his  surround- 
ings and  setting  up  an  inward  kingdom,  making  the  Inner  the 
ruler  of  the  Outward. 

It  was  a  reversal  of  all  their  Rabbis  had  taught  them,  and  all 
their  conquerors  had  im})rcssed  iip(jn  them.  The  former  had 
given  them  a  religion  which  consisted  wholly  in  fijrms  and  cero- 
monies  and  rituals;  the  latter  had  flaunted  their  riches  and  paraded 
their  power  in  the  presence  of  those  who  had  been  the  W(n-ld's  aris- 
tocracy, but  who  were  then  impoverished,  degraded,  and  disheart- 
ened. David's  glory  and  Solomon's  s})lendor  had  paled  before 
the  magnificence  of  a  heathen  imperialism.  Very  far  away 
seemed  all  the  grand  history  of  tlie  march  of  their  ancestoi-s 
through  the  deseit,  when  Jehovah  cared  for  their  commissariat 
and  went  before  them  in  the  solemn  pillar  of  fire  and  cloud.  In 
ghostly  thinness  walked  before  their  fancies  the  forms  of  their 
Judges,  who  in  olden  time  were  men  of  such  might  of  brain  and 
brawn.  The  Urim  and  Thummim  were  oracular  no  longer,  and 
the  voices  of  their  prophets  were  as  the  songs  of  childhood's  li(5pc- 
fulness  repeated  to  the  cars  of  j^aralyzed  and  depressed  and 
despaiiing  old  age. 

And  they  were  looking  for  a  temporal  Deliverer,  one  who  should ' 
break  the  Homan  yoke.  If  that  could  be  done,  if  Ciesar's  power 
could  be  thi-own  off,  if  a  king  should  sit  on  David's  throne  with 
whom  Caisar  would  be  compelled  to  treat  as  with  a  superior,  if 
all  nations  should  acknowledge  the  Hebrew  suprenuu-y,  then  the 
land  should  flow  ^\■ith  milk  and  honey,  and  all  the  trees  of  the 
field  should  clap  their  hands,  and  under  every  vine  and  every  fig- 
tree  should  be  seated  a  contented  and  happy  Jew,  and  the  days 
of  the  riglit  hand  of  the  Most  High  should  visit  and  rejoice  his 
chosen.  Alas!  poor  people,  they  could  not  rid  themselves  of  the 
connnon  hallucination  that  a  man  is  made  happy  by  his  surround- 
ings. They  could  not  see  that  the  Koman,  who  had  might  and 
glor}',  M'as  not  a  happy  man. 

Jesus  saw  this  great  increasing  multitude  of  people  hungry  for 
Bomething.  He  knew  tlie  sad  mistake  of  their  souls.  He  had 
BhoM-n  himself  in  all  his  life  a  pei-son  of  exquisite  and  pi-ofound 
Bympathy.     On  this  occasion  he  seemed  full  of  an  interest  which 


24S  6ECOM)    AND    THinD    PASSOVKU    IX    THK    I.lFi:    OF   .nSSUS. 

was  i^roM-iiig  ill  liiiii,  aiitl  wlicn  tlic  time  came  and  tliey  were  look 
ini;  that  he  should  dechire  himself,  that  he  should  deliue  his  posi- 
tiou,  that  he  should  give  some  intimation  of  his  desii^ns,  and  pcr- 
liaps  of  his  i)lans,  that  he  should  at  once  openly  unfurl  the  ban 
ner  of  the  Messianic  campai<T^n,  and  make  a  distinct  demonstra- 
tion against  the  Homan  Empire,  then  "he  opened  his  mouth  and 
tauijid  them."  That  was  all.  But  it  was  teaching  that  had  tnitli 
and  authority  of  manner  to  malce  it  impressive,  and  has  been  mak- 
ing greatness  and  goodness  for  nian  from  that  day  to  this. 


T  n  E     BEATITUDES. 

Elements  of  Lofty  Character. 

Ilis  first  utterance  sounds  like  the  closing  rather  than  the  open- 
ing of  a  discoui-se.     It  sounds  as  if  much  had  gone  before — very 
manv  niiestions  and  no  little  discussitni — and  now 

Happy  the  poor  in       ,  . 

Kpirit,  for  thcins  iH  tho  t''^  conclusioii  o±  tlic  wholc  matter  wjis  to  be 
kin«a«.n  of  the  luuv-  gtatcd.  II c  stmck  far  away  from  all  they  wci-e 
looking  at  in  the  very  first  words  he  spoke.  He 
gazed  upon  tlicm  and  cried  out,  "IIai'I'y  the  i-ooii  in  simkit,  fob 
TUEiiis  IS  THE  KiX(;i)oM  OF  THE  iiEAVKj^s ! "  And  tliis  decision  of 
liis  intellect,  coming  as  an  outbui-st  of  his  heart,  he  follows  uj)  by  a 
Keries  of  descriptive  characteristics  which  mark  the  man  who  is 
the  hapi>y  or  blessed  man.  And  these  we  must  carefully  exam- 
ine that  we  may  find  the  jihilosophy  of  this  Teacher,  and  learn  if 
])ossible  the  method  of  this  discourse.  It  will  be  seen  that  they 
all  describe  cJiaracter,  and  that  there  is  noi)lace  for  rank  or  wealth 
or  any  of  the  outward  distinctions  of  human  life. 

"The  poor  in  spirit"  is  the  first  characteristic.  As  this  is  a 
kind  of  key-note,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  there  has  been  much 
diversity  of  oj)inion  as  to  the  meaning  of  Jesus.  When  we  come 
to  see  how  sjtiritual  is  the  whole  tone  of  this  discourse,  we  are 
forced  to  feel  that  mere  poverty,  lack  of  material  wealth,  which  is 
the  ni(jst  literal  bare  sense  of  the  word  "  poor,"  cannot  have  been 
meant.  It  has  been  suggested  *  that  the  words  are  to  be  collocated 
BO  as  to  read,  "Happy  in  spirit  are  the  poor."  IJut  there  is  nc 
authority  for  this  arrangement  of  the  words,  and  the  oldest  MS.f 

*  By  Biich  writora  or  Olcariiu,  Wet-  I      f  The  Sinaitie  Codex. 
■teux,  Micbaclis,  and  Paulua.  I 


TITE    SERMON    ON   TITE   JIOHNT.  249 

extant  gives  the  order  MaKapioi,  oi  ittw^oi  t({>  irveVfj^arL^  and  if  tlio 
arrangement  wei'C  as  suggested  above,  it  would  l)reak  tlie  synuno- 
trj  of  the  beatitudes,  and,  finally,  it  would  be  notoriously  false. 
The  people  that  listened  to  Jesus  were  poor  enough  and  nnhappy 
enouijh.  It  Avould  have  been  to  them  neither  instruction  nor  com- 
fort  to  tell  them  in  rhetorical  flourish  that  the  poor  are  happy. 
"When  the  Emperor  Julian,  in  the  fouilh  centnr}^,  said  that  his 
only  object  in  confiscating  the  property  of  Christians  M'as  that 
their  poverty  might  confer  on  them  a  title  to  the  hingdc^n  of 
heaven,  instead  of  a  bitter  scoff  it  would  have  been  a  benevolent 
thing  in  the  Apostate,  if  Jesus  meant  mere  literal  poverty.  And 
then  it  should  follow  that  if  one  would  benefit  one's  fellow,  the 
vei-y  best  method  is  to  take  his  property,  burn  his  houses,  strip 
him,  and  turn  him  naked  and  empty  on  the  world.  There  can 
be  no  interpretation  put  upon  the  words  of  a  man  of  common 
Bcnse  which  shocks  common  sense.  Moreover,  Jesus  was  a  man 
who  was  extraordinarily  spiritual,  and  as  far  as  possible  from  being 
gross  in  his  modes  of  thought.  lie  was  surpassingly  sagacnous, 
and  as  far  as  possible  from  being  stupid,  and  therefore  could  have 
had  no  meaning  contradicted  by  the  whole  hist(M-y  of  the  race. 

The  phrase  has  been  translated  to  signify  voluntary  poverty, 
poverty  from  a  spirit  of  being  poor,  "qui  propter  Spiritum  Sanc- 
tum Yoluntate  sunt  pauperes,"  as  Jerome  says.  But  that  agrees 
neither  with  the  genius  of  the  language  nor  with  the  analogy  of 
the  discourse.  Precisely  the  sainu  graunnatical  construction  re- 
curs in  verse  8,  and  the  reader  will  see  how  violent  a  similar  ren- 
dering would  be  in  that  passage. 

There  are  two  interpretations  which  may  be  accepted  as  being 
more  natural  under  the  circumstances,  and  more  in  accordance 
with  the  whole  drift  of  the  discourse.  One  is  by  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  who  thinks  that  when  Jesus  pronounced  the  j)^')^ 
blessed,  he  meant  all  those  who,  whether  as  to  worldly  goods  rich 
or  poor,  do  inwardly  sit  loose  from  their  property,  and  conse- 
quently in  that  way  are  poor, — a  view  similar  to  that  of  Paul  in 
i.  Cor.  vii.  29  :  "  they  that  have  as  though  they  have  not."  That 
may  be  a  truth  included  in  what  Jesus  taught  on  this  occasion, 
but  is  that  the  teaching  ?  Let  us  see  if  we  cannot  find  a  still  more 
natural  interpretation. 

Let  us  recollect  the  state  of  mind  of  those  Avhom  he  was  ad- 
dressing.    "What  specially  made  them  unhappy  was  their  sense  of 


250         SKCOXD   AXD   THIRD   TASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

their  woi-ldly  poverty  as  imlividiials  and  as  a  nation.  In  any  age 
of  the  worhl,  to  any  people,  that  is  most  galling.  The  emharrass- 
ments  and  dogi-adation  of  such  a  condition  go  far  towards  break- 
ing the  spirit  of  a  man.  In  striving  to  reacOi  the  meaning  of 
Jesus,  all  a  ci-itical  historian  can  do,  and  perhaps  all  that  any 
one  ought  to  do,  is  first  to  know,  if  practicable,  what  wei-e  the 
precise  words  employed,  and  then  to  ascertain  how  those  identi- 
cal words  would  be  nndci-stood  generally  by  the  avoi'age  minds  of 
those  who  composed  the  very  audiences  he  addi'csscd.  If  the 
Bpeakcr  be  not  a  fool  or  a  charlatan  he  will  sti-i\e  to  find  for  his 
ideas  just  those  words  wliich  when  nttered  to  the  ears  of  another 
will  put  in  the  mind  of  tlic  hearer  the  idea  that  is  in  the  mind  of 
the  speaker.  Jesus  had  lived  with  the  people  he  addiessed.  Their 
vernacular  was  his  mother-tongue.  He  knew  their  hopes  and 
fears,  their  opinions  and  prejudices,  their  modes  of  thought  and 
methods  of  sjieech.  He  was  of  the  people.  lie  v.as  not  a  dema- 
gogue, in  the  sense  of  one  who  vilely  leads  the  people  astray  by 
playing  upon  their  weaknesses  for  his  own  advantage.  lie  was  a 
DemaiTorjus  in  the  loftv  sense  of  one  who  exerts  his  suiieiior  abil- 
ity  to  lead  tlie  thoughtless  and  passionate  multitude  into  sound 
thinking  and  right  acting.  He  will  speak  Avords  that  shall  be 
comprehensible  by  them  in  their  fii-st  intent  and  present  mean- 
ing, even  if  he  include  therein  a  profound  meaning  which  shall 
develop  itself  with  the  developing  ages.  "Wlien,  therefore,  wo 
come,  as  now  we  nmst  come,  to  consider  the  meaning  of  Jesus,  we 
must  endeavor  to  ascertain  M'hat  his  words  woidd  mean  to  the 
average  mind  in  all  thar.  Galilajan  and  Judiean  and  Iduuiiuan 
crowd  that  stood  about  him  ;  men  and  women  who  were  living 
before  the  early  Christian  fathers,  and  the  decisions  of  councils, 
and  o]»inions  of  those  commentatoi-s  who  run  the  golden  woi-ds  of 
the  Teaclivr  into  the  moulds  of  their  own  theories  ;  men  and  wo- 
men who  lived  aires  bef»jrc  Augustine,  and  Arminius,  and  Luther, 
and  Calvin,  and  Wesley,  and  Paulus,  and  Tholuck,  and  Strauss. 

To  sJU'h  a  ci-owd  these  words  most  probably  meant  that  they 
were  mihaiijiy  who  suffered  themselves  to  be  afllicted  by  a  sense 
of  their  want  of  mateiial  i»rosperity,  but  they  were  happy  Avho 
felt  the  want  in  their  spirits,  their  s})iritual  neediness  and  poverty  ; 
who  would  be  mdia]>i>y  if  sitting  on  Caesar's  throne  with  empty 
Bouls,  but  happy  amid  starvation  if  spirit\ially  rich.  In  general 
It  was  a  statement  of  the  superiority  of  the  s^iiritual  to  the  corpo- 


THE   SERMON   ON   TITE   MOUNT. 


251 


real.  His  hearers  "were  in  Avrctched  I'cstlessness  Lccaupc  tlic  ISFcs- 
Biali  did  not  liasten  to  coiuc  and  l)rcak  the  Roman  yoke.  They 
felt  their  poverty  as  to  the  Jlcah^  but  not  their  povei'ty  as  to  thb 
spirit^  and  they  were  unliappy.  The  first  words  of  Jesns  in  this 
disconrse  Avere  snch  as  shocked  their  hopes  of  secnlar  deliverance, 
[t  is  as  if  he  had  said  :  My  conntrynien,  yon  desire  nie  to  lea<l  a 
revolt  arijainst  the  Roman  Empire.  Yon  have  confidiMice  in  my 
ability  to  achieve  snccess.  Ycnn-  feeling  of  poverty  iiitensiiics  your 
desire  for  the  enterprise.  You  think  that  then  tlie  kingdoms  of 
this  world  wonld  be  open  to  yon.  But  I  come  to  sliow  you 
another  wa}^,  a  way  that  leads  ont  to  a  larger  and  wealtliier  ])lace. 
Happy  are  they  who  feel  their  spiritual  necessities,  for  the  king- 
dom of  the  nniverse*  is  open  to  them. 

]S^ow  this  is  a  proposition,  a  consciousness  of  the  trntli  of  which 
may  be  achieved  in  any  man's  experience,  in  some  measure,  in 
any  age  of  the  world.  The  man  who  feels  physical  want  will 
find  his  sonrces  of  happiness  in  the  physical  world;  the  man  who 
feels  his  intellectual  wants  will  find  his  sonrces  of  happiness  in 
the  intellectual  world;  wliile  the  man  who  feels  his  spiritual  wants 
finds  his  sources  of  happiness  in  all  the  dominion  of  all  the  lieavens, 
that  is,  in  the  Avhole  nniverse ;  and  he  is  a  happy  man.  lie  i-eigns 
where  CiBsar's  sceptre  cannot  reach;  and  when  all  the  Caesars 
shall  have  passed  away,  and  the  present  scheme  of  things  be  dis- 
solved, he  has  the  heavens  still,  the  constant  enduring  nnivei'se. 
Alas !  how  little  a  portion  of  the  wants  of  the  human  heart  can 
the  empires  of  Alexander,  of  the  Caesars,  of  Charlemagne,  ar.d  of 
Kapoleon  fill !  But  "  the  heavens," — which  phrase  means  the 
sphere  of  the  soul  as  distinguished  from  "the  earth,"  which  is  the 
sphere  of  the  body, — the  heavens  come  in  to  fill  the  si)irit  that  is 
empty,  if  a  man  but  feel  the  horror  of  that  emptiness  and  seek 
the  kingdom  of  the  heavens. 

•  And  then  he  expands  this  idea  by  pronouncing  those  happy 
who  mourn,  and  those  who  are  meek.  These  are  paradoxes 
levelled  at  the  secular  and  worldly  longings  of  the  Happy  thoy  who 
people.      These  men  who  listened  to  him  had  nwnni,  for  tuey  suau 

,11.1.  .  1  ,     l>e  conifoi-totl. 

seen  the  heathen  in  great  power  and  apparent 

happiness.     They  had  seen  the  magnificent  towns  and  villas  which 


*  Luke,  in  vi.  20,  calls  it  "  the  king- 
dom of  God."  The  most  natural  trans- 
lation of   the    phrase   in  Matthew    is 


"the  kingdom  of  the  universe;"  but 
both  mean  finally  the  same  thing,  aa 
God  reigns  throughout  the  universe. 


252         SECOXD    AND   TIIIKD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

had  been  erected  along  the  shores  of  tlieir  lake  hy  their  political 
lords,  and  had  witnessed  all  the  pleasnres  which  they  seemed  to 
enjoy  in  their  mansions,  with  goodly  fnrnittn-e  and  manifold  ap- 
pliances of  Inxnry.  Those  happy  Romans  did  not  mourn.  They 
had  not  seen  trailing  in  the  dust  the  standards  which  their  an- 
cestors had  made  irlorions.  They  did  not  feel  roval  hlood  tiu'diiiir 
in  them  as  llioy  bowed  their  necks  to  a  foi-eign  yoke.  To  the 
conqueriMl  Jew  they  Avcre  at  once  objects  of  hate  and  of  envy. 
And  now  to  those  Jews  Jesus  says  that  they  wlio  mourn  are  haj)- 
py !  l>ut  we  must  read  his  words  in  the  light  afftnilcd  by  the 
text  as  well  as  with  the  aids  furnished  by  the  cii'cumstances.  lie 
is  teaching  that  everything  depends  upon  character,  the  inner 
man.  He  is  drawing  them  away  from  externals  as  a  basis  of 
hai>piness.  The  man  who  bewails  not  his  tem[)oi-al  and  physical 
wants,  but  his  si)iritual  needs,  is  not  a  man  to  be  so  nnich  compas- 
sionated, lie  shall  be  comforted.  He  who  whines  and  wails  over 
his  worldly  condition  may  go  on  whining  and  wailing.  lie  has 
no  assurance  that  he  shall  have  his  condition  improved.  ]Jut  the 
man,  rich  or  })oor,  king  or  peasant,  who  feels  that  to  be  poverty- 
stricken  in  his  soul  is  the  greatest  misfortune,  and  one  by  all 
means  to  be  remedied, — who,  when  he  detects  himself  lacking 
truth,  courage,  self-control,  mourns  over  that  more  than  over 
the  absence  of  meats  and  wines  and  conches,  and  whatever 
money  buys, — such  a  man  is  a  blessed  man ;  for  he  shall  be  com- 
forted. 

The  Jews  had  lost  Judaea.  A  conquered  people  who  remain  in 
the  land  arc  jrreater  suffei-ers  than  those  who  are  banished  or  cro 
Happy  the  mo,.k.  for  Voluntarily  into  exile.  The  Jews  remained  on 
thpy  Rhuu  inherit  the  sufferancc,  Tlicy  were  put  under  the  yoke,  sub- 
jugated, saw  others  rule  what  once  had  belonged 
to  them,  and  had  been  under  their  contiol  in  fee.  Having  been 
mastei-s,  they  were  now  slaves.  They  were  far  from  being  "  meek." 
They  wei'c  very  far  from  submitting  to  the  inevitable,  but"  kicked 
against  the  jtricks,"  and  rubbed  against  the  yoke,  and  aggi-avatcd 
their  suiTcrings  by  their  hatred  of  the  compieror,  and  by  foolish, 
vain,  unfoundccl  hopes.  Once  more  Jesus  turned  them  from  tiie 
outside  to  the  imier  man,  and  pointed  to  the  hap})iness  of  those 
who  were  gentle  in  spirit,  who  soothed  themselves  and  those  al)Out 
them  by  the  (juiet  self-possession  of  their  own  soids.  Again  he 
disap])ointed  their  political  hopes  by  giving  a  spiritual  inter])reta- 


THE    SEEMON    ON    THE    MOUNT. 


253 


tion  to  a  pln-asc  witli  which  they  were  familiar."  Their  huid  was 
holy  laud,  hecaiiso  ^promised  land,  given  by  Jehoiali  to  Abraham 
and  his  seed  to  possess  it.  It  was  to  them  the  type  and  the  per- 
petual prophecy  of  that  better  land  beyond  death.  Tliere  never 
has  existed  a  i)eople  who  had  a  nK^re  desperate  and  fanatical  at- 
tachment to  the  soil  upon  which  they  were  born  than  the  Jews. 
Their  patriotism  M'as  their  reliirion,  and  their  religion  their  pa- 
triotism. The  land  of  Abraham  was  heaven  on  eai-th.  To  be  in 
Abraham's  bcjsom  was  to  consununate  the  hopes  of  earth  by  what- 
ever bliss  might  be  in  heaven. 

The  Eomans  held  the  land  of  Abraham.     The  Jews,  ^vllo  wei-e 
plotting  revolts  and  stirring  up  insurrections,  Avere  losing  every- 
thing.    They  were  missing  all  domestic  enjoyment ;   thoy  were 
failing  to  improve  their  lands  and  their  houses,  and  to  promote 
the  growth  of  true  religion  among  their  children  ;  so  that  while 
they  "dwelt  in  the  land  "  it  was  as  prisoners.     All  they  loved 
was  going^  to  decay  before  their  eyes.     They  wei-c  afilictcd  with  a 
mania  which  has  not  died  out  from  among  men,  Ijut  e\-ery  now 
and  then  in  modei-n  times  breaks  forth,  a  feverish  feeling  that 
everything  depends  upon  the  political  condition  of  a   people. 
Proud,  violent  men  inflame  the  people  with  this  idea.     Proud, 
violent  men  believe  that  happiness  is  in  high  i)ositi()n  and  fame' 
in  being  in  a  condition  to  lord  it  over  their  fellows.     It  is  all  a 
mistake.     A  man  who  has  a  quiet  good  soul  can  be  just  as  good 
and  great,  can  live  as  ha])pily  and  die  as  nubly  in  Puissia  as  in 
France,  in  France  as  in  England,  in  England  as  in  America. 
Emperor,  king,  president,  it  makes  so  little  difference  that  it  is 
not  worth  one  human  life  to  change  it.     An  ambitious,  selfish, 
ill-tempered,  weak  man  will  be  unhai)iiy  anywhere.     A  meek 
man  is  not  a  weak  man,  but  one  who  has  the  strength  to  hold 
liimself  in,  as  one  by  a  strong  bridle  holds  a  stroiig  and  fiery 
horse.     He  will  be  happy  anywhere.     He  will  inherit  the  earth. 
He  M-ill  be  in  the  enjoyable  possession  of  the  earth,  fur  that  is  the 
meaning  of  the  Avords.     This  is  a  general  truth.     Conqueroi-s  over- 
run a  land,  but  they  do  not  enjoy  it.     The  king  is  often  overbur- 


*  Compare  Deut.  xix.  14;  Psalm  xx v. 
13  ;  xxxvii.  9,  for  variatious  of  this 
phrase.  "The  laud  "  is  spokeu  of  re- 
peatedly through  Deuteronomy  as  be- 
longing to  the  Jewish  people.     All  are 


familiar  w-ith  the  words  in  the  Fifth 
Commimdment.  Jesus  iu  this  passage 
uses  the  precise  phrase  which  occurs  in 
I's.  XXX vii.   11. 


2j4         6EC0XD   AND   TIIIKD   PASSOVEK   IX   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

dcncd  witli  tlic  load  of  statcship,  and  lidcs  in  magnificent  wcari- 
nops  over  inniicnse  domains  from  Avliicli  he  can  draw  no  increase 
of  delight ;  while  down  those  valleys  and  on  those  hill-slopes, 
in  a  thctusand  cottages,  arc  multitndes  of  men  and  women  and 
little  cliildi-en  who  really  "  inherit,"  by  enjoying  all  the  earth 
can  yield  of  physical  delight,  and  in  those  cloisters  arc  many 
stndents  who  "iidicrit"  by  enjoying  all  the  intellectual  delights 
wliich  a  study  of  the  earth  can  give. 

If  these  people  whom  Jesus  addressed  were  expecting  that  in 
the  reign  of  the  Messiah  they  should  have  material  riches,  worldly 
pleasures,  and  the  indulgence  of  the  ])ride  of  power,  and  if  they 
supposed  Jesus  to  be  the  Messiah,  they  M-cre  to  be  disappointed. 
He  was  no  i-evolutionist.  He  Avas  no  political  preacher.  lie  had 
a  dee] )er,  loftier  nn'ssion.  lie  had  not  come  to  "fire  the  Jewish 
heait,"  but  to  purify  the  spiritual  life  of  the  world.  So  through- 
out this  discourse  he  describes  all  excellence  as  consisting  in 
character,  and  all  real  happiness  as  having  its  fountains  in  the 
soul.  There  is  not  a  single  beatitude  which  has  its  basis  in  exter- 
nal things.  Jesus  thus  j)laiidy  instructs  them  in  the  beginning 
that  they  are  not  to  regard  him  as  being  about  to  add  himself  to 
the  number  of  those  conquerors  who  di\ide  the  acquired  territory 
among  their  followers.  They  may  have  been  expecting  that  he 
should  subdue  the  world  and  give  it  to  the  Jewish  people.  lie 
had  no  su(th  intent.  Those  that  hxjked  for  such  things  need  not 
be  followei's  of  Jesus.  There  was  no  happiness  in  all  this  worldly, 
exorliitant,  insatiable  heat.  The  kingdom  he  should  set  up  would 
bo  in  the  hearts  of  men. 

And  so,  Avhenever  occasion  served,  Jesus  restored  to  their  spiri- 
tual meaning  phrases  and  passages  of  the  Holy  Scri])tures  which 

the  Jews  had  lowered  to  a  most  secular  significa- 
gcr  im.i  thirst  aficr  tion.  Aud  thcTi  lic  intensified  and  still  more 
[Im^iru-'iTcT  '"'  '^^^  ^'i^l'ly  sjuritualized  those  passages.    Almost  every 

l)hrasc  he  uses  must  have  recalled  some  well- 
known  expression  in  the  Prophets,  the  Psalms,  or  the  Law. 
,  Thns  he  des(;ribes  the  hapi)y  man  as  one  who  "  luingei-s  and 
thii-sts  after  righteousness."  In  the  East  thirst  implied  the  most 
intense  desire,  and  was  the  most  vivid  i-epresentation  of  lodging 
to  a  people  who  dwelt  in  lands  where  there  was  a  scarcity  of 
■\vatci-.  Thia  unspeakable  desire  to  be  upright,  right  towards  God 
\n(l  man,  light  inwardly,  whether  the  life  should  be  able  to  be 


THE   SERMON    OX   THE   MOUNT.  255 

brought  to  the  high  standard  or  not,  tin's  marks  a  true  man. 
.Hunger  seeks  to  eat,  and  thirst  to  drink.  It  nmst  be  an  inward 
satisfaction.  The  man  may  be  up  to  his  h'ps  in  -water  and  in  food, 
and  all  things  ontward  fail  to  satisfy  him.  The  words  of  Jesua 
nuist  have  reminded  his  hearers  of  David's  simile  of  the  hart 
panting  after  the  water-brooks  (Ps.  xlii.  1),  and  the  outcry  of  in- 
vitation in  Isaiah  (Iv.  1):  "IIo!  everyone  that  thirstcth,  come  ye 
to  the  watei-s."  Perhaps  it  recalled  also  that  remarkable  passage 
in  the  Psalms,  "I  shall  appear  in  righteousness  before  thy  face 
I  shall  be  saiUjltjd  when  thy  glor}^  appcai-s."*  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  the  promise  made  is  of  the  inward  and  not  of  the  outward. 
Longings  for  i-ighteousness  are  to  be  satisfied  by  rigliteonsness. 
The  reward  of  loving  is  the  increased  power  to  love.  The  reward 
of  longing  to  be  righteous  is  the  increased  power  of  being  right- 
eous.    All  such  people  shall  be  filled. 

Having  given  these  blows  to  secular  ho]>es  by  stating  three  of 
the  characteristics  of  those  who  are  really  happy  and  blessed,  such 
as  he  should  desire  to  have  for  his  subjects  if  he  is  to  be  king  of 
men  in  any  sense,  he  innnediately  states  three  other  characteristics ; 
and  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  first  three  are  such  as  a  man  will 
be  conscious  of  in  his  own  soul  while  they  may  be  wholly  unknown 
to  others,  M-hile  at  least  two  of  the  next  three  open  into  the  visible 
life. 

The  hidden  growth  of  grace  now  bcghis  to  bring  forth  fruit. 
The  man  who  has  felt  and  mourned  his  poverty  of  s})irit,  who  has 
l)ecome  self -continent  and  meek,  whose  heart  has     „       ,.         ., , 

'  n:iiii)y  the  merciful, 

been  athirst  for  righteousness,  is  not  selfish,  but  fw  they  shaii  obtain 
goes  out  in  love  and  pity  to  his  fcllow-fnen.  The  ''""^''^" 
subjects  of  a  spiritual  kingdom,  which  is  to  consist  in  the  para- 
mount influen(;e  of  love,  are  to  be  merciful.  Conquering  warriors 
were  not  ordinarily  merciful,  but  had  what  the  heathen  thought  to 
be  the  sweets  of  hating.  Tlie  conquered  were  not  merciful,  but 
had  the  sweets  of  revenge.  And  neither  were  hap])y.  The  hai)py 
man  is  he  Avho  seeks  to  make  othei-s  happy,  whether  they  be  good 
and  grateful  or  bad  and  thankless. 

The  next  characteristic  of  the  happy  is  that  they  arc  ]>ure  in 
heart,  heartily  pure,  loving  purity,  and  seeking  to  have  it  inwardly. 


*  This   translution   I   give  from   the  I  Ps.  xvL   15.     In   our  common  English 
Septuagiut  version,  where  it  occurs  in  I  version  it  is  xvii.  15. 


256  SECOND    AND    TIIIKD    PASSOVER    EN    THE    LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

The  logical  connection  between  this  "beatitude"  and  that  which 
Happy  the  pure  In  hnniediatclv  precedes  and  follows  is  not  quite  so 
ncnrt,  for  they  8hau«.c  appaicut.  Lidecd  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether  in 
the  mind  of  Jesus  there  was  anything  of  tliat 
Strict  scholastic  arraugeiuent  of  ideas  which  so  many  connnentatoi-s 
endeavor  to  construct  for  this  discoui-se.  Kevei-theless  tlicre  must 
have  been  in  the  mind  of  this  great  teacher  some  thread  of  dis- 
com-se,  some  nexus  of  tliought  or  feeling  which  i)rumpted  the 
succession  of  ideas.  Pei'haps  it  is  found  in  the  meaning  assigned 
by  Jesus,  which  may  not  have  been  the  modern  sense  of  purity. 
Perhaps  he  did  nt)t  mean  those  who  are  free  from  violation  of 
the  seventh  comnumdment,  but  rather  those  who  from  the  heart 
observe  the  ninth;  not  so  nnich  those  who  are  not  carnal  as  those 
who  are  not  cunning.  lla})py  the  sharp,  cunning  man,  is  the 
general  verdict.  Sueh  men  are  sui)posed  to  be  a1)le  to  secure  the 
riches,  the  honoi's,  the  glories  of  the  woild.  Thev  are  the  irrand 
speculators,  the  successful  diplomatists.  But  Jesus  declares  that 
the  innocent,  the  innocuous,  those  whose  souls  are  honest,  whoso 
intents  are  guileless,  whose  s})irits  are  surrounded  by  a  moral 
atmosphere  of  perfect  transparency, — that  these  are  the  blessed, 
happy  men. 

And  he  assigns  tliis  remarkable  reason  for  such  blessedness — 
"  they  shall  see  God."  Kow,  as  all  the  happiness  nnist  in  some 
sort  correspond  with  the  condition  of  character  stated,  we  can 
be  assisted  by  an  miderstanding  of  one  to  the  compi-ehension 
of  the  other.  What  is  this  vision  of  God,  and  when  shall  it  take 
place?  Some  have  held  that  vvdo  heatljiva  wsis  real  bodily  sight, 
othei*s  that  it  was  purely  mental,  others  that  it  was  both  physical 
and  spiritual ;  some  that  it  is  now,  others  that  it  will  be  in  the 
state  of  existence  which  the  soul  shall  maintain  beyond  the 
grave,  (jthers  that  it  is  both  here  and  hereafter. 

That  .Jesus  simply  used  these  words  in  a  spiritual  sense  I  have 
no  doubt,  nor  do  I  doubt  that  tliey  signify  a  blessedness  which 
is  not  conlined  to  either  life,but  is  as  true  of  the  here  as  of  the  hei'C- 
after.  It  is  familiar  to  the  students  of  the  IJible  that  these  writ- 
ei-s  use  "see  "  and  "  know  "  almost  intei-changeably.  The  Great 
Teacher  ju-obably  intended  to  con\ey  the  idea  that  in  order  to 
know  Ciod,  to  undeistand  His  natui-e  and  1 1  is  ways,  simple-heart- 
edness, clear. less  of  the  atmosphere  about  tlic  mind  an<l  heart,  is 
necessary;  t'.iat  tlie  bhai-pness  which  wins  in   the  games  of  life, 


THE    SERMON    ON    THE    ilOUNT.  257 

and  the  sagacity  whicli  obtains  among  men  the  reputation  of  a 
knowledge  of  Inimau  nature,  M'hich  reputation  so  many  covet, 
come  to  nothing  in  the  studies  which  men  make  of  God. 

And  that  this  is  true  every  man  may  know  for  himself.  The 
best  and  noblest  thoughts  of  God,  the  most  sunny  and  cheering 
and  elevatiufj,  are  not  such  as  we  have  throurrh  commentators. 
Few  things  are  moi'e  disheartening  than  the  reading  of  very  many 
expositions  of  the  Scripture.  The  mole-like  delving,  the  petty 
distinctions,  the  insignificant  discriminations,  the  scholastic  sub- 
tleties of  "  the  Fathers,"  so  called,  the  cold,  worldly-wise  argu- 
mentations of  more  modern  writers,  are  all  so  many  obstructions 
to  the  i)ui-suit  of  the  fresh  truth.  What  truths  they  have  ai-e 
arranged  like  the  plants  in  the  most  artificial  of  Dutch  gardens, 
while  the  "Garden  of  God"  is  a  jungle  of  natural  beauties  and 
sweetnesses.  On  this  question  of  the  visio  Dei^  seeing  Ciod,  i-ead 
what  is  said  by  Tertullian,  Chrysostom,  Augustine,  Enthytnins, 
Theodoret,  Voi"stius,  Yoetius,  and  a  score  of  others,  ancient  and 
modern,  that  lie  on  the  table  beside  the  present  writer,  and  at  the 
•.lose  you  ^vill  feel  as  if  you  must  rise  and  shake  the  skirts  of  the 
garments  of  your  soul,  and  plunge  into  some  deep  forest,  or  climb 
some  lofty  peak,  or  go  so  far  out  t)n  lake  or  sea  that  the  sounds  of 
men  do  not  reach  you,  and  look  up  into  the  great  sky,  and  down 
into  the  greater  depths  of  your  spirit,  and  open  the  windows  of 
your  soul  that  the  air  of  the  breath  of  God  and  the  light  of  the 
smile  of  God  may  enter. 

"  The  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God  "  (1  Corinthians  i.  21),  is  a 
general  truth.  In  the  original  the  preposition  used  i^id)  contains 
a  figure  of  speech,  which  being  incorporated  the  words  might  be 
translated,  "  The  world  does  not  find  God  at  the  other  end  of 
wisdom,"  by  which  is  meant  shrewdness,  skill  in  matters  of  com- 
mon life,  and  even  abilit}-  in  the  department  of  dialectics.  Purity 
of  character  is  needed,  total  cleanness  of  the  soul,  and  such  as 
have  this  have  the  blessed  vision  of  God.  One  such  man,  \\\\o 
never  befools  himself  with  the  adoption  of  an  error  because  it  is 
pleasant,  and  never  takes  his  opinions  at  second-hand,  believing 
them  because  they  are  tanght  by  one  who  has  a  great  name, — a 
man  whose  lusts  and  ]>assions  are  not  allowed  to  make  such  a 
fume  about  his  soul  that  the  very  sun  of  truth  is  hidden, — a  man 
whose  moral  atmosphere  is  ti-anslucent,  sees  God,  knows  God,  and 
shall  see  and  know  Ilim  forever.  The  jrlass  to  be  used  in  the 
17 


258         SECOND   A'SB   THIRD   PASSOVER    IN   TIIE    LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

telescope  lifted  to  gaze  into  tlic  greatest  depths  which  vision  can 
peiiotratc  must  be  flawless  and  colorless,  otherwise  all  observations 
will  be  inaccurate  and  all  calculations  thereupon  be  false  and 
misleading.  The  lesson  of  the  Teacher  is  against  double-minded- 
iiess,  guile,  and  all  kinds  of  mental  as  well  as  moral  impurities, 
as  interfering  with  the  highest  privileges  and  pleasures  of  the 
soul. 

And  then  follows  the  last  of  the  characteristics  of  the  IlArpy. 

It  would  seem  most  luitural  that  if  any  body  of  men  can  be  found 

who  are  distinmiished  by  the  predominance  of 

Happy     the    peace-  .    Y  ^  x 

mukei-K,  for  they  shall  tlic  characteristics  we  have  been  studying,  they 

be  called  sous  of  God.       ^^.jj|   ^^  j^^^.^^  ^.J^^    g|^^||    :^^    eUgagcd  hi  tllC   blcSSCd 

work  of  pacification,  and  shall  be  making  peace  among  men  skil- 
fully and  on  a  proper  basis,  as  distinguished  from  those  who 
increase  difficulties  by  their  bungling  interference,  and  thereby 
compromising  the  right  in  making  settlements.  Touched  by  a 
sense  of  their  own  spiritual  wants,  mourning  over  their  own  frail- 
ties of  temper  and  character,  meek,  merciful,  and  guileless,  see- 
ing things  in  clear  light,  humane,  but  hating  all  wrongs,  they  Avill 
be  the  very  people  who  shall  bring  together  those  who  have  been 
sei)ai'ated. 

And  here  is  the  final  blow  to  the  secularity  of  their  Messianic 
hopes.  They  had  dreamed  of  going  forth  conquering  and  to 
conquer.  How  hai)py  should  they  be,  pouring  out  of  all  the 
gates  of  Jerusalem,  and  from  all  the  hamlets  of  Judira,  following 
their  divine  Leader  to  Home,  hurling  Ciusar  from  his  throne, 
gathering  all  the  crowns  and  sceptres  of  the  world  into  their 
arms,  and  trampling  the  heathen  and  the  Gentile  under  their 
feet !  There  is  no  such  happiness  in  store  for  them.  The  climax 
of  the  description  whic-h  Jesus  gives  of  his  followers,  of  the  ])eo- 
ple  he  desires  to  collect  ab<jut  hiin,  is  that  they  are  to  be  peace- 
makers, exerting  the  gentle  but  powei-ful  influence  of  benign 
lives  on  the  turbulent  passions  of  men,  and  preventing  and  curing 
the  dissensions  of  the  world.  Such  men  a7'e  sons  of  God,  and 
Jesus  teaches  that  their  relationship  and  likeness  to  the  l\[ost  II igh 
God  shall  be  recognized.  They  shall  be  "  called,"  considered, 
"sons  of  God,"  not  little  children,  but  adult  sons  of  the  King  of 
Peace.  Every  man  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus  will,  as  the  ground 
of  his  kinship  to  the  II<^ly  Father,  do  whatever  in  him  lies  to 
bring  an  end  to  all  violences  among  men,  so  that  while  that  great 


THE  SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT.  259 

diversity  Of  intellectual   difference   shall   continue,  winch  God 
ntends  shall  be  in  men  forever,  their  passions  may  noc  be  kindled 

tliei-eby  nito  outbreaks  that  destroy  society 

The  existence  of  ^vars  shows  how  far  men  are  yet  from  comin. 

wholly  under  the  domnnon  of  the  principles  of  Jesus.     But  let 

HO  man  be  discouraged.     Earth  distributes  its  prizes,  and  heaven 

bestows  Its  honors.  In  the  estimate  of  God,  a  man  who  isZ 
^od  in  breaking  the  peace  of  the  universal  commonweal  is 
despicable,  and  the  peacemakers  are  the  highest  style  of  men 

Ihe  warnors  wrap  themselves  in  bloody  garments  to  lie  down' 
aruK  the  insane  plaudits  of  a  vulgar  generation,  in  everlasting 
toigetfulness  while  simple-hearted  pacificators  go  up  to  the  high 
places  m  the  loftiest  society  of  the  universe. 

Having  made  this  ideal  representation  of  the  discipleship  of 

hat  Messiahs  up  which  he  chose  to  represent,  Jesus  glanced  at 
the  sufferers  in  the  past.     They  had  been  very 
much  such  persons  as  he  liad  described,  and  thev  ^^''^^^''''y^-^'^^^^^ 

coorviorl   f^  1  -11  ,.  '  y     ^^^'^     persecuted      on 

seemea  to  liare  perished  out  of  the  world  miser-  ''<=^°"°t  of  rigoteous- 
ably.     They  might  have  been  cited  as  a  ref nta-  ^^TZt:: 
cion  ot  ins  statements,  for  their  sighs  and  groans  ''"'  (""^  '^°'''^^  of  '>-« 
were  a  strange  echo  to  his  repeated  "  Happy  hap-  """'■"^• 
py,  happy!"      But  they  are  happy.      "  nLppy  they  that   ha^•e 
been  persecuted  on  account  of  righteousness."     Persecution  is 
rep-sented  in  the  orighial  text  by  a  word  taken  from  the  chase 
and  from  war,  the  stronger  frightening,  pursuing,  canshig  to  run, 
those  who  are  the  weaker.     The  good  are  not  dways  hi  j>ower 
and  when  the  evil  have  rule  the  good  are  made  to  sutler.     But  if 
a  nian  has  come  into  that  affliction  because,  when  the  question  of 
r.ght  and  wrong  was  thrust  upon  him,  he  stood  up  for  the  ri-ht  he 
IS  not  to  be  compassionated.     The  tyrant  is  to  be  pitied,  not  'the 
victim.     Brief  pain  and  everlasting  glory  is  the  martyr's  reward, 
f  he  was  a  martyr  because  he  preferred  dving  to  sinnin.^      Brie 
triumph  and  everlasting  shame  belong  to  him  who  was  the  nuili-- 
nant  destroyer.     Generations  of  even  bad  men  who  suc-ceed  ^'^i 
tymnt  condemn  him,  while  they  praise  his  victim.     It  is  cAu,  actc'r 
not  circu7nstaiice,  that  makes  the  happiness 

..T'^A  i'  r^  ^''''^''  '^  ^f '"•  ^  ^"^"  ''  '^«^'  ^^Wy  because  he  has 
siiftercd,  but  because  he  has  suffered  for  the  sake  of  bein<.  rio-ht 
It  IS  the  cause  and  not  the  pain  that  makes  a  martyr.  Ami  nmv' 
when  Jesus  looked  upon  the  noble  army  of  martyrs  who  had 


260         RECONT)    AND   TIIIRD   TASSC  VEU   IN    TITE    LIFE    OF  JESTT8. 

chosen  to  koe})  an  unbroken  manhood  in  suffering  ratlier  tlian 
purchase  pleasure  by  surrender  of  their  souls,  he  exclaiim  il, 
"  IIa])py  those  who  have  suffered  on  account  of  riy;hteousiicss :  the 
kingdom  of  the  heavens  is  theirs:  they  stood  awliile  in  the  nar- 
row pi  lu-e  of  torture,  dungeon,  or  rack ;  tlicy  arc  now  free  in  all 
the  width  of  the  dominion  of  the  universe.  If  they  had  suitcu- 
dei'cd  the  right  to  avoid  the  i)ainful,  they  would  have  so  belittled 
their  spirits  as  to  ha\c  bccu  miserable:  but  now  they  possess  what- 
ever delights  the  iniivei'sc  can  pour  in  on  souls  that  are  truly 
great." 

It  was  natui-al  that  Jesus  should  then  turn  with  a  special  ten- 
derness towards  those  who  were  liid<ing  their  fortunes  with  his, 
and  who,  by  becoming  his  disci})les,  were  to  try 
Happy  ye,  when  they  tlic  experiment  of  being  such  pei-sons  as  lie  had 

ehnll   revile  yoii,    and  _  '  o  i 

persecute  yon,  and  say  dcsciibcd.  If  tho}'  bccamc  poor  iu  Spirit,  and 
every  baa  thing  K«ai„st  ^^^^^j.  ^^^^  mercifid"'  aud  pui-e-hcai-tcd,  and  peace- 

j'ou  falsco",  on  accoinit  i  'I 

of  me.    Rejoice  ami  uiakcrs,  tlic  World  w^ould  liatc  and  ])ersecute  them. 

8  on  ,  or  yonr  n-war.  Tluit  trOUblc  WOuld  COIUC  OU  acCOUUt  of  JcSUS — • 
wpreatm  the  heavcnH : 

for  thus  they  por^icu-  bccausc  tlicy  wcrc  followpi^s  of  him.  In  the  col- 
ted   the  prophcta  who    -i-    •  c  ft  "111  -li  i  ii 

were  before  ^ou.  lisious  ot  litc  mcu  Will  1)0  rcvdcd  and  persecuted. 

Thei-e  is  nothing  in  that  to  make  joy;  on  the  con- 
ti'ary,  if  any  trouble  has  arisen  from  a  man's  own  imprudence,  it 
is  a  cause  of  great  regret  and  pain.  But  wlion  eveiy  kind  of.  bail 
thing  has  been  spoken  falsely  of  a  man.  aud  the  utterauce  of  it 
has  been  j)rom])ted  l)y  the  bad  that  is  in  those  who  malign,  excited 
by  hatred  of  his  goodr.ess,  let  him  rejoice,  yea, let  him  e\en  exult. 
It  is  proof  of  the  positiveness  and  vigoi- of  his  character  and  good- 
ness. l']v(M-y  man  that  has  Hung  himself  on  his  generation  to  do 
them  g<.'od  has  had  this  kind  of  trouble.  Evil  is  ])ositive.  Good 
nnist  be  positive.  Tiiey  will  collide.  &  inuc/i  the  wo  rue  for  iJiA 
evil.  Why  cannot  we  leai-n  that'^  A  man  slandci-s  anothei-,  cir- 
culates lies  that  are  injurious,  and  the  misie|>i-csented  paity  is 
regarded  as  the  danuiged.  Is  he  ?  Is  it  not  the  slanderer  who  is 
hurt?  At  the  close  of  the  day,  mIio  ought  to  shout  in  his  closet: 
the  slandeiei",  who  has  succeeded  in  making  his  lies  tempoi-arily 
believed,  and  thus  done  vast  injury  to  his  own  character;  or  the 
meek  man,  mIio  has  not  allowed  the  falsehood  of  his  ]>oi-secutor  to 
damage  Jiis  character  by  arousing  unholy  resentments? 

The  heavens  arc  very  wide.     There   is  room  in  the  univci-sc. 
Tlic  growth  of  the   character  will  he  the  gnod  man's  eveilastiug 


TIIE    SEEMOX    ON    THE   MOUNT,  261 

joy.  The  prophets  were  not  destroyed  :  hut  what  of  their  persecu- 
tors ?  Did  you  ever  hear  of  Magor-missahib  ?  No?  lie  was  the 
t-aine  as  Pashur.  "And  who  was  Pasluir?"  The  inuocent  igno- 
raiK'O  implied  in  that  question  tells  the  wliole  story  of  the  relation  of 
[)ersecntors  and  the  persecuted.  Pashur,  named  Magor-missabih, 
was  a  great  man  in  his  day.  lie  was  the  sou  of  Immer  the 
priest,  "  who  was  also  chief  governor  in  the  house  of  Jehovah." 
There  was  an  earnest  brave  man  in  his  day  named  Jeremiah,  and 
this  man  spoke  words  of  great  truth  very  courageously,  but  they 
were  bitter  words  to  an  evil  people  and  priesthood.  And  so 
Pashur  threshed  him  and  put  him  in  the  stocks  in  a  most  public 
place  near  the  Tem|)le,  and  left  him  there  all  night.  (Jeremiah 
XX.)  But  Pashur  was  carried  to  Babylon  a  slave,  and  died 
obscurely  there.  There  would  be  no  memory  of  his  name  on 
earth  at  this  day,  but  for  the  fact  that  Jeremiah  has  pilloried  him 
in  a  book  which  the  world  will  never  let  die,  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  which  are  printed  every  year,  although  twenty-four  cen- 
turies have  elapsed,  and  Jeremiah  is  among  the  innuortals.  Of 
all  the  kings  of  Da\id's  family  who  sat  on  David's  throne,  there 
was  no  one  who  reigned  %o  long  as  Manpsseh,  the  twelfth  king  of 
Judali.  And  yet  of  no  one  is  so  little  known. '  The  historians 
avoid  as  much  as  may  be  all  mention  of  his  reign.  If  the  tradi- 
tions of  his  people  are  to  be  relied  on,  he  caused  Isaiah  to  be  sawn 
asunder.  Ko  words  of  the  king  are  remembered.  No  actions  of 
liib  are  regarded  as  memorial  and  exemplar3\  But  Isaiah's  words 
have  inspired  the  preachers  and  prophets  of  all  succeeding  times, 
and  to-day  are  preserved  among  the  most  precious  treasures  of  all 
luunan  literature.  And  so  it  has  been,  is,  and  will  be,  until  right 
aud  wrong  shall  cease  to  oppose  each  other.  Great  is  their  reward 
in  all  the  heavens  who  suffer,  being  in  the  right. 

VALUE    OF   A    LOFTY    CHARACTER. 

What  Jesus  says  of  the  position  of  his  disciples,  those  who  are 
distinguished  by  the  characteristics  he  has  mentioned,  is  so  plain 
as  to  need  little  exposition.  He  braces  them  against  the  storm 
which  is  to  beat  upon  them,  by  reminding  them  of  the  transcen- 
dent importance  and  dignity  of  the  functions  which  they  are 
to  discharge  towards  the  world.  They  are  the  world's  conservatorg 
and  illuminators,  its  salt  and  its  light.  Without  them  the  world 
would  rot  in  utter  darkness.     That  is  to  be  true  in  all  ajres.     Take 


262         SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVEE   IN   THE   LIFE   OF  JESUS. 


men.  Ye  are  the  light 
of  the  world.  A  city 
set  oil  a  hill  cannot  be 
hid.  Neither  do  they 
light  a  lamp  and  put  it 
nnder  a  corn-measure, 
but  upon  a  lamp-stand : 
and  it  gives  light  to  all 
in  the  house.  Thus  let 
your  light  shine  before 
men,  that  they  may  see 


instantly  out  of  tlie  world  all  the  men  described  in  the  opening 

of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  the  evil  that  is  in  it  would  run 

the  world  i-ai^idly  to  a  state  of  total  putrefaction. 

i  e  are  the  salt  of  the    ^n 

earth :  but  if  the  salt  Talcc  thcm  awaj  and  all  hope  would  be  gone — 
becoiiie  insipid,  with  ^jj  briditness,  bloom,  and  beauty. 

what  shall  it  be  sea-  o  ;>  ?  j 

soned?  F" nothing  is       Morc  thaii  auioiig  tlio  modci'ns,  salt  was  held  in 
it  useful  any  longer  j^j  i^  admiration  among  the  ancients.     Their 

except  to  be  cast  out  ./        n  O 

and  trodden  do^vn  by  pocts  gave  it  tlic  most  uoblc  and  bcautif  111  epi- 
thets, and  their  pliilosoi)hers  bestowed  great  praise 
upon  it.  It  was  used  in  religious  services,  sym- 
bolical of  what  is  very  fine,  vei*y  refining,  very 
powerful,  and  very  preservative.*  The  words  of 
Jesus,  in  which  he  likens  his  disciples  at  once  to 
salt  and  light,  are  remarkably  reproduced  by 
Pliny  {Hist.  jVat.,  xxxi.  9)  in  his  words,  "  Nil  sole 
your  good  work-s,  and  et  salc  utilius,"  JVotkmg  is  more  useful  than  the 
ous  thoughts  of  your  ^'^''^  ^^^^  ^^^^-  -A-ud  bccausc  of  tlicir  value  to  the 
Father  who  is  in  the  world,  Jcsus  urgcs  them  to  be  careful  to  preserve 

heavens.  -  '  ^  •  -i  ^ 

the  saltness,  and  avoid  what  would  cover  the 
light ;  in  other  words,  preserve  in  their  characters  those  very 
elements  which  give  them  these  powers. 

Much  useless  labor  has  been  spent  on  the  scdt  and  citf/  ques- 
tions. "Whether  real  salt  can  lose  its  saltness,  is  not  a  pertinent 
question.  The  question  of  Jesus  is  hypothetical :  if  the  saline 
quality  be  lost  out  of  salt,  how  can  it  be  restored?  By  chemical 
action  Ave  know  that  salt  can  "  lose  its  savor."  But  because  the 
example  should  liave  suggested  something  that  was  familiar,  and 
it  is  not  a  familiar  fact  that  salt  does  utterly  lose  its  saltness, 
many  have  perplexed  themselves  with  striving  to  find  what  the 
ro  aXa?  is,  if  it  be  not  salt.  A  Dutch  writer,  Von  der  Ilardt, 
suggested  that  it  was  asphaltus  from  the  Dead  Sea  !  And  then 
"the  trodden  down  of  men"  has  given  the  commentators  great 
perplexity.  A  German  author  brings  forward  authorities  from  the 
Rabbins  to  prove  that  salt,  which  b}^  exposure  had  so  far  lost  its 
chlorine  that  it  could  not  preserve,  was  sometimes  scattered  upon 


*  Homer  calls  salt  Oeiov,  divine,  and 
Plato  8eo(pi\es  (Tufta,  a  substance  dear  to 
the  gods.  There  was  a  Latin  proverb, 
Purior  salillo,  pure)'  than  salt.  Both 
Greeks  and  Latins  used  it  as  a  trope  for 


wit,  on  account  of  its  pungency.  Hence 
we  hear  of  Attic  salt.  In  incense  and  in 
relinious  sacrifices  salt  was  used.  See 
Ovid,  Fasti,  i.  337. 


THE   SEEMON   ON   THE   MOUNT. 


263 


slippery  places  to  prevent  falling,  as  by  the  priests  iti  the  Templo 
when  sacrificing  animals.  Bnt  his  citations  feebly  sustain  his  po- 
sition, and  if  they  did  they  would  not  disprove  the  words  of  Jesus, 
who  says  that  it  is  worthless,  and  this  being  "  trodden  down  of  men  " 
expresses  only  the  utter  contempt  men  have  for  its  woi thlessness. 

So  of  the  city.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  some  special 
city  was  referred  to.  Any  city  on  a  hill-top  must  be  conspicuous, 
especially  when  lighted  at  night.  lie  was  simply  ctiarging  his  disci- 
pies  not  to  hide  their  light  nor  to  lose  the  vigor  of  a  good  character. 

''Let  your  light  shine."  If  you  have  light  it  wdll  do  its  own 
shining,  and  give  light  to  others,  if  you  do  not  cover  it.  Only  lot  it 
shine.  °  You  need  not  go  flaunting  it  about  as  a  wild  boy  does  a 
flambeau  at  night ;  but  let  it  be  like  the  sun's  light,  naturally  il- 
luminating ;  but  do  not  obscure  it.  There  are  just  two  important 
things  to  care  for,  namely,  that  a  man  have  in  him  the  illumi- 
nating property,  and  then  that  he  see  to  it  that  that  light  be  not 
obscured. 

The  Law  :  and  Jesus  the  Completer  thereof. 
Whenever  any  man  has  the  fortune  to  see  truth  in  a  new  light, 
and  the  commission  to  make  it  known  to  the  \vorld,  there  are 
those  who  adroitly  endeavor  to  break  his  power  Think  not  that  i 
by  giving  out  that  he  is  a  revolutionist ;  that  he  is  —  -  -- -/- 
unstable  ;  that  he  is  discontented  with  the  estab-  came  not  to  reuix,  but 
lished  order  of  things.  Such  a  rumor  does  two  ^i°*;„y°^u": 
wrono-s.  It  drives  from  him  those  who  hold  to  tu  the  heaven  and  the 
the  truth  that  has  been  already  gained,  and  sends  thJfthrsm.auLuettei- 
about  the  new  teacher  those  who  really  hope  that  nor  the  smallest  stroke 

,  11.1'  i        of  a  letter,   shall  pass 

the  allegation  is  true  and  that  old  tlnngs  are  to  ^^^^  ^^^  ,^,,.  „„tii  au 
be   abroo-ated.     Their  apprc^ach   to   the   teacher  be  accomplished,  who- 

O  ...  1  soever,  therefore,  shall 

confirms  the  prejudicial  rumor,  and  so  soon  as  leiax  one  of  the  least 
they  discover  their  mistake  they  fall  away,  and  "^  ^^^^^  commands. 

J  1.1        *°*^  shall  teach  men  so, 

this  flux  and  reflux  of  apparent  popularity  weak-  ^e  shaii  be  caiied  least 
ens  the  hold  of  the  teacher  on  the  public  confi-  "^^^^^IZ 
deuce.  Jesus  suifered  in  that  way,  as  in  modern  of  the  universe);  but 
times  have  Luther  and  Wesley,  who  sustained  :;::;7-:;r::re:; 
towards  the  Roman  and  Anglican  churches,  res-  great  in  the  kinsdom 
pectively,  a  position  similar  to  that  of  Jesus  to-  of  the  heavens, 
wards  the  Jewish  church. 
In  this  discourse  of  his  doctrine,  Jesus  is  at  pains  to  define 


264  SECOND    AND    TIIIKD   PASSOVER    IN    THE   LIFE    OF   JESTJ8. 

his  relation  to  the  system  of  morals  taiight  in  the  saci*ed  booka 
of  the  Jews.  If,  as  he  tauglit,  his  followers  were  to  endure  i 
great  persecution  "for  righteousness'  sake,"  and  "on  account 
of  Jesus,"  it  was  natural  to  infer  that  it  ^vould  be  on  account  of 
the  kind  of  righteousness  which  they  should  learn  from  him  ;  aud 
if  that  were  sucli  as  to  raise  persecution,  it  must  be  because  it  wa^ 
opposed  to  the  righteousness  taught  in  their  law  and  in  their'  pi'o- 
pliets.  Jesus  takes  occasion  to  correct  this  by  showing  that  ho 
held  to  the  law ;  that  it  was  the  Pharisees  who  had  a  new  right- 
eousness, and  that  it  was  this  fact  (that  he  should  teach  a  I'iglit- 
eonsness  which,  while  it  opposed  that  of  the  Pharisees,  accorded 
with  that  of  the  law,  and  really  accomplished  and  fulfilled  it  by 
giving  it  a  spirit,  and  by  vitalizing  it)  that  slK)uld  bring  him 
trouble  fi'om  a  generation  that  had  gone  far  astray  from  Moses 
and  the  Prophets. 

"The  Law  "  and  "the  Pro})hets"  constituted  the  great  l^asis  of 
Jewish  morals  and  religious  institutions.  The  law,  as  Tholuck 
says,  kept  alive  in  the  people  a  sense  of  their  need  of  salvation  ; 
the  prophets  perpetually  sustained  them  l)y  the  liope  that  want 
would  one  day  be  satisfied.  Jesus  nmst  have  meant  something 
more  than  merel}^  presenting  in  the  facts  of  his  history  the  coun- 
tei-part  of  what  the  prophets  set  forth,  or  in  the  moi-ality  of  his 
life  an  example  of  perfect  observance  of  the  moral  law.  lie 
meant  to  say  that  all  those  who  looked  upon  the  work  of  the  Mes- 
siah as  that  of  mere  abolition,  mere  loosing,  mere  doing  away, 
had  made  a  total  misapprehension.  His  work  was  not  negative 
but  positive.  So  far  from  doing  away  the  law,  he  came  to  show 
the  world  that  even  the  moral  law,  written  on  Sinai  stone  or  liv- 
ing human  hearts,  is  im]>erfect,  in  the  sense  of  incomplete.  He 
came  to  supjjlement,  to  fill  up.  The  Law  was  one  thing,  the  Ih-o- 
phets  another ;  and  with  them  both,  without  something  else,  hu- 
manity was  poor  indeed.  He  was  that  something  else,  that  j)le- 
roma,  that  Fulness ;  so  that  hereafter,  for  all  purposes  of  living 
and  dying,  the  world  might  have  all  it  needed :  the  Zaw,  the 
Pkopuets,  the  JESUS.  Without  the  law  the  world  is  a  moral 
chaos.  With  the  Law,  and  without  the  Prophets,  the  world  is  a 
company  of  condemned  malefactors.  With  the  Law  and  Pro- 
phets the  condenmed  world  is  hoping  with  a  hope  deferred  that 
makes  the  heart  sick.  With  the  Law,  the  Prophets,  and  Jesus, 
mankind  have  tlieir  hopes  fulfilled,  and  such  an  element  of  power 


TTTE    SEKAtON    ON    THE   MOUIfT. 


265 


from  love,  and  sucli  an  element  of  love  newly  developed  in  the 
Law,  that  life  becomes  tlic  sublhne  occnpation  of  preparing  the 
sold,  by  obedience,  ft)r  still  greater  obedience  to  a  moral  rnle 
■which  keeps  the  nniverse  in  rhythm.  "  I  am  come,"  said  he, 
"  not  a  Relaxer  but  a  Completer,"  This  great  Jesus  must  have 
been  conscious  of  vast  spiritual  resources,  a  fulness  of  soul  that 
was  to  stream  out  into  the  nations  and  down  through  the  ages. 
He  felt  that  he  had  enough  soul  for  himself  and  a  whole  race  of 
men.  It  is  not  necessary  to  go  into  the  minute  details  of  the 
theological  anatomists.  They  have  said  nothing  finer  than  Augus- 
tine, "Because  he  came  to  give  love,  and  love  is  the  fuliilling  of 
the  law,  he  has  rightly  said  that  he  had  not  come  to  dissolve,  but 
to  complete."  * 

The  moral  law  is  to  stand  while  earth  and  heaven  endure,  a 
proverbial  form  of  expression,  like,  as  Strong  says,  our  less  ele- 
gant one  of  "  While  grass  grows  or  water  runs."  AVliile  there  is 
any  universe  of  moral  beings  there  will  be  moral  law.  Not  a 
particle  is  superfluous.  Not  a  particle,  therefore,  shall  ever  be 
swept  away ;  not  a  "'  (yode),  the  smallest  of  the  Hebrew  letters  ; 
not  a  Kepata,  the  smallest  stroke  of  the  pen  used  to  distinguish 
ietters.f  But  a  grace  that  is  in  neither  letters  nor  laws  shall  be 
given  the  world,  and  nuinkind  shall  see  how  beautiful  and  unsel- 
fish and  free  a  thing  a  life  of  obedience  may  be ;  of  obedience  to 
God's  laws, — not  man's  moral  police  enactments,  perhaps,  but 
God's  laws.  lie  that  regards  reverently  the  slightest  indication  of 
what  the  will  and  purpose  of  God  is,  shall  be  recognized  great 
in  the  dominion  of  the  universe,  the  kingdom  and  rule  wliich  is 
BO  wide  as  to  embrace  not  merely  this  present  scheme  of  our 
world,  but  all  the  changes  of  all  worlds,  and  all  the  sweep  of  the 
universe, — not  merely  the  ages  which  mark  the  history  of  man, 
but  the  cycles  on  which  eternity  rests. 

Thus  Jesus  taught  that  he  did  not  come,  as  some  feared  and 


*  "Quia  venib  dare  cliaritatem,  et 
charitas  preficit  legeinn  merito  dixit, 
non  venisse  solvere,  sed  implere."  Au- 
gustine, Serin.  12({,  on  John  v. 

f  That  this  may  be  understood,  let 
the  reader  who  does  not  know  Hebrew 
compare  with  his  eye  the  Hebrew  let- 
ters T,  raish,  and  t,  dauleth.  He  will 
see  in  print  that  the  only  difference  is  a 


slight  pi-olongation  to  the  right  of  the 
upper  part  of  the  letter.  In  writing 
them  for  the  printer  I  have  made  a 
rainh  in  both  instances,  and  in  the  lat- 
ter merely  added  a  little  stroke  in  tho 
right  place,  a  stroke  much  smaller  than 
the  Hebrew  letter  yode  of  the  same 
type. 


266         SECOND   AND   TIUKD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LITE    OF   JESUS. 

others  hoped,  an  adversary  to  tlie  God-ordained  moral  govern- 
ment of  the  world.  lie  came  to  explain,  exemplify,  fulfil.  Ilis 
life,  his  deeds,  his  words,  all  were  part  of  the  Koa/jio<;,  the  orderly 
nniverse.  He  wished  no  one  to  become  his  follower  under  the 
false  idea  that  he  can  thereby  indulge  a  dissolute  life  with  im- 
punity. He  has  no  liip;hcr  law  than  the  law  of  God,  but  he  sets 
that  in  the  highest  possible  light. 

KEFUTATION    OF    rUARISAIC    ERRORS. 

Because  Jesus  had  not  kept  the  law  according  to  their  methods 

of  interpi'ctation,  tlie  Pharisees  persecuted  him  as  a  dissolver  of 

For  I  say  unto  you,  tlic  law.     lie  tums  upou  tlicm.     IIo  denouuccs 

That  if  your  righteous-  j^g  gj^^^jj  ^^^^  l^^^y  |1jq  rigliteousncss  iu  M'liich  they 

ness  do  not  frreatly  ex-  ^     V     i  i  i  •         '      • 

ceedthatof  the  Scribes  SO  mucli  cxultcd,  and  declared  to  his  disciples,  in 
and  the  rharisecs  ye  ^yords  wliich  lic  iutroduccs  witli  the  utmost  so- 

shall  not  enter  into  the 

kingdom  of  the  heav-  Icmuity,  that  to  luive  tfhc  freed(^m^  of  the  domin- 
ion of  the  universe  they  must  have  a  wider  and 
hio-her  ri2:hteousness,  a  rii2;liteousness  founded  not  on  a  micro- 
scopic  view  of  ritualism,  but  on  a  comprehension  of  the  spirit  of 
the  laws  which  spread  wide  as  all  M'orlds  and  endure  long  as 
eternity.  The  Pharisees  taught  that  their  righteousness  could,  and 
in  many  cases  did,  exceed  the  requirements  of  God's  moral  law  ; 
but  Jesus  taught  that  that  law  was  so  wondei'f  ully  deep,  and  bi'oad, 
and  high,  that  it  is  not  in  the  compass  of  human  capacities  to  ex- 
ceed its  requirements. 

Of  Murder. 

Jesus  does  not  leave  so  important  a  matter, to  the  impression 
which  a  general  statement  might  make  upon  a  promiscuous  assem- 
bly. Ho  intends  to  make  his  feud  with  Pharisaism  deadly. 
He  will  now  cut  it  up  in  detail.  The  plain  peo])le  shall  know 
what  he  means.  He  tells  them  that  the  law  which  was  given 
anciently  to  their  ancestors  has  been  read  in  Temple  and  syna- 
gogue by  the  Pharisees,  who  held  the  position  of  official  ex- 
pounders, and  who  so  wove  their  glosses  into  the  original  text 
that  the  common  people  had  lost  all  discrimination,  so  that  the 
general  belief  was  that  Pharisaism  and  Mosaicism  was  the  same. 
He  intends  to  tear  away  all  the  wretched  sophisms  and  dangerous 
as  well  as  foolish  "  various  readings  "  of  the  Pharisees,  and  show 
them  what  the  moral  law  means.     He  does  not  impugn  the  Mosaic 


THE   SEKaiON   ON   THE   MOUNT. 


267 


law:  he  simply  does  two  things,  namely,  1.  lie  clears  away  the 
ruhbisli  that  lias  been  piled  on  the  law ;  and,  2.  Wlien  it  is  seen 
as  it  is,  he  explains  what  its  real  meaning  is,  a  yc  have  heard  that  it 
meaning  not  to  be  confined  to  the  ancients,  but  ^assai^uo  the  ancients 

,  1      11  -i  IP  f      1         1  •        Thou  Shalt  not  kill ;  for 

sucli  as  snail  be  good  lor  any  part  oi  the  doniam  whosoever   shau   kiu 

of  tlie  universe.  ^^"■^  ^"^  ^'^^'^  *«•  ^^° 

The  errors  into  which  the  ancients  fell,  and  unto  you,  Any  one  an- 

which  were  hugely  exaggerated  in  the  Pharisees,  ^J,,^''^  '"'  '"■"'^"'^* 

.  .  "'^^'^  ^°  liable  to   tha 

grew  out  of  a  literal  interpretation,  which  natu-  judgment;  and  whoso 
rally  came  to  be  erroneous  and  injurious.     A  lit-  "'^""      ^~"   ■     ' 
eralist,  an  advocate,  or  pettifogger,   takes  up   a 
statute  and  says,  "  What  do  these 


passage  in  a 


shall  say  to  his  brother, 
AViXo,  shall  be  liable 
to  the  Sanhedrim  ;  and 
whoso  shall  say,  3foreh, 
shall  be  liable  to  tho 

words  mean  ?  "    Of  course  he  soon  comes  to  con-  cchcnna  of  fire,    if, 

siderwhat  tliey   may   mean.      A   great   jurist,  rS'toTe  a'S 

especially  if  he  have  judicial  responsibility,  takes  ant^  there  rememberest 

up  the  same  passage  and  says,  "What  did  the  leg-  Zt^S^S" 

islature  mean  when  it  enacted  this  statute  and  leave  there  thy  pi  ft  be- 

p  1  ii   •  •    1  n  n       mi        !•  1       foi"e  the  altar,  and  first 

framed  this  sjiecial  passage  ? "     The  former  needs 

The 


go,  become  reconciled 
to  thy  brother,  and 
then  coming  offer  thy 
gift.  Agi-ee  with  thy 
adversary  quickly, 
whilst    thou    art    with 


only  to  have  tlie  very  words   before  him. 
latter  must  know  the  character  and  general   in- 
tentions of  the  legislature,  the  occasion  of  the  pas- 

,.      ,  ,,.,•,  1   .         .  1    ,  ,         whilst    thou    art    with 

sage  ot  the  statute,  the  objections  urged  by  the  him  on  the  road,  lest 
minority  and  how  answered  by  the  maiority,  the  *^in°  adversary  douver 

,      ,  •  PIT  -I  '  J  J  ^  thee  to  the  judge,  and 

wliole  animus  of  tlie  law-makers  as  touching  this  the  judge  to  the  shcriii, 
special  matter.    This  is  just  what  Jesus  did.    And  ""'^  *°"  ""  "*'*  '"*" 

...  "'  prison.    Verily  I  say  to 

it  is  important  now,  for  a  fair  understanding  of  thee,  Thou  shait  not 
all  his  own  words,  in  this  sermon  and  elsewhere,  harpa'd'thl'TaV?^! 
that  we  bring  to  their  elucidation  and  interpre-  t^i"s- 
tation  the  same  spirit  and  method  of  criticism  which  he  applied  to 
the  decalogue.  We  must  know  what  Jesus  said,  and  find  the  mean- 
ing of  any  doubtful  or  perplexing  phrase  or  sentence  by  what  he 
plainly  teaches  elsewhere,  and  by  the  whole  temper  of  his  intellect 
and  soul.  Whoever  fails  to  do  this  becomes  toM-ards  the  teachings 
of  Jesus  just  what  the  Pharisees  became  towards  the  moral  law. 
We  shall  almost  immediately  have  occasion  to  show  the  impor- 
tance of  this  principle. 


*  In  the  common  version  the  phrase 
"  without  a  cause  "  occurs,  but  it  is  gen- 
erally conceded  that  this  is  an  interpo- 
lation which   has   crept  in  from  some 


marginal  note  written  by  some  very  con- 
servative reader  or  editor.  It  is  not  in 
the  SinaiUc  Codex,  and  is  also  omitted 
by  other  ancient  MSS. 


2G8         SECOND   A^WD   THIRD   PASSOVER   m   THE   LDTE   OF   JESUS. 

And  now  comes  the  first  example.  Moses  said:  "Kill  not." 
The  Pharisees  said  :  "  If  a  man  commit  actnal  homicide  he  shaL 
be  liable  to  go  before  the  Court  of  the  Seven."  Jesus  said  :  "  Angei 
M'itli  one's  l)rother  is  a  violation  of  the  moral  law  in  this  particu- 
lar." It  will  be  seen  how  these  differ,  and  a  little  fulness  hero 
may  save  space  hereafter.  The  Pharisees  taught  such  a  morality 
that  if  a  man  who  had  liad  the  most  inhuman  or  the  most  deadly 
feelings  towards  his  brother  had  so  managed  the  circumstances  of 
the  homicide,  or  so  suppressed  or  arranged  evidence,  as  to  be  able 
to  secure  a  verdict  of  acquittal  from  the  Court  of  Seven,  he  felt 
himself  altogether  absolved.  Put  Jesus  showed  that  the  law  was 
not  a  mere  police  regulation.  It  was  that,  but  vastly  more.  It 
touched  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens.  It  rendered  human  life 
sacred,  but  it  was  also  a  development,  out  into  the  sphere  of  hu- 
manity, of  that  measui-elessly  profound  law  of  love  which  per- 
vades the  Dominion  of  the  Universe,  a  law  which  was  violated  if 
one  had  hatred  of  his  brother,  or  contempt,  or  scorn.  Nay,  one 
must  not  even  so  much  as  fail  of  loving.  It  is  not  suthcient  not 
to  hate.  Jesus  teaches  positive  regard  for  our  fellow-men.  lie 
was  the  great  Humanitarian  on  the  broadest  and  deepest  founda- 
tion of  principle,  not  merely  by  the  impidse  of  sentiment. 

Jesus  taught  in  popular  style,  and  presented  his  doctrine  so 
concretely  that  his  words  would  stick  in  the  memory  of  his  hear- 
ers. In  illustration,  he  quotes  words  in  connnon  use  as  expres- 
sions of  a  malign  condition  of  the  heart,  not  that  they  "have  any 
danniing  power  in  themselves,"  as  Alford  says,  "  but  to  represent 
states  of  anger  and  hostility."  If  one  should  call  his  brother 
lial-a,  he  should  bo  regarded  by  God  as  one  is  regai'ded  by  men 
when  the  Sanhedrim  has  condemned  him.  If  one  should  call  his 
brother  Moreh,  he  should  be  in  the  sight  of  God  as,  in  the  sight 
of  men,  is  he  who  having  been  stoned  to  death  is  cast  into  the 
Valley  of  Ilinnom.*     liaha  is  a  Chaldee  word  expressive  of  the 


*  There  is  a  deep  ravine  to  the  south 
and  west  of  Jerusalem,  which  took  its 
name,  as  Stanley  conjectures,  from 
some  ancient  hero  who  had  encamped 
there,  "  the  son  of  Hinnom."  In  this 
ravine  heathenish  rites  were  observed 
in  the  worship  of  Moloch,  and  in  its 
south-eastern  corner,  Tophet,  infants 
M-ore  sacrificed  to  the  fire  gods.      King 


Josiah  caused  the  place  to  be  polluted 
by  strewing  it  with  human  bones  and 
other  things,  making  it  ceremonially 
unclean,  so  as  to  put  an  end  to  these 
abominations.  See  2  Kings  xxiii.  10, 
13,  14 ;  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  4,  5.  There- 
after it  was  the  common  cesspool  of  the 
city,  into  which  all  filth  was  cast,  and 
it  is  believed  that  the  bodies  of  crim- 


THE   SERMON    ON    THE   MOUNT. 


26D 


greatest  contempt,  "Worthless  fellow!"  "Empty  hciad!"  Moreh 
is  a  harsher  expression,  and  signifies  a  hopeless  fool,  an  impious 
wretch,  a  rebel,  especially  a  rebel  against  God,  and  hence  an 
atheist,  a  word  so  bitter  that  for  using  it  Menses  and  Aaron  were 
not  permitted  to  enter  the  promised  land.     (Numbers  xx.  10.) 

Now,  here  are  the  gradations :  First,  concealed  but  cherished 
anger,  then  sudden  ejaculation  of  wrath,  and  then  foul  and 
abusive  language.  And  all  these  Jesns  says  are  nniixlcr  in  several 
forms.  lie  holds  us  to  his  text  that  character  is  everythlnrj.  Men 
consider  the  outward  act  as  the  horrible  thing  in  crime  ;  and  they 
can  do  no  better,  because  they  cannot  read  the  heart.  But  each 
man  knows  his  own  heart,  and  God  knows  all.  His  law  covei-s 
the  whole  man,  inside  as  well  as  outside ;  Jesus  gi\es  its  proper 
intensity  to  the  "Thou"  of  the  law,  penetrating  the  inmost  soul, 
and  its  proper  extension  covering  the  whole  life.  "  Thou,"  as 
Luther  well  puts  it,  in  his  vehement  and  popular  style,  is  not  ad- 
dressed to  a  man's  fist  alone  but  to  his  whole  person.  Indeed,  if 
the  fist  were  addressed  it  would  be  an  address  to  the  whole  per- 
son, for  the  hand  could  not  deal  the  blow  unless  the  whole  person 
co-operated.  The  whole  act  comes  of  the  character,  and  it  is  not 
so  important  to  be  striving  to  make  our  actions  right  as  to  keep 
our  souls  pure.  The  words  and  the  deeds  of  a  man  are  impor- 
tant as  showing  the  character. 

We  may  not  interpret  Jesus  literally  in  this  and  his  other 
speeches.  It  is  not  the-  use  of  RaJca  and  Moreh  that  is  con- 
demned, for  they  were  sometimes  used  playfully,  there  being 
evidence  that  the  latter,  which  is  so  harsh  in  its  real  meaning, 
was  employed  as  a  gentle  nickname  in  the  days  of  Jcsus,'^^' — l>ut 
it  is  the  murderous  spirit  which  precedes  their  use.  Jesus  himself 
was  angry,t  and  used  the  very  epithet  Moreh,X  which  is  here  so 
condemned;  but  it  is  very  obvious  from  the  history  that  the 
emotions  he  had  and  the  words  he  uttered,  in  the  connection,  give 
no  indication  of  a  murderous  spirit.     Nor,  strictly,  could  he  have 


inals  who  had  been  stoned  to  death 
were  flung  into  this  place.  In  Joshua 
xviii.  16,  the  Septuagint  has  Taievva. 
Afterwards  it  was  rendered  Tetwa,  Ge- 
henna. 

•  Tholuck,  vol.  i.,  p.  238.  Edin.  edit. 

f  As  Mark  expressly   asserts  (iii.  5), 


and  Matthew  (xxiii.  13)  and  John  (ii.  M) 
clearly  imply. 

X  In  Matthew  xxiii.  17,  19,  it  is  the 
identical  word,  and  in  Luke  xxiv.  25,  it 
is  the  equivalent,  in  the  original ;  and 
consequently  in  both  cf  ses  ia  properly 
translated  "  fools  "  m  our  version. 


270 


SECOND   Airo   TnmD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 


meant  that  the  secular  government  would  decide  upon  these  cases, 
and  inflict  these  punishments ;  and  most  probably  by  alluding  to 
the  visible  tribunals  and  penalties  simply  gave  objectiveness  to  the 
Bpiritual  fact  of  responsibility  for  character,  so  far  as  voluntarily 
formed,  and  taught  gradations  of  punishment  proportioned  to  the 
pinfulness. 

And  now,  that  he  may  set  the  duty  of  loving  and  the  sin  of 
hating  in  the  strongest  possible  light,  he  insists  upon  the  necessity 
of  reconciling  differences,  and  this  ho  does  in  language  which 
must  ha\e  been  very  impressive  to  his  Jewish  hearers.  lie  taught 
that  if  a  man  had  gone  up  to  the  Temple  to  offer  sacrifice  for  his 
sins,  had  even  brought  the  victim  into  that  court  where  the  priest 
was  to  receive  it,  and  in  the  most  solemn  moment  of  approach  to 
Jehovah  the  worshipper  should  recollect  that  his  brother  had  aught 
against  him,  no  matter  how  he  felt  toward  that  brother,  he  should 
lea\e  his  gift  there  in  the  Temple,  and  postpone  homage  to  God 
until  he  had  made  love  with  man.  Perhaps  the  worshipper  would 
recollect  that  he  had  given  offence  to  his  brother  by  calling  him 
ugly  names,  as  Raka  and  Moreh,  ''Empty  Head"  and  "Eebel." 
His  brother  may  have  had  occasion  to  have  something  against 
him.  In  that  case  until  the  bad  feeling,  which  was  mother  to  the 
bad  words,  be  utterly  flung  from  his  heart,  his  worship  would  be 
an  abomination  to  God.  Hecatombs  of  slaughtered  beasts  would 
not  please  the  eye  of  the  Holy  Gne  of  Israel  if  he  saw  malignity 
in  the  heart  of  the  offerer.  If  the  bad  feeling  has  been  cast  out, 
then  he  must  go  and  tell  his  brother;  nmst  let  him  know  how 
changed  his  feelings  are.  But  if  he  has  never  knowingly  given 
offence,  and  finds  that  his  brother  is  embittered  against  him,  let 
him  go  and  do  all  that  love  should  prompt  to  have  that  bitterness 
removed,  to  effect  a  reconciliation. 

Let  us  always  guard  against  literalism,  and  see  what  the  spirit 
of  the  words  is.  That  he  should  literally  go  from  the  Temple  in 
Jerusalem,  the  journey  of  many  Aveary  days,  to  a  distant  part  of 
Palestine,  to  make  up  a  quarrel,  cannot  be  meant,  any  more  than 
the  postponement  of  reccMiciliation  until  the  moment  when  the 
sacrifice  is  about  to  be  laid  upon  the  altar.*     But  in  his  heart  the 


*  Instances  of  Pharisaic  literalness 
occur  to  this  day  iu  the  Christian  church. 
Perhaps  there  arc  few  pastors  who  have 
not  kno\vn  communicants  begin  to  feel 


uneasy  about  their  animosities  as  the 
time  for  the  Lord's  Supper  apjiroached, 
postponing  reconciliation  to  the  very 
latest  moment  before  the  sacrament, — 


THE    SEKMON   ON   TIIE   MOUNT. 


271 


T.ork  cf  love  must  be  done,  A  man  mnst  not  do  that  wiiicli  ex- 
poses him  to  the  judgment  of  the  local  conrt,  to  the  sentence  of 
the  Sanhedrim,  to  destruction  ;  nor  must  lie  allow  his  brother  tc 
do  it,  if  in  his  ix)wer  to  prevent.  If  that  brotlier  has  anytliino 
a;^ainst  him,  it  may  lead  to  sin  on  the  brother's  jiart.  If  he  has 
been  called  "  Empty-head,"  he  may  retoit  by  calling  his  brother 
"Eebel."  And  if  the  sacrifice  is  for  forgiveness  of  sin  already 
committed,  let  thei-e  be  no  new  sin  connnitted.  Jehovah  will 
wait  for  the  sacrifice  if  he  know  that  the  offerer  has  gone  to  do 
the  holy  work  of  love.  Do  it  instantly  :  that  is  the  lesson. 
Nothing  is  so  important:  not  even  worship.  A  man  may  die 
while  offering  his  beasts  in  sacrifice,  and  woe  to  him  if  he  die  with 
hands  on  the  altar  and  hate  in  his  heart.  That  such  a  fate  mi'dit 
overtake  one,  and  should  be  a\-oided,  are  taught  in  the  iuipressive 
words  which  immediately  follow.  If  a  man  is  haled  to  the  jud^-- 
ment-seats  of  civil  governuujuts,  it  is  pi-udent  to  do  everything 
pi-acticable  to  be  reconciled  to  his  advei-sary.  For  if  once  the 
advei-sary  should  lodge  complaint,  and  the  ease  go  agaiust  the 
accused,  he  nuiy  be  cast  into  prison  ;  and  the  inexorable  judge, 
standing  by  his  own  decision,  will  not  allow  him  to  go  free  until 
he  has  paid  the  wlujle  debt,  or  met  the  whole  claim  in  disjMite. 
AYliat  is  so  important  as  regards  the  management  of  worldly  mat- 
ters is  infinitely  more  important  as  regards  character.  The  culti- 
vation of  love,  the  prompt  discharge  of  the  duties  of  love,  lest 
death  come  in  and  a  man  be  cut  off  therefrom,  and  thei-e  be  sui-- 
vi\-ors  who  shall  be  injured  in  their  character, — these  are  the 
lessons. 

Having  gone  so  fully  into  the  spirit  of  this  first  example,  it  will 
not  be  necessai-y  to  be  so  elaborate  upon  the  others. 

Of  Adultery. 

The  second  exam^tle   is  the  Ijlw  of  Adultery.     It  must  be 
observed  that  in  his  statements  Jesus  kee})s  constantly  in  view 


as  if  that  were  obedieuce  to  Jesus.  He 
taught  that  the  very  niouient  you  recol- 
lect that  your  brother  has  aught  against 
you,  even  if  that  recollection  should 
flash  upon  you  at  the  Lord's  Table,  be 
reconciled,  be  sure  that  you  are  in  a 
tight  luiud  about  it,  no  matter  how  he 


feels.  It  does  not  suppose  that  one  will 
come  to  the  sacrament  knowing  that  he 
hates  his  brother,  or  that,  if  his  brother 
hate  him,  he  has  failed  to  strive  to  be 
reconciled.  Some  people's  Chrijstiauity 
is  so  uidike  that  of  Jesus. 


272         SECOISTD   AKD    TIIIED   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LITE   OF   JESUS. 

that  he  is  inculcating  the  culture  of  character,  outward  things  bein^ 

important  only  as  they  spi'ing  from  charactei-.     The  mere  indul- 

„^     ^  .    jrenceof  anaturalapi^etite  isasmall  thinw;  butthe 

Yo  have  heard  that  it    "    _  ^  '  ,  . 

was  said,  Thou  xhaii  bciug  SO  degraded,  SO  lost  to  the  claims  of  our  fel- 
.oicovimuu.mier,:  ly^y.^en  and  of  society,  as  to  elieri^h  the  desire  to 

\iiit  Isayuntoyoii,That  «'  ' 

every  one  who  looks  iuvadc  the  uiost  sacrcd  riglits,  that  is  horrible, 
pliniroT'ncIeLing  ^hat  is  thc  tiling  to  be  dreaded.  And  it  is  further 
his  longing,  has  already  to  bc  obscrved  that  lic  scts  tlio  law  ill  tlic  right 

coinniittcd        adultery    ,.    ,   ,  -r-n        .       .  ,        1 1  i        •  ^ 

with  her  in  his  heart.  I'glit-  Fharisaism  perpetually  regards  it  as  a 
And  if  thy  right  eye  burdciisome  rcstrictiou,  which  must  be  as  much 

cause  thee  to  sin,  tear  ,      ,  -i  i  T>  T  ^  i 

it  out  and  Hin;,' it  from  evadccl  as  possiole.  liut  J  csus  tcachcs  that  our 
thee;  for  it  is  better  fur  f^-^yj^  persoiuxl  iutcrest  lics   ill   kecpiug  the  law 

thee  that   one   of  thy  \  t      •      i  n  i        ti  •      '  /> 

members  perish,  and  sacrcdlv.  "  it  IS  bcttcr /fr  tlice^  OX  it  IS  prout- 
not  thy  whole  body  be  ^\^\^,  f^^^  ^A^^t?,"  is  a  plirasc  showiug  that  the  indi- 

cast  into  Gehenna.  "^  \  ^        ^  • 

vidual  who  is  to  keep  the  law  is  to  have  the 
profit  of  the  keeping.  You  must  not  avoid  adultery  because 
it  is  going  to  be  injurious  to  your  neighbor,  but  because  even 
to  intend  any  such  wrong  is  so  damaging  to  yourself.  And 
this  is  the  pure  and  fine  strain  of  all  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  ^Yliat 
is  done  in  the  heart  hurts.  And  so  he  enjoins  such  self-denial  as 
shall  lead  to  the  renunciation  of  whatever  is  loveliest  in  our  eyes 
and  the  nearest  to  ns ;  the  most  beautiful  and  the  most  useful 
friends  we  have,  if,  holding  them  near  us,  they  lead  us  to  commit 
such  offence  against  ourselves.  Of  course  the  words  of  Jesus  are 
not  to  be  taken  literall}',  for  in  tlrat  case  the  member  of  the  body 
would  be  considered  the  sinner,  and  not  the  soul  that  is  in  the 
body.  It  is  not  the  eye  nor  hand  that  sins,  but  the  inner  man. 
Moreovei-,  if  taken  literally,  the  whole  Avorld  would  probably  be 
speedily  depopulated.  This  strong  hyperbolic  expression  of  Jesus 
seems  to  find  its  rational  interpretation  as  we  have  given  it. 

Of  Divorce. 

And  this  naturally  brings  up  the  third  example,  the  Law  of 
Divorce^  as  held  by  the  Pharisees. 

Here,  again,  the  Pharisees  had  perverted  the  law.  Acct)rding 
to  the  law,  so  sacred  M'as  the  tie  of  marriage  that  only  infidelity 
upon  the  jiart  of  the  wife  could  justify  a  man  in  putting  the  wile 
away.  Moses  had  made  this  exception  not  to  weaken  but  to 
strengthen  the  marriage  bond,  not  to  make  divorce  easy  but  ditH- 
ciilt.      Put   the    Pharisees  had  made  it   quite  easy,  the   school 


THE   SEEMON   ON   THE   MOUNT.  273 

of  Ilillel  even  going  so  far  as  to  allow  a  man  to  put  away  his 
wife  when  he  found  any  one  whom  he  liked  better.  But  Jesus 
insisted  upon  the  sacredness  of  the  relation.     By 

7  .  -, .  ,  It  has  been  saul,  If 

his  teachings  any  divorced  man  is  disgraced,  any  man  divorce  his 
Either  he  had  committed  some  sin  or  his  wife,  wife,  let  him  give  her  a 

AT  1         •       writing  of  divorce.   But 

who  thus  disgraces  hiin.  And  a  woman  who  is  i  say  unto  you.  That 
divorced  from  her  husband,  except  for  his  sin,  is  ^^^"^°    divorces    wb 

'  1   •!        1  wife,  except  for  the  rea- 

not  at  liberty  to  marry.  If  she  marry  while  he  eon  of  uncioanness, 
lives  she  is  an  adulteress,  and  the  man  who  mar-  '^'^""'^^  ^'^'^  '"  '^"""'"* 

'        _  adultery ;     and    whoso 

ries  her  is  an  adulterer  ;  and  if  her  husband  marry  shau  many  a  divorced 
he  is  an  adulterer.  This  is  quite  as  plain  as  Greek  ^;^;'''^  """^"^''^  ■"''"'■ 
and  English  can  make  it,  and  no  legislature  on 
earth  can  make  right  by  its  enactments  what  is  morally  wrong. 
Wlien  a  man  and  a  woman  have  married,  and  neither  has  bi'oken 
the  bond  by  infidelity,  neither  can  put  himself  or  herself  in  the  posi- 
tion of  being  parent  of  a  child  by  another  party  while  the  other  is 
living  in  pin-ity.  The  offspring  would  be  illegitimate.  It  was 
this  laxity  of  divorce  that  had  so  corrupted  the  morals  of  Jewish 
society. 

Of  PeTJury. 

The  fourth  example  of  Pharisaic  perversion  is  in  the  Law  of 
Oaths,  ■  Their  gloss  was,  that  if  the  name  of  Jehovah  was  omitted 
the  oath  was  not  binding.  And  so  they  swore  And  yc  have  heard 
by  their  heads,  by  Jerusalem,  by  the  Temple,  by  that  it  has  been  said  to 

■^  1  T  1  -"^       '      "^     the     ancients,      Thou 

heaven,  and  by  earth.  Jesus  taught  that  both  shait  not  swear  faiseiy, 
perjury  and  blasphemy  were  to  be  avoided,  and  i^'i'shait  perform  thine 

i^      J       •!  I  J  7  ojiths  to  the  Lord :  but 

that  the  latter  could  not  be  evaded  by  the  em-  i  say  unto  you,  swear 
ployment  of  petty  oaths,  and  the  former  was  not  ""'  '-"^ ""'  "fj^^^l-y 

i-       <!  I  J  J  heaven,    for  it    is   the 

avoided  by  making  false  statements  under  a  form  throne  of  cod,  nor  by 
of   oath  from  wliich  the  name  of  Jehovah  was  the  earth,  for  it  is  the 

stool  of  his  feet :  neither 

omitted.  lie  plainly  teaches  his  disciples  to  avoid  by  jeiusaiem,  for  it  is 
all  forms  of  oaths  in  conversation,  and  simply  to  ^^^J^Xo^.  ^^.^t  Thou 
make  a  distinct,  decided  affirmation,  based  upon  swear  by  iiiy  head,  for 

1  11  TIM  ,  ^        •  c  .^  •!       thou   canst   not    make 

knowledge  or  deliberate  conclusions  oi  the  mind,  one  hair  white  or  biack. 
saying  so  simply,  so  intelligently,  and  so  firml}^,  i^wt  let  your  word  be 
"Yes,"  or  "No,"  1  hat  it  will  satisfy  the  hearer  Ko:'^"'forwhatismor« 
quite  as  much  as  any  oath  could.  than  these  is  from  eviu 

■  lie  could  not  have  intended  to  forbid  the  use  of  civil  oaths,  as 
he  himself  paid  respect  to  them,  at  least  in  one  instance  (see 
18 


274         SECOND   AND   THIED   PASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

Matthew  xxvi.  G3),  as  wc  sliall  find  ;  but  the^  tenor  of  liis  teaching 
certainly  is  adverse  to  the  multiplication  of  civil  oaths  and  the 
frequency  of  their  eniploynient.  A  man  of  truth  may  be  trusted 
■when  he  makes  a  deliberate  assertion :  a  liar,  not  even  when  he 
takes  a  solemn  oath.  Precision  and  firmness  and  simplicity, 
first  in  thouglit  and  then  in  language,  are  commended  by  these 
teachings  of  Jesus. 

Of  Revenge. 

The  fiftli  example  of  the  Pharisaic  misteaching  is  in  regard  to 

tbe  Law  of  Retaliation.     Again  we  are  to  remind  ourselves  that 

in  interpreting  the  teachings  of  Jesus  we  are  to 

Ye  have  heard  that  it  .  •      l     ja      l  •  £     ±.^ 

has  been  sma,AVe/M-  guard  oursclvcs  agauist  that  very  vice  or  tlie 
eye  una  tooth  f„rLooth;  x^harisccs  wliicli  lic  was  endeavoring  to  correct, 

but  I  B;iy  unto  you,  Not  i-iit  ^      •  .•  ^   '    \ 

to  resist  the  evil  man;  namely,  a  slavislily  literal  mterpretation  which 
but  whosoever  shall  totally  dcstrovs  tlic  Spirit  and  the  meaning  of  the 

Emito  thee  on  the  right  ■'  pit  n     ^  rn  ^ 

cheek,  turn  to  him  also  words,  wliethcr  of  tlic  law  or  or  the  great  ieacher. 
the  other;  arui  to  him       rj.|^^  ^^^^  ccrtaiuly  Is  «  tootJi  foT  tt  tootJi  and 

desiring    to    sue   thee  ^  '^     ^ 

and  to  take  thine  inner  cui  eyc  fov  an  eye,  as  WO  find  in  Exodus  xxi. 
garment,  let  go  to  hin.  ^,.     ^    .-^^^,,3  ^xiv.  20,  aud  lu  Deutcronomy 

even  tlinie  outer  robe ;  '  '  ■' 

and  whosoever  shall  xix.  21.  Aud  Jcsus  spccificall}'  asscj'ts  that  he 
Zirgo'SthMmtwo!  did  not  come  to  destroy  that  law.  ^  It  stands. 
To  hini  that  asketh  of  AVluitevcr  lic  teaclics  must  be  expository  of  the 

thee,  give:    and    from  ,.,..  /.,,  .  r     r\  ^•     • 

him  wiL;hing  to  borrow  hiw  Or  au  exhibition  or  the  animus  or  tlie  divine 
of  thee,  tui-u  thou  not  lawgiver  in  this  statute.  The  essential  principle 
of  the  law  pervades  the  universe,  so  far  as  we  can 
discern,  and  appears  under  multiform  phases.  With  what  meas- 
ure a  man  metes,  it  is  meted  to  him  again.  The  instruments  of 
sin  are  made  instruments  of  retribution.  In  the  administration 
of  government  under  Moses,  the  law  is  quite  distinctly  stated, 
and  was  obviously  meant  to  be  acted  upon,  whatever  men  may 
say  of  the  cruelty  of  the  procedure  or  of  the  difficulty  of  apply- 
ing it  in  practice.  It  was  the  law.  In  the  hands  of  those  admin- 
istering j  ustice  it  was  one  thing :  in  the  hands  of  private  vengeance 
it  was  another.  This  latter  was  the  gloss  of  Pharisaism.  Their 
sin  lay  in  quoting  words,  which  the  people  believed  to  be  of  di- 
vine origin,  in  order  to  defend  vindictiveness  of  spirit.  To  what 
terrible  social  results  such  teaching  would  lead  among  a  con- 
quered people,  chafing  under  their  political  subjugation,  we  can 
readily  see.     The  law  was  intended  to  prevent  private  vengeance. 


THE    SERMON   ON   THE   MOUNT.  -  275 

II  M^as  a  mei'clful  law.  It  advised  the  offender,  in  advance,  of 
vvliat  lie  might  expect :  it  would  thus  deter  him.  It  kept  the 
offended  party  from  taking  vengeance  into  his  own  hands,  b}* 
assuring  him  that  up  to  the  exact  line  of  retaliation  the  punish- 
ment of  tlie  offender  would  be  carried. 

Against  the  Avicked  gloss  of  the  Pharisees  Jesus  places  his 
inteipi-ctation  of  the  spirit  of  the  law.  lie  opposes  their  teaching, 
not  the  law.  And  he  does  so  adhering  to  liis  text,  namely,  char- 
acter is  everything. 

Kow,  that  he  may  set  forth  graphically  what  he  means,  he  paints 
thi'cc  pictures  of  wrongs  done  to  one — a  personal,  a  legal,  and  a 
political  wrong — and  shows  tlie  difference  between  the  spirit  of 
his  teaching  and  that  of  the  Pharisees. 

In  the  first  place  there  is  the  instance  of  a  personal  assault  in  a 
form  exceedingly  aggi-avating,  a  rap  upon  the  right  cheek.  A 
Pharisee  standing  by  says  to  the  person  struck,  "  Hit  him  on  his 
right  cheek."  "  No,"  says  Jesus,  "  do  not  hit  him  at  all,  and  rather 
than  indulge  a  vindictive  spirit,  let  him  strike  you  upon  the  other 
cheek.  Leave  correction  to  the  law,  and  vengeance  to  Jehovah." 
This  is  what  Jesus  meant,  and,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  nothing  more 
was  meant.  To  take  his  dramatic  lano-ua^-e  for  the  terms  of  a 
statute  is  absurd  as  criticism,  and  is  utterly  impracticable  in 
ordinary  life,  and  if  attempted  to  be  practised  literally  would 
lu'eak  up  society  as  effectually  as  the  pri\ate  vengeance  sought 
by  the  Pharisees.  It  would  invite  outrage  and  embolden  cow- 
ardly villainy.  Jesus  never  did  so  in  practice,  and  it  were  unjust 
to  all  the  iine  sense  of  right  which  elsewhere  appears  in  his  teach- 
ings to  suppose  that  he  uttered  in  theory  what  he  abandoned  in 
practice.  In  John  (xviii.  22,  23)  we  see  just  how  Jesus  behaved 
under  precisely  the  circumstances  stated  here,  and  that  behavior 
must  be  the  best  comment. on  this  text.  AVlien  an  officer  struck 
him  he  neither  took  vengeance  nor  literally  turned  about  inviting 
a  repetition  of  the  indignity  ;  but  solcnml}'  expostulated  with  him 
in  the  presence  of  the  High-Priest. 

This  teaches  us  how  to  interpret  the  next  case.  Is  a  man  by 
his  behavior  to  solicit  the  repetition  of  a  legal  wrong  as  well  as  of 
a  personal  attack  ?  Certainly  not ;  but  rather  than  have  a  wicked^ 
revsngcfal  f<pirit,  if  a  num  sue  for  your  shirt,  gi\e  him  your  coat. 
In  the  mention  of  these  garments  comes  out  again,  as  it  so  fre- 
quently does,  that  characteristic  in  the  style  of  Jesus  which  made 


276 


SECOND    AND    THIED   PASSOVEK   IN   THE    LIFE    OF   JEStTS, 


him  a  popular  while  he  was  a  profound  teacher,  namely,  calling 
things  by  their  plain  names,  and  taking  all  his  illustrations  fn»ni 
things  so  open  and  familiar.  The  audience  listening  to  him  knew 
that,  according  to  the  Mosaic  law  (Exodus  xxii.  2G),  even  when 
the  legal  process  gave  the  plaintiff  the  outer  garment,  lie  was  com 
pelled  to  restore  it  to  the  defendant  at  nightfall.  But  Jesus  sets 
himself  so  strongly  against  the  Pharisaic  teaching  of  pi-ivatc  ven- 
geance, and  against  the  modern  j)oint  d'honoieur,  the  code  of 
honor,  the  duel,  and  all  kinds  of  vindictiveness,  as  to  say  that  a 
man  who  stands  and  takes  the  second  blow,  or  when  one  takes 
his  inner  lets  his  outer  garment  go,  is  a  better,  a  wiser,  a  lia])pier 
man  than  he  who  follows  up  an  insult  or  injury  by  retaliation. 

There  remains  little  difficulty  with  the  third  case  supposed, 
which  is  that  of  political  oppression.  The  verb  in  the  oi'iginal 
Greek,  ayyapevaei,^  comes  from  a  Persian  word,  angaroi<,  sig- 
nifying a  mounted  coui'ier,  such  as  were  kept  ready  at  regular 
stages  throughout  Persia,  according  to  a  postal  arrangement  insti- 
tuted by  Cyrus  or  Xerxes.f  They  were  authoi-ized  to  impress 
into  tlie  king's  service,  for  the  transmission  of  intelligence,  not  only 
the  horses  but  the  persons  of  the  king's  subjects.  They  could 
cowjpel  them  to  go.  Of  course  the  Jews  felt  the  utmost  i-eluc- 
tance  to  yield  such  a  service  to  the  Roman  govermnent,  wliich 
they  hated.:};  And  we  can  see  what  opportunities  a  vicious  official 
would  enjoy  of  spitefully  oppressing  the  people.  Jesus  taught, 
by  this  specific  example,  the  general  lesson  that  no  man  nnist 
take  vengeance  on  his  political  oppressor;  that  when  he  felt  his 
anger  rising,  rather  than  take  vengeance,  rather  than  even  i-esist 
so  as  to  increase  the  existing  animosity,  he  should  so  i)rom])tly 
show  a  willingness  to  go  twice  the  required  distance  that  the  s])ite 
of  the  exactor  and  the  oppressor  should  be  disarmed.  Tims 
Jesus  taught  the  wisdom  and  blessedness  of  goodness,  the  rule  of 
coiupiering  by  surrendering.     lie  did  not  mean  to  describe  acts, 


*  In  the  Cod.  Sin.  the  word  is  evyapeia-r;. 

f  Greek  historians  assign  the  origin 
of  the  postal  system  to  both  these  kings. 
For  descriptions  of  the  system  nee 
Herod.,  viii.  98,  and  Xen.,  Ci/roj).,  viii. 
6,  17. 

X  The  Jews  particularly  objected  to 
furnishing  posts  to  the  Roman  govern- 
ment ;  and  Demetrius,  when  he  wished 


to  conciliate  them,  published  a  long  list 
of  grievances  from  which  he  freed  them, 
in  %\'hich  it  is  stated  that  he  gave  orders 
that  the  beasts  of  burden  belonging  to 
the  Jews  should  not  be  jtrcsacd  into  Ms 
service,  using  the  very  word  employed 
in  the  text  of  Matthew  which  we  are 
now  considering.  See  Josephus,  Ant.^ 
xxiii.  c.  2,  §  3. 


THE   6EKM0N   ON   THE   MOUNT.  277 

but  to  represent  character.  What  hind  of  character  ?  A  mean, 
imimpressible,  negative  character,  that  stands  and  takes  kicks 
like  a  bale  of  cotton?  By  no  means;  bnt  a  cliaracter  so  filled 
with  all  g(X)dness  and  active  love  that  it  would  pass  over  and  do 
more  even  than  the  law  of  man  demanded,  doing  so  much  for 
even  the  evil  and  unthankful  that  they  could  exact  no  more.  It 
is  not  the  doing  of  these  jyartioular  acts  which  lie  eujoins,  but  the 
having  the  spirit  and  disposition  to  do  them.  And  we  must  be 
quite  careful  not  to  frame  a  statute  for  ourselves,  for  our  neigh- 
bors, or  for  the  community  out  of  these  descriptive  phrases,  hold- 
ing that  he  is  no  Christian  who  does  not  perform  these  very  acts, 
but  rather  understand  that  for  ourselves  we  are  to  learn  what  is 
the  type  of  human  character  which  appeared  greatest  and  loveli- 
est in  the  eyes  of  Jesus. 

Tliis  principle  applies  to  the  last  case  described,  the  annoyance 
of  beggars  and  borrowers.  To  interpret  the  precept  literally  were 
to  break  up  all  society :  it  would  bestow  alms  upon  impostors,  put 
dagger  and  poison  in  the  hands  of  the  insane,  yield  instruments 
of  destruction  to  children  who  had  no  discretion,  and  furnish 
weapons  to  the  murderer  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  dire  de- 
signs— and  all  this  simply  because  we  were  asked!  A  literal 
observance  of  the  words  might  bring  things  to  such  a  pass  in  a 
day  that  we  shall  not  be  able  to  serve  any  others  for  a  year.  He 
neither  meant  that  we  should  wait  until  asked  to  bestow  benefac- 
tions, nor  give  in  the  very  form  of  the  request ;  but  that  we  should 
be  always  ready  to  do  good  in  every  possible  way  to  our  fellow- 
men.  This  teaching  of  Jesus  is  as  strictly  observed  by  him  who 
makes  a  discreet  refusal  of  what  it  were  injurious  to  bestow,  as  by 
him  who  yields  a  prompt  concession  to  a  request  that  is  proper. 
It  is  the  disposition  to  do  all  good  promptly  and  cheerfully  to  all 
men,  without  being  moved  thereto  by  the  good  qualities  in  them, 
and  not  being  deterred  therefrom  by  what  is  repulsive.  And 
this  comes  out  in  the  general  precept  immediately  following. 

Of  Love  and  Hatred. 

The  sixth  and  last  example  which  he  cites  of  the  perversions  by 
the  Pharisees  is  that  which  regards  the  Law  of  Love  and  LLatred. 
It  gives  him  occasion  to  state  his  own  philosophy  on  this  subject. 
The  law  is  laid  down  in  Leviticus  xix,  IS :  "  Thou  shalt  not 
avenge  nor  bear  any  grudge  against  the  children  of  thy  people, 


278         SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

hut  thou  shaltlove  thy  neighhor  as  thj-self  :  I  am  tlie  Loi'd."     The 

intent  of  this  law  was  to  bind  the  Jewish  people  compactly  togttlier 

Ye  have  heard  that  ^01'  tlic  gi'cat,  humaue  purposcs  of  Almighty  God 

it  hath  been  said,   towai'ds all pcoplc.    It  was  uot,  as  was  ]iot anytliinfy 

Love    your     nei<jhhor    .        ,  .    ,  ,  •     -         i     i  .  i       ^i       V        •   i' 

ana  hate  your  enemy.  ^^^  ^^'^^  ceremonuil  law,  intended  to  make  tlie  Jewish 
But  I  say  to  yon,  Lovo  peoplc,  by  an  act  of  Almighty  i.vartialitv,  tlie  si>ecial 

your  enem  es  and  pray  ..  «,,.  „'  ^  ,,."  ^       ^ 

for  them  that  persecute  recipients  01  diviiie  iavors/6»r  their  own  sake^ 
yon,  that  ye  may  bo  the  alone,\>\\t  that  thcv  miMit  1)0  eminently  fitted  to 

sons  of  your  Father  in  ,        ,      ,  .  i       i   •     i 

the  heavens;    for   Ho    SUbscrvC  llOt  OUly  tllCir  OWll  llltcrests  but  tllC  lugll- 

makes  his  sun  to  rise  gg^  jnterests  of  all  the  peoiilc  of  all  the  world  and 

on   the  bad  and  good,        p  ,  -r  .  ■ 

and  rains  on  the  just  of  all  time.     It  was  their  stupendous  mistake  to 
and  the  unjust.  Forif  j.g      .^|  themsclves  as  the  end  of  all  divine  legisla- 

ye    love    your    lovers,       _  ^  ~ 

what  reward  have  ye?   tioii,  aud   tlicy  lost  tliclr  powor  of  Universal  be- 
.  von  the  tax-gatherers  yvq,'^{^q,\\(:q,  ill  a  lai'o-e  measurc  by  this  narrow  view 

do  that  same.    And  if  O  ./ 

ye  sahito your  brethren  of  tlic  casc.  Tlic  Pliarisecs  luid  Carried  the  Jew- 
Thing '^^'y^r'nTrot  ^^^^  higotry  to  its  last  lengths  when  they  added  the 
even  the  Gentiles  that  corollary,  "  Tliou  slialt  liatc  tliiue  enemy."  The  law 
are  to~~bc  perfect  Is  ^^^^  iudced  eujoined  on  the  Jew  love  for  the  "  chil- 
yonr  Father  in  the  hcav-  drcu  of  liis  peoplc,"  biit  tluit  was  au  educatioiial 
preparation  for  loving  and  serving  all  mankind. 

Jesus  set  forth  the  wide  charity  of  his  philosoi)hy  in  the  distinct 
precept,  "  Love  your  enemies."  lie  has  been  protesting  against 
all  vindictiveness  ;  he  now  blooms  out  into  richest  precepts  of  uni- 
versal fraternity  and  affection.  He  is  determined  not  to  be  mis- 
understood, lie  embraces  public  as  well  as  private,  national  as 
well  as  personal  enemies,  the  Samaritan  and  the  Roman,  the 
ecclesiastical  and  the  political  foe.  Not  simply  is  a  man  to  regai-d 
without  animosity  the  foi-eigner  and  the  alien,  he  is  even  to  have 
charity  for  the  enemy  who  stands  over  him  and  curses  him  ;  for 
hatred  he  is  to  return  good,  for  contempt  and  ]')ersecution  he  is  to 
return  benedictions.  If  the  Jews  had  only  understood  and  acted 
upon  this,  they  might  have  carried  their  rule  of  love  to  the  end 
of  the  M'orld.  The  Messiah  is  to  carry  his  rule  to  the  end  of  the 
world.  Jesus  makes  good  his  claim  by  insisting  upon  leading  his 
people  forth  to  this  conquest  of  love  ;  and  thus,  and  not  as  the 
secular  Jew  expected,  became  in  a  high  sense  the  Sa\'iour  of  the 
world. 

This  broad  law  of  benevolence  is  enforced  by  an  appeal  to  tlie 
loftiest  example  in  the  universe.  God  is  our  Father.  His  chil- 
dren should  resemble  Ilim.     He  causes  his  sun  to  rise  on  men 


TTTT?   SEEMON   ON   THE   MOtTNT.  279 

witliont  moral  distinctions,  and  so  he  sends  liis  rain."  If  ^ye 
would  be  his  children,  our  love  must  have  that  same  characteris- 
tic of  impartiality.  Perhaps  by  this  splendid  appeal  to  God's 
deaUngs  in  nature,  the  Great  Teacher  meant  to  imply  that  the 
same  principles  prevailed  in  the  moral  government,  and  that  as 
sunlight  and  rain  fell  on  the  fields  of  all,  so  the  grace  of  God  was 
not  confined  to  the  Jew  but  fcnt  equally  to  the  Gentile.  It  cer- 
tainly does  help  one  to  come  to  a  rational  view  of  this  lofty 
teaching,  when  it  is  recollected  that  this  impartiality  in  nature  is 
not  the  loss  on  the  part  of  God  of  the  distinctions  of  right  and 
wrong,  nor  insensibility  to  charms  of  character.  It  is  the  law  of 
active  benevolence  which  is  set  forth,  the  desire  to  do  good  to 
another  whether  he  deserve  it  or  not.  The  love  I  bear  a  mean  and 
wicked  man,  who  is  calumniating  and  persecuting  me,  is  not  to  be 
the  love  I  bear  my  beautiful,  true,  and  good  friend,  on  whom  my 
soul  safely  rests ;  for  the  love  God  shows  men  who  rebel  against 
His  holy  law  is  not  the  same  which  He  feels  towards  the  devoted 
child  whose  life  is  spent  in  learning  and  doing  Ilis  will. 

Attracting  his  hearers  by  the  great  example  of  the  heavenly 
Father,  he  endeavors  to  break  them  from  their  narrowness  and 
illiberality  by  the  example  of  those  whom  they  specially  hated 
and  despised.  The  Jew  who  allowed  himself  to  be  a  tax-gather- 
er was  an  unprincipled  and  mercenary  fellow.  The  Roman  gov- 
ernment of  the  Jewish  people  was  not  particularly  harsh.  It  was 
the  galling  of  their  pride  more  than  anything  else  that  was  offen- 
sive, and  that  came  out  specially  in  the  presence  of  the  Eomau 
Boldiery,  and  more  especially  in  the  oppressive  taxation.  "  Publi- 
can" thence  came  to  designate  the  most  disagreeable  kind  of  a 
"  sinner."  But,  Jesus  urges,  even  publicans  love  their  kith  and 
kin,  their  "  nearest,"  if  it  be  insisted  that  that  is  the  meaning  of 
"neighbor."  The  Gentiles,  whom  you  hate,  will  salute  their 
brethren.  Are  the  Jews  the  elect  of  the  Father  God  ?  And  do 
they  in  moral  character  rise  no  higher  than  the  plane  of  those 
nations  who  are  not  favored  by  God  and  are  hated  by  Jews  ?  If 
the  Jews  have  surpassingly  helping  privileges,  should  they  not 

have  surpassingly  elevated  characters? ^ 

maria."  "If  thou  wilt  imitate  the 
gods,  bestow  benefits  en  even  the  un- 
grateful :  for  on  even  criuiinals  the  suu 
rises,  to  even  pirates  the  seas  lie  open." 


*  Meyer  quotes  the  following  sen- 
tence from  Seneca,  which  is  remarkably 
like  these  words  of  Jesus :  "Si  deos 
imitaris,  da  et  ingi-atis  beneficia:  nam 
et  sceleratis  sol  oritur,  et  piratis  patent 


280         SECOND   AND   THIKD   PASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

Thus  lla^'ing  exhibited  the  wrong  that  is  in  the  Pharisaic  nar  ■ 
rowness  and  selfishness,  showing  that  in  practice  it  was  a  mere 
copy  of  the  example  of  the  worst  men,  while  in  theory  it  was  an 
injurious  perversion  of  the  law,  he  turned  to  his  disciples  and 
said.  "  You  are  not  to  be  so.  You  are  to  have  perfect  principles. 
The  principles  which  govern  your  Father  wlio  is  in  the  heavens, 
are  those  which  are  to  govern  yon." 

Keachiiig  this  transition  point  in  the  Discourse,  I  think  it  may 
be  well  to  notice  that  the  simple,  plain  intellects  of  his  congre- 
gation, understanding  the  words  of  Jesus  in  their  simplest,  plain- 
est meaning,  did  not  see  in  them  the  difficulties  which  all  the 
glosses  and  comments  have  made  for  ns  moderns.  It  is  really 
some  task  to  our  intellects  to  throw  out  the  influence  of  the  per- 
verting interpretations  to  which  we  have  been  accustomed  in 
order  to  place  ourselves  where  the  audience  of  Jesus  stood.  How 
far  I  am  doing  so  as  I  write,  I  know  not ;  but  I  am  striving  ear- 
nestly to  find  just  what  Jesus  meant  his  hearers  to  understand. 
And  an  examination  so  conducted  shows  that  he  was  not  laying 
down  maxims  of  conduct  but  tests  of  charxicter.  The  great 
trouble  many  good  people,  and  even  many  scholarly  men,  have 
found  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  has  come  from  not  observing 
this  distinction.  For  example,  take  the  last  precept  above,  "  Ye 
are  to  be  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  in  the  heavens  is  perfect." 
The  physical  and  mental  limitations  of  humanity  make  that  ut- 
terly impracticable  as  a  rule  of  action,  but  quite  practicable  as 
an  attainment  of  principle.  It  is  by  considering  his  statements, 
without  their  limitations,  as  a  directory  of  conduct,  and  seeing 
how  utterly  men  fail  to  reach  that  standard,  that  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  come  to  be  regarded  as  merely  a  refining  ideal,  not  to  be 
realized  totally  in  this  life. 

DIEECTIONS   FOR   TUE   DISCIIAKGE   OF   DUTY. 

We  have  now  reached  another  division  of  this  discourse,  in 
which  Jesus  shows  the  corrupting  influence  of  Pharisaism  upon 
even  the  practice  of  the  virtues,  and  teaches  his  disciples  to  purge 
the  very  spring  of  their  actions. 

Here  is  the  key  to  this  part  of  the  discourse.  A  man's  right- 
eousness works  itself  out  into  his  public  life,  and  he  must  often 
do  good  in  the  presence  of  his  fellow-men,  and  there  are  sf)me 
duties  which  cannot  be  discharged  in  total  privacy.     "  Righteous- 


THE   SEEMON    ON   THE   MOUNT. 


2S1 


Cut  take  hoed  not  to 
work  ynur  rijihteous- 
ness  *  before  iikmi,  to 
be  seen  of  them ;  if 
otherwise,  you  have 
no  .reward  from  jour 


ness"  is  exemplified  in  this  discourse  by  alms-giving,  by  pi-ayei- 

and  by  fasting,  or  more  generally  by  onr  duties  to  our  bi'cthrcn 

to  our  heavenly  Father,  and  to  ourselves.     These 

duties  are  to  be  discharged  with  reference  to  God, 

and  not  man.     When  our  righteousness  is  wrouglit 

in  the  presence  of  our  fellow-beings,  we  are  to 

be  very  careful  that  it  is  not  for  the  purpose  of  Father  who  is  in  the 

being    seen    by  them,  to    elicit   their   applause.  ^'=''^">^- 

The  verb  in  the  original  is  very  striking,  ^eadrjvai,  from  which 

comes  our  word  "  theatre."     We  are  not  to  theatricize,  phiy  a 

part,  think  the  thing  well  done  if  they  applaud,  and  ill  if  they 

give  signs  of  dissatisfaction. 

It  is,  moreover,  to  be  observed  that  Jesus  does  not  inculcate 
duties :  he  merely  tells  his  disciples  how  they  are  to  be  performed, 
lie  does  not  say  that  they  shall  give  alms,  and  pray,  and  fast.  Lib- 
erality towards  our  fellows,  piety  towards  our  God,  and  self-con- 
trol, are  among  the  well-known  duties  of  religion  everywhere,  in 
every  form.  But  the  methods  of  doing  these  right  things  may  be 
injuriously  wrong,  and,  among  the  Pharisees,  obviously  were ;  so 
Jesus  sets  himself  to  showing  his  disciples  how  they  ought  to  do 
what  they  already  felt  it  their  duty  to  do.    The  First  Examjtle  is 

Alms-giving. 

The  word  hypocrite  is  in  analogy  with  the  theatricizing  just 
spoken  of  in  general  terms.  A  hj'pocrite  strictly  Therefore  when  thou 
is  one  who  n/aintains  a  part  in  a  dramatic  perfor-  :rrfortLTt": 
mance,  speaking  his  words  usually  from  behind  a  hypocrites  do  in  the 
mask,  and  hence  readily  transferred  to  one  who  is  ;3f;:;::;hermS 
not  really  what  he  seems.  The  blowing  of  the  have  giory  of  men. 
trumpet  may  be  derived  from  what  is  aftirmed  to  ^^^';,,l"ill;  ^^Zt 
have  been  the  custom  of  ostentatious  alms-givers,  their  rewm-a.  But  when 

,  1,1  ii  i.li1  thou  doest  alms,  lot  not 

who  sunnnoned  the  poor  by  a  trumpet,  and  thus  ^,^y  ,^f^   ,^_^^,,  ^^^^^ 
made  known  their  gifts.     But  it  is  better  to  take  it  what  thy  right  hand 

„  .       T  .        .p    .  T       1  A      doeth,  that  thine  alms 

figuratively,  as  signifymg  unnecessary  display.  A  ^^^^^  .^  ,^,,,t^  ^„d 
man's  goodness  to  a  fellow-man  may  be  known  thy  Father  who  seeth  in 

,   _      .  ,   .  .         1,1.  i        1      •,    J-         secret  shall  reward  thee. 

and  bring  him  praise,  but  he  is  never  to  do  it  for 

the  purpose  of  having  that  praise.     If  lie  do,  he  will  not  fail,  he 


*  Not  "  alms,"  as  in  the  common  ver- 
Bion.  The  authentic  text  is  undoubted- 
ly 5iicaio(ruyTji',  righteousness,  and  not 
iKcnfio(T6i'-nv,  alms,  the  latter  being  a 
jrell-intentioned    but    mistaken    gloss. 


The  Vatican  andBezaMSS.,  and,  what 
is  still  more  important,  the  Codex  Sinni- 
ticus  give  the  former.  This  restored 
reading  aids  the  symmetry  of  the  dis* 
course. 


282 


SECOND   AND   TrTTRD    PASSOVEK   IN   TITE   LITE   OF  JESUS. 


will  be  piTviscd.  lie  will  have  his  reward,  and  his  wliole  rewai'd, 
in  that  praise.  He  will  thus  exliaust  his  rewai-d.  But  when  he 
gives  alms  because  it  is  right,  and  for  the  good  the  alms  may  do 
another,  and  docs  it  so  secretly  that,  to  nse  a  proverbial  phrase, 
his  left  hand  does  not  know  what  his  right  hand  does,  such  a 
man  has  reward  from  the  Father,  who  does  His  greatest  works  in 
secret.  Let  the  deed  be  done  as  to  Ilim  and  not  to  man. 
The  Second  Exam/pie  is 

Prayer. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  it  is  hypocrisy  which  Jesns  attacks,  not 
any  special  outward  modes  or  acts.     lie  does  not  condemn  usinw 

And  when  thou  pray-  syuagogucs  and  strccts  as  prayer  places ;  he  does  not 
est,  be  not  as  the  hypo-  coudcmn  Standing  as  a  posture.*  A  man  ma}'  pray 
crites;  for  they  love  to  ^^^  ,,^.],g,.e  ^^^^  gj^Q^^ij     .      everywhere.     But  no 

pray   staiuling   in   the  J  '  1        J  ./  »-       ^^ 

synaftogues  and  in  tiie  matter  whcrc  lic  prays,  nor  how,  nor  when, — if  his 
prayers  be  made  in  order  to  attract  the  attention 
and  elicit  the  applause  of  men,  he  is  a  hypocrite. 
He  pretends  to  be  speaking  to  God,  when,  in  real- 
ity, he  is  speaking  to  men.  A  modern  clergyman, 
kneeling  in  the  church,  may  be  playing  off  rlietori- 

ed  thy  door,  pray  to  cal  fircworks f Or tlic  entertainment of  liis audience,f 

thy  Father  wlio  is  in  ,  ,  ,  .      .  ,  ...  , . 

rather  tJian  be  assisting  them  in  tlieir  supphca- 
tions  for  the  mere}'  of  the  Almighty  Father.  Ho 
is  warned  by  this  incisive  speech  of  Jesus. 

Jesus  does  not  prohibit  much  praying,  but  much 


comers  of  the  broad- 
ways, that  they  may  bo 
Keen  of  men.  Verily,  I 
Bay  unto  yon,  They  ex- 
haust their  reward. 
But  thou,  when  thou 
prayest,  enter  into  thy 
closet,  and  having  lock- 


secret;  and  thy  Father 
•who  secth  in  secret  will 
reward  thee.  But  when 
yc  pray  use  not  sense- 
less repetitions,  as  do 
the  heathen  ;  for  they  , 

nre  of  opinion  that  talking ;  if  not  repetitions,  but  vaiii^  empty  repe- 
they  shall  be  heard  for  ^jj-j^ji^g^    jgg^^g  passed  wliole  niglits  ill  pravor,  and 

their  much  speaking.     ^  -^  ,  .    . 

■Do  not,  then,  resemble  lu  tlic  agouy  of  Gctlisemaue  lic  iiiadc  repetition 
them;  for  God  your  ^f  |^jg  ^^.j^g  ^^  ^j^^  heaveiilv  Father.     It  was  the 

Father    knows     what  ^  -^ 

things  ye  need  before  heatheuisli   ciistom,§   wliicli   had   also    crcpt   in 
ycaskhun.  amoug  the  Jews,  of  sometimes  unthinkingly  re- 


*  Indeed,  where  the  general  custom 
is  to  stand,  as  it  was  among  the  Jews,  it 
would  be  ostentatious  to  kneel ;  and  if 
Jesus  had  intended  to  make  a  special 
hit  at  the  posture,  he  would  have  said 
kneeling.  No  posture  must  be  taken 
which  so  attracts  attention  as  to  nourish 
one's  vanity. 

\  As  would  seem  to  have  been  the 
case  with  that  clergj'man  of  whom  a 


modem  new.=;paper  said,  "He  delivered 
the  finest  prayer  ever  addressed  to  a 
Boston  audience." 

X  This  distinction  is  made  by  Augus- 
tine: "  Absit  ab  oratione  multa  locutio; 
sed  non  desit  vinlta  precatio,  si  fervent 
perseverat  intentio."     Ep.  130,  10. 

§  A  specimen  of  heathenish  vain  re  • 
petitions  is  given  in  the  Old  Testament^ 
in  1  Kings  xviii.  26. 


THE   SERMON   ON  THE  MOUNT.  283 

peatinp^  sound,  good  words,  and  at  other  times  filling  np  the  sca- 
Bon  of  prayer  with  the  nnnicaning  repetition  of  irrelevant  and 
senseleps  things.  AVlien  a  clergyman  in  church,  or  a  layman  in  a 
meeting  for  prayer,  sets  before  Almighty  God  a  tabular  statement 
of  statistics,  or  a  running  commentary  on  the  shortcomings  of  the 
neighborhood,  or  a  resume  of  the  political  movements  of  the 
times,  telling  the  Great  Ruler  how  wickedly  such  a  senator  is 
going  to  vote  if  God  do  not  kill  him,  he  is  acting  heathcnishly, 
and  Jesus  rebukes  him  in  these  precepts. 

Again,  we  guard  ourselves  against  the  temptation  to  the  Phari- 
saic vice  of  literalism  in  interpreting  Jesus.  lie  did  not  proscribe 
public  worsliip  in  his  precepts,  and  he  was  strictly  oliservant  of  it 
in  his  conduct.  But  he  does  teach  that  culture  of  character  is 
iimcli  more  important  than  that  of  the  outward  behavior.  AYliile 
all  display  should  be  avoided  in  public  service,  there  is  a  still 
surer  mode  of  spiritual  culture,  namelj',  communion  with  God 
the  Father  in  tlie  profoundest  secret,  in  that  place  which  no  one 
but  God  knows  to  be  used  as  an  oratory,  at  that  time  when  no 
one  but  God  knows  that  the  suppliant  is  praying.  Such  praying 
recognizes  the  individual  personal  responsibility  of  the  suppliant, 
for  therein  he  must  use  the  singular  personal  pronoun  when  refer- 
ring to  himself.  lie  is  away  from  the  crowd.  lie  cannot  mingle 
his  deeds  and  life  Avith  theirs,  and  thus  divide,  even  in  idea,  the 
responsibility  of  his  actions.  He  is  alone  with  God.  lie  acknow- 
ledges the  spirituality  of  true  religion.  There  is  no  ceremonial, 
even  the  very  simplest,  to  help  him.  It  is  the  spirit  of  the  man 
peeking  strength  from  the  spirit  of  the  God.  He  acknowledges 
the  spirituality  and  omnipresence  of  God.  Ko  distance  separates 
and  no  darkness  hides  from  the  Almighty.  While  one  is  praying 
here  in  this  closet,  another  is  in  that  closet,  thousands  of  miles 
away  ;  and  both  are  heard. 

It  seems  to  me  difficult  to  overestimate  the  importance  of  this 
urgent  teaching  by  Jesus  of  the  internalism  of  true  religion  as 
antagonizing  all  the  externalism  of  cultivated  Paganism  and 
ecclesiasticized  Judaism.  It  is  what  a  man  is,  not  what  he  does, 
that  distinguishes  him  in  God's  eyes.  Being  right  will  produce 
doing  right.  Internal  piety  will  certainly  produce  proper  external 
worship,  but  proper  external  worship  does  very  little  towards  \^vo- 
ducing  true  internal  piety.  The  external  is  easily  assumed.  TiiQ 
internal  is  produced  with  difficulty.    Therefore  a  ceremonial  reli- 


284: 


SECOND   AKD   THIRD   TASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 


gion  is  easily  popularized.  Men  are  attracted  by  the  sliowiness, 
and  gratified  by  the  pomp.  It  requires  no  painstaking  of  soul 
culture.  But  it  does  not  endure.  It  cannot  be  carried  beyond 
the  niouient  of  death.  What  is  not  inwrought  falls  off.  Charao- 
ter  is  everything. 

It  is  surprising  that  the  modern  church  has  gone  so  far  from 
the  teaching  of  Jesus  as  to  lay  almost  the  whole  stress  upon  forms 
and  ceremonies;  that  a  "denomination"  may  be  erected  on  a  mere 
form,  and  a  wliole  church  be  convulsed  with  a  controversy  about 
mere  ceremonials ;  that  one  branch  of  the  church,  as  is  the  case 
with  the  Lutherans  in  Germany,  should  have  worship  disturbed, 
and  discord  and  separations  occasioned,  on  the  question  whether 
the  Loi-d's  Prayer,  as  it  is  called,  which  we  shall  next  consider, 
should  be  begun  Vater  unser  or  TJnser  Vater,  "  Our  Father  "  or 
"  Father,  Ours !  "  *  If  externalism  could  be  banished  from  all 
religion,  nine-tenths  of  all  prejudices,  animosities,  and  persecu- 
tions would  cease. 


"TUE    LOKD  S    PRATEK. 

And  then  Jesus  furnished  a  form  of  prayer,  which  should  be  a 

model,  and  show  Avliat  the  spirit  and  general  method  of  praying 

should  be.    To  a  critical  student  of  the  mind  and 

Thus  therefore  pray  ,       ,.    t  •       ^   •       l-r 

ye:  Our  Father,  the  soul  01  J csus  there  cau  DC  no  passagcs  lu  liis  lite 
One  in  the  heavens,   ^^^^,^  important  thau  thosc  which  set  forth  his 

hallowed  bo  Thy  Name,  ■>■  i  ■  j 

Thy  kiiiKiiom  come,  praycrs.     A  man's  prayers  are  the  mam  and  most 
Thy  will  be  done,  as  in  j.^ii^i^ig  indiccs  of  lils  real  character.   The  posture 

neavcn    so    on    earth.  _ 

Bread  necessary  for  hc  deliberately  assuuics  before  his  God  is   the 

7^7^  t:Z  "^'^^cs*^  ^"^^  the  most  graceful  possible  to  him. 

our  debts,  like  as  wo  Iljg  uttd'cd  praycrs  rcvcal  him  more  than  his 
didactic  ctcliverances.  The  prayers  he  sets  forth 
to  be  used  by  others  are  his  own  highest  represen- 
tation of  himself.     They  show  wliat  he  believes 

God  to  be,  what  he  belic\'es  man  to  be,  and  what  he  believes  to  be 


also  have  fortriven  our 
ciel)t()rs.  And  lead  us 
not  into  trial,  but  res- 
cue us  from  evil. 


*  This  is  stated  by  my  learned  friend 
Dr.  Schaff  in  a  note  to  Lange.  In  Greek 
it  is  HctTfu  rif.i.wi>^  Pater  haymone ;  and  in 
the  Latin,  Pater  nostcr.  The  German 
Lutherans  follow  that  form  in  V((ter 
vnser,  but  the  German  Reformed  insist 
apon  Unser  Vater.     People  who  write 


quarrelsome  books  and  articles  on  that 
distinction  have  no  need  for  either  form. 
It  does  not  much  matter  at  all  how  they 
pray.  It  would  not  seem  that  they 
should  care  anything  for  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  who  are  so  utterly  uidike  him  in 
spirit. 


THE    SEKMON    ON    THE    MOLT^T.  285 

the  relation  between  them.  The  theological  system  of  Jesns  mnst 
therefore  be  fomicl  chiefly  in  his  prayei-s.  The  theology  he  wished 
to  popularize  mnst  be  what  he  embodied  in  the  prayer  which  ho 
set  forth  for  all  his  followers,  in  all  ages  of  the  wojld.  Tlie  " ye " 
is  emphatic,  as  the  form  in  the  Greek  shows  and  implies  that 
between  the  praying  of  the  heathen,  the  "  ethnic  battology,"  as  lie 
calls  it,  and  the  j)i'aying  of  those  who  belonged  to  his  spiritual 
family,  there  was  to  be  a  marked  difference. 

Brief  as  this  prayer  is,  it  is  so  pregnant  that  one  scarcely  sees 
how  in  a  few  paragraphs  to  set  forth  its  wonderful  teachings. 

First  of  all,  in  every  sense,  is  the  presentation  of  G(xl  tlie 
Almighty,  not  as  the  Creator  of  the  "World  nor  the  King  of  tlie 
Universe,  bnt  as  standing  to  human  suppliants  in  the  relation  of 
Father.  We  are  not  to  ask  God  for  anything  because  he  made 
'  us,  or  because  he  rules  ns,  but  because  we  are  his  children  and  lie 
is  our  Father.  So  many  myriads  of  tongues  have  addressed  liiin 
in  this  way  since  the  days  of  Jesns,  that  we  fail  to  realize  what  a 
revelation  this  was.  God  is  never  addressed  as  "  Father  "  in  the 
Old  Testament.*  The  relation  is  alluded  to  as  the  ground  of  re- 
proach for  the  bad  behavior  of  the  people,  as  in  the  lirst  chapter 
of  Isaiah  and  the  lirst  chapter  of  Malachi,  where  God  is  repre- 
sented, in  the  flrst  passage,  as  saying  that  He  had  nourished  children 
who  were  rebels,  and  in  the  other  demanding  the  ser\ice  due  from 
child  to  father ;  or,  as  Alford  says,  "  as  the  last  resource  of  an 
.orphan  and  desolate  creature,"  as  in  the  passage  in  the  sixty-third 
chapter  of  Isaiah,  where,  nevertheless,  no  address  is  made  or  peti- 
tion presented  on  the  ground  of  the  fatherhood  of  God.  But  now 
Jesns  lays  it  at  the  foundation  of  all  religion,  because  the  basis  of 
all  prayer.  It  is  the  starting-point  of  both  his  theology  and  his 
philanthropy.  The  appeal  is  to  be  made  to  the  father-heart  in 
God.  And  this  shows  what  all  praying  really  must  be.  It  is  not 
the  appeal  of  a  slave  at  the  feet  of  his  master,  nor  a  subject  at 
the  feet  of  his  king.  It  is  not  to  be  an  attemi)t  to  wring  from 
reluctant  power  a  favor  which  he  who  prays  earnestly  desires.  It 
is  to  be  such  communion  with  God  as  sons  do  have  with  fathers. 
This  abolishes  at  once  that  fearful  element  of  most  forms  of  reli- 
gion, in  which  it  is  assumed  that  the  interests  of  God  are  one 
thing,   and   those   of   the   supi)liant   another,  and   the   sti-uggle 

*  The  learned  Bengel  well  remarks  1  adduced  are  either  dissimilar  or  mod- 
fiiat  the  examples  which  Lightfoot  has  I  em. 


2SG         SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVER   IN   THE  LITE   OF   JESUS. 

between  man  and  liis  Maker  is  as  to  the  obtaining  and  the  with- 
holding.  Every  child's  interest  is  identical  with  that  of  the  father, 
as  the  father's  is  with  that  of  the  son.  So  now,  when  a  man  wlio 
receives  the  teaching  of  Jesns  goes  to  his  prayers,  he  begins  by 
feeling  that  he  ought  to  desire  sinipl}^  what  God  wills,  and  that 
God  wills  exactly  the  thing  which  is  best  for  his  child.  That 
makes  the  comnnniion  at  once  tender  and  confidential. 

The  brief  doxological  addition  to  the  sublimely  simple  title, 
"Our  Father,"  is  "The  One  in  the  heavens."  The  employment 
of  this  phrase  does  two  things;  it  prevents  undue  familiarity  with 
even  the  Father,  who  is  represented  as  infinite  and  glorious,  I'esi- 
dent  in  all  the  heavens  that  are,  being  wherever  anything  heavenly 
is,  and  perhaps  intimating  that  his  presence  makes  Avhat  is  lieav- 
enly  ;  and  it  declares  his  personality,  thus  separating  Jesus  fi-om 
all  the  teachers  of  pantheism.  Pi-ayer  is  not  to  be  a  A'ague  address 
to  any  indefinite  phantasy,  but  to  a  "  him,"  to  a  "  one,"  to  a  pei'son 
having  place  and  personality,  the  infinite  Progenitor  of  a  countless 
number  of  sons  and  daughters,  each  of  whom  so  derives  his  or  her 
pei'sonality  from  the  Great  Father,  that  if  he  were  not  a  Personal 
Being  neither  could  they  be. 

There  is  another  thought  suggested  by  this  form  of  address  to 
God.  It  is  to  be  a  perpetual  assertion  and  reassertion  of  the 
brotherhood  of  man.  It  is  "  our,"  not  "  niy."  I  am  to  acknowl- 
edge that  He  is  as  much  the  Father  of  every  other  human  being 
who  utters  this  prayer  as  He  is  my  Father.  I  am  to  offer  a  pi'ayer 
for  every  other  human  being  when  I  pray  for  myself,  and  if  I  em- 
ploy this  prayer  -which  Jesus  sets  before  me  I  shall  do  that  very 
thing.  Selfishness  in  2)rayer  is  proscribed  forever.  A  man  may 
not  ask  after  blessings  on  his  body  and  on  his  soul  for  his  own  jier- 
Bonal  comfort  and  own  personal  salvation  alone.  "When  he  com 
munes  with  the  Father  it  must  be  for  the  good  of  the  whole  fam- 
ily. It  lifts  the  lowly  and  humbles  the  proud.  An  unspotted 
queen  on  her  throne  feels  that  while  her  royal  lips  say  "  Our 
Father,"  the  hunger-parched  mouth  of  the  frail  and  abandoned 
woman,  who  crouches  beside  the  doorsteps  in  the  dark  night,  is 
Baying  the  same  words  to  the  same  Being,  with  the  same  truth  ;ind 
meaning  in  them ;  and  the  two  women,  if  they  are  really  praying, 
are  praying  each  for  the  other.  This  is  the  basis  and  method  of 
philanthropy  set  forth  by  Jesus. 

After  the  address  the  prayer  has  six  petitions,  which,  it  is  to  b© 


THE   SEEMON   ON   THE  MOUNT. 


2S7 


observed,  arc  not  doxologics,  but  real  pi-ayers,  and  as  such  are  to 
Bi^'iiify  what  are  the  things  which  above  all  others  we  feel  that  we 
need,  and  having  which  we  shall  be  satishcd  that  other  things  may 
come  and  go  as  they  will.  It  shonld  interest  any  student  of 
human  history  to  know  wdiat  arc  the  six  things  which  such  a  per- 
son as  Jesus  believed  ought  to  be  paramount  in  the  desires  of  all 
mankind.  It  will  be  noticed  tliat  three  of  them  relate  to  God  and 
three  to  man. 

The  pi-ayers  in  the  first  part  are,  tliat  the  Name  of  the  heav- 
enly Father  should  be  ludlcnved,  that  his  kingdom  should  come, 
and  that  his  will  should  be  done.  There  is  this  phrase  added  to 
the  last  of  these  petitions,  "as  in  heaven  so  on  earth."  The  hear- 
ers of  Jesus  nnist  have  understood  hy  the  Avord  "  heaven "  the 
special  abode  of  Jehovah,  of  all  holy  intelligent  spirits  that  have 
not  fallen,  and  of  all  the  human  spirits  that  have  been  purified 
and  saved.  From  his  making  this  a  model  of  prayer  they  nmst 
lia\e  gathei'cd  that  the  state  of  affairs  in  that  world  is  the  normal^ 
and  the  state  of  affairs  in  this  world  is  the  aljiiornial  condition 
of  the  uni\erse,  and  that  to  have  this  M'orld  brought  to  the  condi- 
tion of  that  world  should  be  the  highest  desire  and  the  most  irre- 
pressible longing  of  every  true  heart.  It  is  the  first  outburst  of 
the  soul.  The  phrase  "as  in  heaven  so  on  earth"  is  not  therefore 
to  be  confined'to  the  last  of  these  three  petitions,  but  is  to  cover 
them  all.*  "As  in  heaven  so  on  earth  be  thy  name  hallowed;" 
"  as  in  heaven  so  in  earth  thy  kingdom  come  ;  "  "  as  in  heaven  so 
on  earth  thy  will  be  done." 

The  foundation  of  all  true  religion  in  the  heart  of  man  must 
be  found  in  its  pure  ideas  of  God.  Men  cannot  add  to  His  holi- 
ness, but  their  own  conceptions  of  His  character  may  become  very 
exalted.  Errors  in  religion  arise  from  false  ideas  of  God,  in  re- 
garding Ilim  as  vengeful,  or  weakly  lenient,  or  indifferent,  or  in 
some  way  other  than  what  He  really  is.  In  heaven  the  souls  of 
the  holy  have  only  holy,  that  is,  true  thoughts  and  conceptions  of 
Ilim.     Each  soul  is  like  a  perfect  mirror.     The  souls  of  men  are 


*  This  is  the  view  of  the  Council  of 
Trent,  as  set  forth  in  the  Catechism.  I 
am  aware  that  the  Codices  which  omit 
the  petition,  ''  Thy  will  be  done,"  in  the 
corresponding  passage  in  Luke  xi.  2, 
omit  also  these  words,  "  as  in  heaven  so 


in  earth;"  nevertheless  the  spirit  of  the 
prayer,  and  its  peculiar  construction,  by 
which  so  much  condensation  is  obtained, 
seem  to  me  to  justify  the  iutcri)retation 
given  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Catechism. 


288         SECOND   AND   TnmD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

full  of  flaws.  God's  name  means  God's  character,  tliat  by  which 
lie  should  be  called  or  described.  As  in  heaven  the  purest,  truest 
thoughts  of  God  are  held,  so  ought  it  to  be  desired  that  upon  earth 
all  men  shall  "  sanctify  the  Lord  their  God  in  their  hearts." 

And  the  acknowledgment  of  his  kingdom  by  all  men,  and  their 
total  submission  to  his  benehcent  reign,  so  that  there  should  be 
no  rebellion  against  the  benign  sovereignty  of  the  Father-King,  ig 
to  be  the  aspiration  and  desire  of  all  who  pray.  There  is  a  sense 
in  which  that  kingdom  does  always  as  much  prevail  on  earth  as  in 
heaven,  nainelj^,  in  the  actual  rule  of  God  over  all  things ;  but  in 
heaven  all  intelligences  comprehend  this,  accept  it,  and  rejoice  in 
it ;  on  earth  men  do  not  submit,  do  not  willingly  and  gladly  ac- 
cept it,  but  are  striving  to  rcacli  their  happiness  in  their  own  ways, 
and  not  by  being  Milling  subjects  of  their  Father,  who  is  their 
Lord.  Each  man  that  prays  should  desire  that  that  kingdom  be 
set  up  wholly  in  his  own  soul,  and*  that  he  should  always  be  free 
from  all  other  paramount  rulers.* 

The  third  petition  prays  that  on  earth  the  will  of  God  may  be 
done  as  it  is  in  heaven.  It  is  to  be  observed  how  the  personality 
of  God  is  preserved  throughout,  and  humanity  as  distinct  from 
God.  So  that  prayer  is  not  the  mere  human  addressing  itself  or 
voiding  its  deepest  feelings  on  the  unfeeling  universe.  Man  is  as 
autocratic  in  his  sphere  as  God  is  in  his.  God  m*ay  do  the  will 
of  man,  or  man  may  do  the  will  of  God,  or  their  wills  may  bo 
made  to  clash.  If  the  last  do  not  take  place  one  of  the  former 
must.  AYliich  does  the  good  governance  of  the  universe  in  gen- 
eral, and  the  good  of  both  parties  in  particular,  demand?  Shall 
the  Lifinite  be  obedient  to  the  finite,  the  power  of  the  Omnipo- 
tent Lnmaculate  be  made  subservient  to  the  caprices  of  the  will 
of  sinful  Feebleness?  If  the  latter  were  the  case,  then,  for  a 
moment,  we  might  have  peace.  But  the  submission  of  Onmipo- 
tence  to  a  mind  that  may  at  any  moment  make  a  mistake,  and  to 
passions  that  every  moment  are  rushing  on  blindly,  would  be  a 
ruinous  anomaly.  There  is  no  wa}'  in  which  peace  and  ])rogrcss 
and  happiness  can  be  secured  but  by  the  direct  bending  of  all  the 
enei-gies  of  man  to  the  will  of  God.  And  thus  is  man  to  1)0 
ennobled.  lie  loses  no  freedom  of  his  will,  he  is  not  ahaorhed  in 
God,  he  is  not  doing  compulsory  work,  but  he  is  freely  choosing 

*    So  Augustine  says:    "Ut  in  nobis  I  optamus."    Seitn.  50. 
veniat,  optamus ;  ut  in  illo  inveniamur,  I 


THE    SERMON   ON   THE   MOUNT.  289 

to  direct  all  his  great  energies  to  the  accomplishmeiit  of  the  good 
designs  of  the  tenderest  and  lovingest  Father  in  all  the  univei'se. 
In  the  case  of  man  it  would  be  many  fitful  wills  attemptins:  to 
rule ;  in  the  case  of  God,  it  is  One  will,  the  will  of  the  infinitely 
wise  and  good  Father. 

And  thus,  by  a  natural  and  logical  transition,  from  petitions 
touching  the  estate  of  God  the  suppliant  is  taught  to  jDass  to  peti- 
tions touching  his  own  estate. 

The  first  prayer  is  for  subsistence  :  "  bread  proper  for  our  suste- 
nance give  ns  to-day."  The  epithet  which  precedes  "  bread " 
occm'S  in  the  New  Testament  only  in  this  passage  and  in  Luke  xi. 
3.  It  is  one  of  the  most  disputed  words  in  all  these  writings.  In 
Greek  it  is  eiriovaiav.  In  the  common  English  version  it  is  trans- 
lated "  daily."  The  Vulgate  has  "  panem  nostrum  superstantia- 
lem,"  which  is  followed  by  the  Ehenish  version,  "  our  superstan- 
tial  bread."  In  the  Arabic  and  Ethiopian  versions  it  is  "  to- 
morrow's bread,"  *  which  does  not  accord  with  the  desire  that  it 
may  be  given  to-day.  I  have  endeavored  in  the  ti'anslation  given 
above  to  render  what  seemed  to  me  to  embrace  all  tlie  possible 
and  practicable  meanings  of  the  word  as  used  by  Jesus. f  The 
prayer  is  for  the  preservation  of  the  whole  man.  AVhat  is  need- 
ful for  his  body  is  bread,  and  therefore  aprov  is  used.  And  that 
symbolizes  what  is  necessary  for  his  intellect  and  for  his  soul. 
"Wliat  is  noio  necessary  to  sustain  us  as  men  is  to  be  prayed  for, 
and  nothing  more.  No  anxious  care  for  the  morrow  is  allowed, 
for  if  our  prayer  be  answered  to-day  the  same  prayer  will  be  an- 
swered to-morrow.  No  luxuries  are  to  be  ci-aved.  Life,  in  which 
to  do  the  Father's  will,  this  is  all  the  child  is  to  seek.  What  I 
may  use  now  fot  physical,  mental,  and  spiritual  sustenance  and 
strength,  I  may  ask  of  God.  But  bread,  real  bread  for  the  body, 
is  the  thing  set  forth  in  this  petition  explicitlj',  and  all  other  needed 
things  implicitly. 

The  second  thing  to  be  asked  \%  forgiveness.  Sin  is  represented 
imder  the  figure  of  debt.  To  be  in  debt  oppresses  a  sensitive 
mind  as  with  a  load  of  guilt.  There  can  be  no  security,  no 
peace,  no  happy  action  of  the  powers  while  a  man  lives  in  the 


*  And  in  the  ' '  Gospel  according  to  the 
Hebrews,"  Jerome  says  that  he  found 
for  imovffiay  the  word  -in>:,  that  is,  "  to- 
morrow's." 

19 


f  Those  who  desire  to  see  all  the  mean- 
ings assigned  may  consult  Alford's  G^reek 
Tciftnment^  Lange's  Comment.^  and  Ben* 
gel's  Gnomon yi)i  Iook 


290         SECOND   AND   TllIKD   PASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

consciousness  of  having  committed  sins  wliicli  are  not  forgiven 
him.  Every  true  man  longs  for  that.  Whatever  pleasure  he  may 
have  found  in  sinning,  the  moment  the  heat  of  lust  or  passion 
subsides  the  sense  of  the  offence  against  his  heavenly  Father 
overpowers  him.  lie  can  do  no  more,  he  can  enjoy  no  more, 
until  the  sin  he  forgiven.  It  has  become  the  extreme  necessity  of 
his  life.     The  pain  of  guilt  is  the  one  intolerable  agony. 

And  here  the  communion  element  of  the  Prayer  is  made  to  ap- 
pear again  distinctly.  The  petitioner  prays  that  all  sins,  his  owir 
and  those  of  others,  may  be  forgi\en.  And  that  there  may  be  a 
general  amnesty,  he  first  forgives  all  who  have  sinned  against  him, 
all  who  have  gotten  in  debt  to  him  by  their  failure  to  do  for  him 
what  they  were  bound  as  human  brothers  to  do.  Then  he  goes 
to  the  heavenly  Father  and  prays  that  the  same  may  be  done  for 
him.  "  Forgive  us  our  debts  like  as  we  also  have  forgiven  our 
debtors."  It  does  not  place  the  ])lea  of  foi-giveness  on  the  ground 
that  we  have  forgiven  our  debtors,  those  who  have  sinned  against 
us ;  nor  does  it  make  the  forgiveness  we  grant  to  others  the  meas- 
ure of  the  Father's  forgiveness  of  us  :  "  Forgive  us  as  much  as  we 
have  forgiven  othere ;"  but  rather  means  that  what  we  have  done 
to-wards  them  He  should  do  towards  us,  referring  to  the  nature  of 
the  act  of  forgiveness  rather  than  to  the  degrees  of  its  exercise. 

The  last  prayer  is  for  7'edempfion.  Trials  of  faith,  tests  of 
character,  discipline  that  strengthens,  these  are  what  no  man  has 
need  of  dreading.  But  that  the  providences  of  the  heavenly 
Father  ma}^  not  lead  us  into  such  positions  as  shall  make  the 
solicitation  to  evil  on  the  part  of  others  specially  influential  over 
our  lives  and  conduct,  we  may  request.  Being  forgiven,  we  ha^•c 
a  horror  of  the  same  circumstances  as  those  in  which  we  fell. 
This  petition  seeks  to  put  the  suppliant  under  the  special  provi- 
dence of  the  Father  in  all  coming  life.  And  then,  as  a  climax, 
it  exhibits  the  consummation  of  the  Christian  life.  "  Rescue  us 
from  evil !  "  When  that  prayer  is  answered,  there  is  nothing 
more  to  pray  for:  it  is  the  completeness  of  redemption  from  all 
physical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  evil, — from  disease,  from 
error,  and  from  sin.  It  indulges  the  vision  of  perfection,  and 
ai-dently  longs  that  in  the  suppliant  it  may  have  complete  reali^ca- 
tion.  And  what  he  asks  for  himself  he  solicits  for  all  others  who 
pray.     It  is  a  prayer  for  the  destruction  of  all  evil. 

Every  fresh  analysis  of  this  Pkaykk  lets  us  more  and  more  into 


TUE  SERMON  ON  THE  MOimT.  291 

the  mlrd  of  Jesus.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  each  petitioner  is  in- 
structed by  his  Yciy  prayer  to  regard  the  glory  of  God  as  the  fii-st 
thing,  and  the  supply  of  his  own  wants  as  quite  secondary.  A 
man  who  rushes  to  his  heavenly  Father  with  requests  for  his  own 
deliverance  and  enlargement,  not  feeling  more  concerned  that 
God  may  be  adored  than  that  he  may  be  helped,  is  a  selfish  and 
undevont  worshipper.  The  rule  is  :  AVorship  first  and  help  after- 
ward. Again,  there  seems  to  be  this  connection  implied,  that  the 
petitioner  desires  sustenance,  forgiveness,  and  deliverance  from 
evil,  that  he  may  be  able  to  contribute  towards  rendering  the 
name  of  the  Father  holy  in  the  hearts  of  all  men,  and  bringing 
all  men  to  submit  to  his  kingship  and  devote  themselves  to  carry- 
ing out  his  w^ill.  Xor  must  the  practical  effect  of  the  sincere 
offering  of  this  prayer  upon  the  character  of  the  petitioner 
escape  our  attention.  A  man  should  pray  only  for  wdiat  he 
really,  truly,  and  earnestly  desires.  If  he  do  not  desire  what  he 
asks,  he  adds  to  deceit  a  dreadful  mockery  of  the  omnipotent 
and  loving  Father.  This  prayer  indicates  whal  he  should  desire, 
the  proper  adoi-ation  of  God,  the  complete  acknowledgment  as 
well  as  continuance  of  his  rule  in  the  universe,  and  the  beautiful 
harmony  and  beneficent  progress  which  shall  follow  the  adjust- 
ment of  man's  moral  energies  to  the  decisions  of  the  will  of  God : 
and  ill  order  that  these  things  may  be  accomplished,  for  himself 
the  petitioner  desires  only  sustenance,  foi-giveuess,  and  safety. 
What  then  must  life  be  ?  Simply  the  devotion  of  man's  powers 
to  gain  these  things.  A  life  so  ordered  would  necessarily  become 
not  only  satisfactory  but  sublime.  The  petitioner  would  no  longer 
be  seeking  the  things  that  were  degrading  or  even  unnecessary, 
lie  would  never  idle.  He  would  strive  to  obtain  proper  food  for 
his  body,  proper  culture  of  his  intellect,  proper  growth  of  his 
Boul,  that  he  might  be  able  to  do  more  to  carry  forward  God's 
irreat  desiirn  of  makino-  the  universe  the  domain  of  a  rule  which 

too  o 

should  develop  it  into  a  boundless  estate  of  inconceivable  glor3\ 
Petty  cares  would  lose  their  hold  upon  such  a  man ;  but  nothing 
would  be  neo-lected.  In  the  most  trivial  matters  he  would  be 
just  and  faithful.  For  every  possible  emergency  he  would  be 
ready.  The  poets  have  not  dreamed  of  a  man  surpassing  him 
who  should  labor  to  have  this  prayer  fulfilled  in  all  equipoise  of 
passions  and  intellect,  in  all  completeness  of  self-government  and 
energy  of  action.     He  would  come  into  a  grandeur  and  a  beauty 


292         SECOND   AND   THIED   TASSOVEK   IN   TIIE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

which  would  justify  humanity  in  its  claim  of  being  offspring  ol 
Deity.  Can  the  parallel  of  this  Piajer  be  found  elsewhere  in 
literature  ? 

FOEGIVENESS. 

Tlie  Teacher  steps  back  a  moment  to  enforce  the  duty  of  for- 
giveness as  a  necessary  precedent  of  prayer.   The  word  is  changed 
Fcxr  if  ye  forgive  men  from  that  wliicli  Signifies  a  debt  to  that  which 
their  blunders,   your  gij^nifies  a  sUp,  a  fall,  a  defeat,  a  blunder.   In  the 

heavenly    Father    will  . 

also  forgive  you ;  but  if  translation  I  liavc  chosen  the  last,  as  perhaps  com- 
ye  forgive  not  men,  pj-igin^  j^  somc  sciise  all  the  others.     The  lesson 

neither  ■will    your  Fa-    -*  ~ 

ther  forgive  your  biun-  plainly  is,  that  wliatcver  other  preparation  a  man 
may  have  for  prayer,  if  he  ha\e  not  forgiven 
others  his  petitions  will  be  inefficient.  It  is  utterly  useless  to  go  to 
God  for  forsjiveness  if  I  have  not  forgiven  all  othei's,  considerins: 
their  sins  against  me  as  defeats  in  a  conflict  which  I  must  charita- 
bly suppose  they  waged  with  the  temptations  to  do  wrong ;  for 
that  is  the  view  which  God  charitably  takes  of  my  wrong  actions. 
I  owe  him  service.  It  is  a  debt.  I  fail  to  pay.  Praying  for  for- 
giveness shows  that  I  acknowledge  the  debt  and  have  tried  to  pay, 
but  failed,  and  was  defeated.  This  blundering  life  He  forgives, 
but  not  until  I  have  forgiven  those  who  thus  stand  related  to  me. 
The  English  version  of  Matthew  has  a  doxology  at  the  close  of 
the  petitions,  a  veiy  simple  and  very  noble  doxology.  But  as  in 
a  history  of  Jesus  we  can  consider  only  his  well-ascertained  words, 
this  addition  must  be  rejected.  Its  absence  from  the  Sinaitic,  the 
Vatican,  and  the  Beza  Codices  ought  to  settle  the  question  that, 
however  excellent  it  may  be,  it  was  not  a  part  of  the  prayer  Avliich 
Jesus  delivered  to  his  disciples  for  their  use,  and  to  be  the  model 
of  all  prayer  used  by  his  followers  in  all  times.  To  the  absence 
from  the  oldest  Greek  manuscript  versions  must  be  added  the 
fact  that  the  earliest  Christian  authors  failed  to  comment  on  it. 
If  we  found  in  dissertations  upon  what  is  called  Oratio  Dominica, 
"  The  Lord's  Prayer,"  the  doxology  expounded  as  part  of  the 
prayer,  that  fact  would  create  a  violent  assumption  that  it  existed 
in  manuscripts  older  than  any  which  have  survived,  older  than 
the  Codex  Sinaitic\is,  which  dates  back  to  the  fourth  century. 
Or,  if  we  had  relied  upon  the  Codex  Vaticanus,  which  up  to  the 
discovery  of  the  Codex  Sinaiticus  was  our  oldest,  and  then  upon  the 
discovery  of  this  latter  had  found  that  it  contained  the  doxology, 


THE   SERMON   ON   THE   ilOUNT. 


293 


it  vrould  have  strengthened  the  conviction  tliat  it  existed  iu  the 
very  first  records  made  of  the  words  of  Jesns.  But  when  none 
of  these  versions  have  it,  and  all  the  Latin  Fathers  fail  to  make 
mention  of  it,  when  expressly  explaining  the  prayer,  sound  criti- 
cism compels  us  to  reject  it. 

The  question  natumlly  occurs  to  a  thoughtful  reader.  How,  then, 
did  it  appear  in  the  text  of  Matthew  ?  It  is  manifestly  liturgical. 
Wlien  liturgies  spmng  up  in  the  Church  it  was  added,*  and  then, 
when  copies  of  the  Gosjiels  M^ere  made,  it  was  easily  transferred 
from  the  liturgy  by  the  memory  and  habit  of  the  copyist  into  the 
margin  or  directly  into  the  text.  Ambrose,f  who  was  born  in  the 
middle  of  the  fourth  century,  implies  that  the  doxology  was  re- 
cited by  the  priest  alone,  after  the  people  had  recited  "  The 
Lord's  Prayer."  It  is  quite  easy  to  see  how  this  Epiphonema,  as 
Ambrose  calls  it,  should  have  come  into  the  text.  But  the  proof 
thus  far  is  all  against  its  being  part  of  the  original  pmyer. 

The  Third  Exam])lc  is 


FASTING. 

The  teaching  here  is  qnite  plain,  II}^ocrites — men  playing  a 
part  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  applanse  of  men — make  all 
of  the  part  they  caii,  look  sad  and  worn,  that  men  ^„^  ^^.^^„  ^^  ^^^^  ^ 
may  praise  their  saintliness.  And  men  do.  They  come  not  as  the  hj-p- 
have  their  reward,  and  they  exhaust  it.  They  TTZfZ^^T'^^ 
have  none  of  that  inner  culture  which  comes  of  f^oe^  *^hat  they  may  bo 

,         iPi-if*i.-  p  i-\  1  iiacn  of  men  to  be  fast- 

real  selr-denuil,  or  abstinence  from  tlie  usual  en-  i„g_   ^^  ^griiy  i  say 

•joymcnts  of  life  because  the  soul  is  afflicted  with  unto  you,  They  exhaust 

•      1  £  -^      1  ,.  £.  n     J       T-C         ^"^^^  reward.    But 

a  pam  by  reason  or  its  departures  rrom  (jrod.  it  a  thou,  fasting,  anoint 
man  choose  such  a  culture  and  its  great  reward,  he  ^"^^  "^"^^  ''"'^  ^^^^  *^y 

,  face,  that  thou  be  not 

must  not  put  on  the  appearance  of  saintliness.  seen  by  mm  to  be  fast- 
Let  him  fast,  if  he  find  spiritual  profit  therein,  in?,  but  to  thy  Father 

'-         ^  \  _  who   is  in  secret,  and 

but  let  him  fast  inwardly,  making  his  usual  toilet,  thy  rather  who  is  in 
permitting  no  negligence  to  creep  into  his  dress,  ^^^t  wiu  reward  the*, 
giving  no  sign  to  the  world  of  that  inward  spiritual  discipline 
which  he  is  enduring.  The  modern  Christian  who  makes  all 
about  him  aware  that  it  is  Friday  by  his  glumness  or  sanctimony 
is  a  Pharisee.      The  cultivation  of  character,  not  the  flaunting  of 


•  It  appears  in  its  first  form  in  Con*t. 
Apos.,  viL  24,  6ti  arou  iariv  i)  fiatriXfia  tis 
aiiiva.!'    Ay.T}K     ' '  For  thine  is  the  king- 


dom through  the  aeons.     Amen," 
f  Be  Sacrament.,  vi.  5. 


294         SECOND   AND   TniRD  PASSOVEK   IN   TIIE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

the  insignia  of  religious  ceremonial,  is  the  great  work  Jesus  set 
before  bis  disciples. 

WARNINGS   AGAINST  COVETOUSNESS. 

Whenever  the  connection  in  this  discourse  seems  to  he  broken, 

the  clue  is  easily  found  by  recollecting  that  the  text  is  CliaracteT. 

The  Teacher  is  insisting  upon  a  man's  being  right 

TrcaRTire  not  up  for  ^  .?,;,.  -,        ,  , 

yourselves  treasures  up-  aud  stroug  aud  bcautiiul  lu  his  soul  \  that  a  man  s 
on  earth,  where  moth  m-eatucss  docs  uot  cousist  in  liis  circumstauccs 

and  rust  disfigure,  and    " 

where  thieves  break  but  iu  liis  internal  cliaractcr :  that  a  man  may 
through  and  steal.  But  -^^^^    ^^^      ^^^    imperishable    and    inalienable 

treasure  up  for   your-  •'  •■• 

eeives  treasure  in  hca-  trcasurc,  iiamcly,  liimsclf — liis  charactcr.     Other 
ven  where  neither  things  go.   Tliis  stays.    Otlicr  thiugs  are  earthly  J 

moth  nor  rust  disfigure,  O     o  J  o  ./  7 

and  where  thieves  do    this  is  hcavenly. 

"ITt^^^Z       Moreover,  a  connection  appears  in  this,  that  Je- 
treasure  there  is  also  gug  was  Setting  a  transparent  character  in  con- 
^  ^    '  trast  with  h}']30crisy.  The  Pharisees  were  worldly- 

minded  to  the  core,  while  all  their  external  appearance  was  reli- 
gious. They  were  blowing  trumpets  before  their  alms,  in  the 
graphic  description  of  Jesus,  were  making  long  prayers  in  market- 
places while  devoui-ing  the  substance  of  widows,  and  fasting  osten- 
tatiously while  heaping  up  treasures  on  earth.  Having  set  forth 
the  manner  in  which  the  prominent  duties  of  religion  ought  to 
be  discharged,  the  Teacher  inculcates  the  entire  consecration  of 
the  life,  in  the  heart  and  soul  of  a  man.  It  is  to  be  marked  how 
he  adheres  to  one  theme.  It  is  not  because  all  earthly  possessions 
are  liable  to  destruction  from  the  wear  and  tear  of  time,  or  the 
force  or  fraud  of  men,  nor  for  the  safety  of  the jMSsessions,  that 
Jesus  insists  that  all  things  shall  be  contrived  into  an  investment 
in  spiritual  and  eternal  things,  but  for  the  effect  upon  the  charac- 
ter, for  the  heart's  sake  ;  for  "  where  is  thy  treasure  there  is  also 
thy  heart ; "  and  for  everlasting  dignity  and  happiness  the  imper- 
ishable affections  must  be  fixed  on  imperishable  things. 

AGAINST  DOUBLE-IIINDEDNESS. 

That  his  discii>les  might  learn  the  importance  of  preserving 
clear-sightedness  in  spiritual  things,  he  brings  an  illustration  f i-om 
fi  bodily  member,  and  this  he  does  not  scientifically,  but,  as 
always  in  such  cases,  popnlarl}',  as  the  people  understood  it. 
Sight   is  simple.     A  healthy  eye  is  needed.     An  eye  that  sees 


THE   SERMON   ON   THE   MOUNT. 


295 


double  is  an  evil  e^'e,  and  utterly  confusing.  So,  when  the  soul'a 
eye  begins  to  fliclcer,  becoming  nncontroHable,  seeing  double, 
commingling  and  confusing  objects,  it  is  a  bad  tuc  lamp  of  the  body 
time  for  the  man  who  depends  upon  it.     His  light 


is  darkness — the  greatest  darkness — worse  than 


is  the  eye :  if  thine  eye 
be  clear,  thy  whole 
body  shall  .be  bright : 
but  if  thine  eye  be  bad, 
thy  whole  body  shall  be 


total  bhndness,  to  which  a  man  may  adapt  him 

self.     It  is  uncertain,  unreliable,  yet  inducing  the  dark,  if  then  the 

,  • ,    1  -L  i.      1  •    l,i      liptht  that    is    in  thee 

man  to  rely  upon  it  because  it  seems  to  be  right.  ^^  ,i.^,kncss,  how  great 
If  the  light  be  darkness,  how  great  the  darkness  !  the  darkness i 

Jesus  continues  to  dissuade  his  disciples  from  the  double-mind- 
edness  of  the  Pharisees  by  a  second  illustration,  taken  from  social 
life.     The  word  emi)loyed  in  Greek  can  be  trans- 

1       ./  No  man  can  be  slave 

lated  oiil}'  by  "  slave,"  one  who  belongs  to  an-  to  two  masters;  for 
other.  A  hired  servant  may  in  some  sense  serve  ^^^  ^  ^^^  ^ 
two  men  ecpially  Avell,  but  a  slave  is  a  member  of  he  win  cung  to  the 
a  family.  As  a  son  cannot  be  son  of  two  parents  '^^^^^  "^^ 
at  once,  so  a  servant  that  belongs  to  a  master  is  be  slave*  to  God  and 
devoted  to  his  master  utterly.  His  oidy  comfort 
is  in  undivided  affection  and  service.  So  as  to  the  claims  of  God 
and  Mammon.  You  cannot  serve  both  at  the  same  time.  The 
Pharisees  have  tried  it  and  failed.  They  are  kept  from  the  full 
enjoyment  of  their  gains  by  their  religious  pretences  ;  they  lose 
the  pleasure  of  undivided  religious  service  by  their  base  worldli- 
ness.  A  man  must  be  single-hearted  to  be  good,  and  gi-eat, 
and  happy.  Mammon  seems  merely  to  be  a  Chaldee  word  for 
"  riches."  There  is  no  evidence  that  the  Syrians,  as  has  been  as- 
serted, ever  worshipped  a  god  of  that  name. 

AGAINST   EXCESSIVE    ANXIETY. 

In  this  passage  the  Teacher  enlarges  the  idea  of  single-mind- 
edness  in  a  direction  which  excludes  distiacting  care.  He  has 
been  speaking  of  clear-sightedness :  he  now  speaks  of  directness 
of  living.     A  man's  full  powers  are  needed  for  each  day's  living. 


*  In  the  common  version  it  stands, 
"  either  he  will  hate  the  cue  and  love 
the  other,  or  else  he  will  hold  to  the  one 
and  despise  the  other,"  the  latter  clause 
being  merely  a  repetition  of  the  former. 
But  this  certainly  is  not  the  meaning'. 
Meyer  expresses  it;  "He  will  either 
hate  A  and  love  B,  or  cling  to  A  and  de- 


spise B,"  which  is  certainly  the  sense, 
and  such  I  have  given  it  hy  using 
"former"  and  "latter"  so  that  in 
both  members  of  the  sense  the  6  cm 
shall  refer  to  one  person,  and  6  erepoi 
shall  refer  to  another.  Dean  Alford 
sanctions  this  translation. 


296 


BECOND   AND   TUIKD   TASSOVEK   IN    THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 


lie  cannot  afford  to  have  his  forces  scattered.     Double-minded 

iiess  does  this.  Loving  God  and  hating  Mammon,  hating  God 

On  this  account  I  say  and  loving  Mammon,  in  perpetual  alternation,  id 

nnto  you,  lie  not  cxces-  ,■■  •        ^  n      i  i.  oi  t 

Biveiy  anxious  for  your  ^^^  ^'^^^^^  <^>^  cliaractcr.     bo  Jio  procccds  vei'j  ear- 
inner  man,*  what  ye  nestlj  aud  cloqueutly  to  strip  his  disciples  of  the 

are  to  eat,  nor  for  your  ,  ji      ^^  iii  i  i 

ont<;r  man,  whatye  are  encumbraDce  OI  all  worldlj  carcs,  that  tliej  may 

to  wear.     Is   not   the  cr[yQ  tliemSclveS  tO  tllC  lofticst  SClf-Culture. 
soul    more    than    food  t->      i  i  i   •  r    t 

and   the   body  than       i  cHiaps  ahuost  uo  teaching  of  Jesus  has  been 

clothing?  Look  upon  gQ  variouslv  undcrstood  and  so  Avretchedly  misin- 

the    birds  of   the  air,  *  ,  ,  •'^  _ 

for  they  sow  not,  nor  terprctcd  as  tliis  jjarticular  passage.     It  is  quite 

reap  nor  gather  into  ngcessaiT  that  WO  do  it  the  lusticc  to  apply  a  lit- 

Btorehousos,   and   your  ''  ,        _  •'  x  i    ./ 

heavenly  Father  feed-  tlc  comuion  scnsc  to  its  interpretation. 

oth  them.  Do  yon  not       jj.  certainly  docs  not  teach  idleness,  sloth,  list- 

differ  from  them,  and  •'  '  ' 

is  not  the  difference  Icssucss,  ucglect  of  Ordinary  affairs,  or  any  volan- 

much  in  joiur  fivor?t  ^       imi)overishment.    It  does  not  teach  starvation 

But  who  of  you  by  be-  "^  i 

ing  excessively  anxious  aiid  luikediiess.     It  docs  uot  cucourage  the  fanati- 

to  Ms'iirone^Iingie  ^^^ui  of  sitting  dowu  aud  "  letting  the  Lord  take 

cubit  ?t    And  about  carc  of  "  a  man.     It  teaches  precisely  the  opposite 

over^lnxiousf  Consid!  ^f  all  tlicsc  tliiugs.     It  tcaclies  that  a  man  is  to 

er  the  lilies  of  the  field  euiploy  all  liis  facultics  aiid  time  in  doing  what 

neither  toil  nor  spin :  his  i)lace  ill  tlic  kiiigdoiii  of  God  plainly  demands 

and  1  say  unto  you  That  ^^f  him  aiid  Satisfying  wliatcver  righteous  claim 

not  even  Solomon  in  all  i  •  /•  \  •        •     i 

his  glory  was  arrayed  aiiy  0110  lias  upoii  him.     Oil  piuuciple,  aiid  as  the 

like   one    of    these,  pj-ineipal   thiiiG;,  tlic  kino;doni  of  God  is  to  be 

Wherefore,  if  God  thus  '■  '-  ^'  «      ,  . 

clothe  the  grass  of  the  SOUght,  tllO    rulc  of    tllC    laW    of    God    ill    tllO    life. 


*  The  word  may  be  translated  ' '  life  " 
or  "soul."  The  soul's  continuance  in 
the  body  does  depend  upon  food,  and 
yet  it  seems  somewhat  harsh  to  translate 
the  word  by  ''  soul  "  in  this  case,  and 
bring  it  so  abruptly  close  to  food.  As 
the  outer  man  is  in  the  connection 
named  (tw^o,  so  the  inner  man  is  named 

\  This  is  a  circumlocution,  and  yet  I 
have  not  learned  how  to  convey  the 
sense  of  the  original  in  closer  English. 
The  Greek  is  obx  v/xus  ,uaWov  Sta<pepiTf 
avTuv.  The  common  version,  ' '  Are  ye 
not  much  better  than  they?"  conveys 
only  part  of  the  meaning.  In  the  ver- 
sion above  I  think  I  have  given  the 
whole  meaning. 


\  A  cubit  is  two  spans.  In  the  com- 
mon vei'sion  the  translation  is  "stat- 
ure." The  word  signifies  either  "  age  " 
or  "  height."  The  objection  to  the  lat- 
ter is  that  Jesus  is  showing  that  they 
cannot  do  the  least  thing,  and  therefore 
it  is  useless  to  be  anxious  about  the 
gi-eatest ;  but  to  add  eighteen  inches  to 
any  man's  height  were  a  very  great 
thing,  hence  it  is  inappropriate  here. 
Moreover,  Jesus  is  talking  of  the  life, 
and  hence  "  age  "  is  appropriate.  Th« 
objection  to  this  rendering  is  that  span 
is  a  measure  of  space  and  not  of  time. 
In  reply,  life  is  often  represented  as  a 
journey,  and  we  have  the  common 
phrase,  "  if«^(/to£  life."  SeePs.  xxxiz. 
5. 


TUE   SKKMON   ON   THE   MOUNT.  297 

the  knowledge  of  tliat  law,  and  perfect  and  joyful  fleM.;'"'^^  to.jay  ^ 

O  '1-  ;         .  siwfl  to-moiTow  IS  cast 

submission  to  it.  That  surely  and  necessarily  in-  into  tue  oven,  wm  he 
eludes  the  discharge  of  all  duties  towards  God,  J;* j;;',""; ^""^  ^' 
towards  our  fellows,  and  towards  ourselves.  Ko  Therefore  do  not  be 
grander  life  than  that  has  yet  been  conceived.  ZIZIl.^^l 
I3ut  the  drawback  of  most  men  is  that  they  are  what  shaii  wc  drink  5 

111         ,i,ii  j1"  ••  1*,  ^1.,      or.What  shall  we  wear? 

double,  that  they  nse  their  vision  wanderingly,  ^j^  ^^  ^^^^^  ^^._^„^ 
looking  upon  spii'itual  things  and  tempoi-al  things  theragans  seek,   foi 

-,.  rr  ,  1  n'    ,  •  1    1      ii        1*11  God  your  father  know- 

as  different  and  conflicting,  and  both  desirable,  eth  that  ye  have  need 
seeing  much  good  in  God  and  much  good   in  of  aii  these  things. 

-.r  1  •     •  T       •  1     J  1        I5"t    seek     chiefly  hi3 

Mammon ;  and  so  remaining  undecided,  or  mak-  i,i„„dom  and  right- 
ing  slight  efforts.     Jesus  teaches  a  concentration  eousness,  and  aii  these 

,7      ,,*",,  .7  •.  J?  j7  J.    things  shall    be  added 

oj  all  the  j^owers  on  the  jpursxiits  of  the  most  y„to  you.  Therefore, 
vrecious  thinq.  leavinq  the  results  to  the  heavenlu  do  not  be  anxious  about 

•*  "^  7  /T'  7  •  to-morrow,  for  to-mor- 

Father,  and  jdedxjing  the  effectual  co-ojperation  row  win  have  its  own 
of  the  heavenlii  Father  to  secure  success.  ^n^cty.  sumcientfor 

«/  "^  the  day  is  its  own  trou- 

Tlie  teaching  of  Jesus  was  intended  to  enable  bie. 
men  to  attend  better  to  their  rightful  business 
by  relieving  them  of  all  carking  and  weakening  cares.  lie  con- 
trasts the  man  with  his  circumstances,  his  soul  and  body  with 
his  food  and  clothing.  Did  God  make  men  and  women  merely 
that  they  might  eat  and  dress?  If  so,  then  yon  cannot  be  too 
careful  for  these  things,  and  they  should  be  chieily  sought.  The 
body  and  soul  were  made  for  the  garments  and  meats,  in  such  a 
case.  But  if  the  food  and  raiment  are  merely  to  keep  the  body 
and  soul  together  for  the  purpose  of  having  a  character  wrought 
out,  then,  while  that  important  process  is  being  faithfully  carried 
forward,  the  Almighty  Father  knows  what  his  child. needs  and 
will  not  fail  to  furnish  the  supplies. 

The  force  and  beauty  of  the  two  illustrations  are  worth  some 
study.  In  them  is  contained  an  argument  a  fortiori :  if  God 
will  do  all  this  for  birds  and  flowers,  what  may  He  not  rationally 
be  expected  to  do  for  His  rational,  sensitive  children  ?  Look  first 
at  the  birds.  They  are  merely  birds;  they  have  no  residence,  they 
are  "of  the  air,"  apparently  thriftless  but  cheerful  little  vaga- 
bonds, holding  no  real  estate,  engaging  in  no  agricultural  or  com- 
mercial pursuits,  simply  following  their  instincts,  doing  what  God 
put  them  into  the  world  to  do.  Inconsiderable  as  they  seem,  if 
God  chose  to  create  them  He  feels  Himself  charged  to  maintain 
them,  and  He  does  feed  them.     He  is  not  their  Father,  He  ii 


298         SECOND   AND   'miED   PASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 


merely  their  Creator.  But  He  is  "  your  Father."  Are  you  not 
more  worth  preservin«^  than  tlicy  ?  Does  not  your  Father  discrim 
inate  between  His  creatures  and  His  children  ? 

But  what  good  comes  of  over-care?  Has  it  ever  increased 
your  sagacity  or  your  ability  ?  Has  it  ever  added  to  your  life  so 
much  as  two  spans?  Did  any  profit  ever  come  to  any  man  from 
excessive  anxiety  ?  And  as  for  clothing,  its  want  of  loftiest  value 
is  seen  in  the  fact  that  God  bestows  it  not  on  men,  not  on  women, 
not  on  kings  and  queens,  but  on  the  unconscious  flowers.  They 
have  no  intelligence  and  no  address,  and  so  God  gives  them  dress 
as  a  special  attractiveness;  but  withholds  it  fi-om  men  and  women, 
who  have  eyes  and  moutlis  for  luminous  and  vocal  expression, 
and  so  having  this  great  capability  of  address  tliey  do  not  need  that 
which  is  such  pomp  and  glory  to  the  flowers.  H  they  desire  it 
they  cannot  have  it.  Solomon,  when  gold  and  silver  and  precious 
stones,  and  ivory  and  all  wealth  poured  in  upon  him,  and  when  he 
exerted  his  ingenuity  and  employed  his  extensive  commercial 
connections  to  render  his  person  and  his  throne  glorious,  would 
in  his  summer  walks,  see  himself  out-splendored  by  the  "  crown- 
imperial"  that  grew  npon  his  pathway,  or  all  his  magnificence 
eclipsed  by  the  golden  liliaceous  flowers  with  which  the  "amaryl- 
lis  "  enriched  the  autunmal  fields  about  his  royal  city ;  *  and  he 
knew  that  he  could  never  sit  under  canopy  made  by  art  which 
should  equal  the  velvety  softness  of  that  gorgeous  "  lily  of  the 
valleys  "  which,  with  the  rose  of  Sharon,  he  has  innnortalized  in 
his  "  Song  of  Songs."  f  Man's  is  a  nobler  glorj^  than  the  glory 
of  garments.  He  differs  from  birds  and  lilies,  while  he  gathers 
lessons  from  them.  Ho  need  not  take  these  as  exenqilars:  he  is 
not  only  something  different  but  something  much  better.  And 
will  not  his  heavenly  Father  care  for  him  ?  The  birds  are  of  the 
air,  the  lilies  are  of  the  field,  not  cared  for  by  man,  are  common 
property.  Man  is  of  the  heavens.  Field  and  air,  lily  and  bird, 
will  all  pass  away.  Man  and  heaven  Avill  remain.  Pagans  find 
their  gi-eatest  delight  and  glory  in  caring  for  their  bodies.  The 
followers  of  Jesus  are  to  make  their  greatest  work  the  culture  of 
their  souls.     And  then,  so  far  from  being  sure  to  starve,  and  finding 


*  The  "  crown -imperial"  (fritillaria 
imperialis)  grows  wild  in  Palestine,  and 
tjhe  amaryllis  lutea,  according  to  Sir  J. 
E.  Smith,  covers  the  fields  in  the  Levant. 


f  See  Song  ii.  1,  2,  IG.  This  waa 
undoubtedly  the  Huleh  lily,  which  Mr. 
Thomson  so  enthusiastically  praises  in 
The  Land  and  the  Book,  vol.  i.  p.  391. 


THE   SERMON   ON   THE   MOUNT.  299 

the  service  of  the  hing  a  failure  and  an  impovcrishmciit,  Jcsua 
pledges  the  heavenly  Fatlier  to  supply  everything  needful.  A  man 
may  seek  "all  these  things"  and  fail  to  find  them ;  but  he  that  seeks, 
on  principle,  as  the  principal  thing,  the  establishment  of  God's  king- 
dom and  the  reign  of  the  right,  shall  ahvays  have  shelter  and  nour- 
ishment. These  are  the  shell  in  which  the  kernel  of  character  ig 
to  grow. 

AGAINST   HARSH   JUDGMENTS. 

By  a  natural  transition  of  discourse,  Jesus  passed  fi'om  the 
judgments  we  should  pronounce  upon  ourselves  to  those  we  pro- 
nounce upon  others. 

These  words  certainly  cannot  be  reasonably  taken  to  mean  that 
we  are  to  suspend  the  exercise  of  that  admirable  faculty  with 
which  God  has  endowed  us,  by  which  we  com-     r>  „  f  •  i    v    ^ 

■      '!  Do  not  judge  harsh- 

pare  conduct  and  character  with  his  own  great  ly,  t^'it  yon  bo  not 
standard  of  morality.  There  are  few  more  im-  I;.itri,,arj,rl!,„e°J 
proving  exercises  than  this,  for  the  quickening  of  >■«  i'"!-'''  ye  ^'i^'ii  ^^ 

T  ,,.-,.,  1,1  •  1  t>    jiulgct],  and  witli  what 

our  own  moral  sensibility  and  tlie  guidance  oi  nica.sareyeineasiirc«,yo 
our  own  lives.     The  Great  Teacher  condemns  the  si.aii  be  measured.  And 

,  1  .,,.,,.,  ,  .    ,      why  dost  thou  observe 

unlovely  spirit  with  which  many  are  wont  to  criti-  the  splinter  that  is  in 
cise  the  conduct  of  their  fellows,  to  make  the  "'^  brother's  eye,  and 

„  ii'T  cni'  •  ''"*''•  ""^  perceive  the 

most  uiiiavorable  judgments  oi  all  their  actions,  beam  that  is  in  thine 
and  to  assio;n  to  bad  motives  actions  that  may  iust  °"'"   ''^'"'^    ^'^   '""^ 

^  '^   •*  tlust  thou   say  to  thy 

as  well  be  supposed  to  have  s})rung  from  motives  bn;thcr,  "Brother,  let 
that  are  pure    and    noble.     To   "iudge"    here  "'''  """  ^^"^  '"""*" 

/  .  p    .  .  from  thme  eye,"  and 

means  neither  the  passing  of  just  or  of  unjust  heboid  a  beam  is  m 
judgment,  but  the  spirit  with  which  this  is  done.  "\i"«°^^"7«?  "i-P"- 

ii        3  '  -^  cntc,     first     cast    the 

Men  ought  to  be  careful  not  to  form  judgments  beam  from  thine  own 
unnecessarily,  nor  carelessly,  nor  hastily.  When  ^I^Tc^lrTyTcast'th! 
duty  and  observance  of  the  requirements  of  jus-  splinter  from  thy  broth- 
tice  demand,  then  M'e  may  pass  judgment.  But  "^''^®' 
even  then  not  hastily  and  not  harshly.  The  reason  assigned  is  that 
we  shall  be  judged  with  the  judgment  which  we  apply  to  others. 

God  is  judge.  To  judge  one's  fellow-men  is  to  assume  his 
prerogative.  Our  judgments  will  be  reviewed  by  the  Searcher  of 
all  hearts.  The  Great  Teacher  does  not  mean  that  if  we  are 
lenient  to  the  faults  of  others  God  M'ill  tlierefore  be  lenient  to  us 
— that  if  we  lose  the  distinction  of  ri<i;ht  and  wroiis:  towards  our 
fellow-men,  God  will  therefore  obliterate  that  grand  distinction 
hi  His  own  mind.     But  he  does  mean  that  our  judgments  of 


300 


SECOND   AND   TIIIKD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 


others  are  to  be  the  materials  upon  which  man  may,  and  God  will^ 
make  up  judij:;inent  in  our  own  cases  ;  not  that  the  onlij  test  of  our 
characters  will  be  the  judgment  we  have  of  the  character  of  others, 
but  that  it  will  be  one  of  the  surest  of  such  tests.  Our  decisions 
are  not  final.  They  do  not  touch  our  fellow-men  as  that  from 
which  there  is  no  appeal;  but  if  they  have  been  unjust  and  unne- 
cessarily severe  they  come  back  in  condemnation  on  our  own  souls. 
And  still  there  is  this  other  reason  :  Severit)/  of  judgment  has 
a  tendency  to  make  such  judges  hypoci'ltes. 

A  man  will  pretend  to  have  kind  motives,  whereas  no  man  who 
utters  an  unnecessarily  severe  judgment  of  his  fellow-man  can 
feel  kindly  towards  him.  The  most  ruinous  things  are  said  in 
society  in  the  softest  tones  and  surrounded  by  phrases  of  great  com- 
passion. But  it  is  all  a  pretence.  "  Poor  fellow  !  "  "I  am  sorry 
it  is  so ! "  But  you  dtj  not  pity  him,  and  do  not  know  that  it  is  so. 
Jesus  presents  a  satirical  picture  of  such  a  man.  lie  describes 
him  as  going  to  a  brother  who  has  a  splinter  in  his  eye,  and  say- 
ing tenderly,  "  Let  me :  I'll  pull  out  the  mote  out  of  thine  eye." 
But  he  is  a  hypocrite.  There  is  a  rafter  in  his  own  eye.  lie  is 
foolish.  How  can  he  with  a  log  of  wood  in  his  own  eye  see  how 
to  perform  the  surgical  operation  of  extracting  the  splinter  from  his 
brother's  eye?  And  this  shows  the  uselessness  of  all  such  judgments. 
If  charity  begins  at  home,  so  should  judgment.  Wash  your  own 
hands  before  you  point  out  the  soiled  hands  of  your  fellows. 

The  Teacher  guards  against  the  opposite  extreme  of  laxity. 
Wliile  we  are  to  be  careful  not  to  pronounce  any  harsh  judgment 
upon  any  man,  we  are  to  discriminate  among  men, 
or  else  we  shall  always  be  blundering  in  dealing 
with  them.  There  are  distinctions  in  character. 
Some  men  are  like  dogs  for  ferocious  oppugnance 
ancumning  might  tear  ^o  tlio  trutli,  otlicrs  like  swiuc  for  tlicir  impuHty. 
To  give  them  sacred  and  precious  things  were  a  sad 
mistake.  In  the  East,  the  dog  and  the  hog  are  the  most  despised 
of  animals.  Jesus,  by  this  strong  language,  taught  that  absolute 
abandonment  of  moral  distinction  is  a  mental  vice  which  stands 
over  against  uncharitable  judgments. 


Do  not  give  the  holy 
thing  to  (logs,  nor  cast 
your  pearls  before 
swine,  lest  they  tram- 
ple them  in  their  feet, 


*  Dickinson's  translation  is,  "  Give 
not  that  which  is  consecrated  to  the 
dogs,  lest  they  turn  and  tear  you ;  nor 
cast  your  pearls  before  swine,  lest  they 


trample  them  under  their  feet,"  which 
probably  is  the  sense,  but  the  transla- 
tion given  above  follows  the  order  of  th« 

original  text. 


THE   SEKMON   ON   THE   MOUNT.  301 

AGAnfST   DOUBTINCf   GOD. 

The  connection  seems  to  be  tliis  :  lie  liad  urged  freedom  from 
sxcessive  carefulness  as  necessary  to  dignity  and  strength  of  char- 
a^cter.     That  men  may  be  free  from  carlcing  care 
he  directs  them  to  go  to  their  heavenly  Fatlier  in    /*'  ""'^  '* ''?''"  ^, 

~  ''  given  j'ou ;    seek,  and 

prayei',  and  gives  the  assurance  that  every  truly  ye  .shaii  limi;  knock, 
persevering  soul  shall  have  success.       lie  lays  ""^ '"^»>;'"'«  °"«"«d 

•■  ~  »'        to  you.     I  or  every  one 

down  as  a  universal  proposition,  that  every  true  who  .wks  receives,  ana 

.^    „  •  1         -XTTi  J         "'h*>  seeks  fiiuls,  and  to 

prayer  is  answered.     When  any  man  comes  to  !,;,„  ,^.^^,  ,,„„,.^  j^ 
God  and  sincerely  prays  that  his   sins  may  be  ^hau  be  opened,    ot 

ji         '  t  11,1  .     •  1     what  man   is  there  ol 

forgiven,  he  may  go  away  absolutely  certain  and  you.  whom  his  son  ask- 
Bure  that  his  prayer  has  been  answered,  and  that  "'^  ^°^  ^""'■-^'^^  ^^  ■«■"' 

I   .        .  ...  AT  1  1  ^°^  B'v  f"'"*  '^  stone  I 

Jiis  Sins  are  lorgi  veil.     And  so  wliatever  the  pe-  or  even  asks  for  a  fish? 
titioncr  needs  God  gives  in  answer  to  his  praver.  i^o  wui  not gwe  him  a 

/-,      15  .p  T  1  •        1  1  .     ."  serpent!    if  you,  being 

(jrod  s  gilts  are  good,  and  suited  to  the  recipient,  evii,  know  to  give  good 
If  a  human  father  adapts  his  gifts  to  his  child,  gifts  to  your  children, 

~,.      .  11111  1  1      ^y    ^"^^    nmch     mora 

not  olreriiig  a  stone  when  he  should  present  bread,  shaii  your  Father  in  the 

much  more  the  o:ood  Father  in  the  heavens,  lifted  ii^'"^'^'"«    s^yo    good 

1  11  1  .....  .11     .  11  TT-  *'^'""^  ^  ^^^"^  *^** 

above  all  liunian  miirmities,  will  give  to  all  liis  ask  him i    ah  things, 

children,  if  not  what  they  ask,  certainly  what  they  ^^'^••'^^f"'-'''    'hat    you 

•^  '  *'  •'      wisli  men  to  do  to  you, 

need.     His  gifts  would  not  be  good  if  not  adapted  the  same  aiso  do  ye  to 
to  his  children.  ^^''"'-  ^°'  '^'"  ^'  '^^ 

law  and  the  prophets. 

There  seems  also  this  connection  with  what  im- 
mediately precedes.  You  know  what  you  would  have  your  heav- 
enly Father  do  to  your  fellow-men.  Do  so  to  them,  not  judging 
harshly,  not  giving  inapproju-iately.  What  you  would  have  God 
do  to  you,  that  do  to  your  neighbor ;  for  manifestly  that  is  Avhat 
you  desire  your  neighbor  to  do  to  you.  Our  petitions  to  God  are 
the  expressions  of  our  highest  and  best  self-love. 

Thus  this  Teacher  has  shown  that  he  taught  nothing  which  was 
to  invalidate  the  law  and  the  prophets,  but  much  that  Avas  to  ful- 
fil them,  and  that  the  demands  of  the  moral  law  are  iK)t  met  by  a 
rigorous  C)bservance  of  the  outward  letter,  but  by  the  building  up 
of  a  character  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  law. 

AGAINST   THE    BROAD   WAY. 

As  compared  with  an  earnest  culture  of  the  charactei',  the  mere 
Pharisaic  observance  of  outward  Pharisaic  rites  is  quite  an  easy 
thing.     It  is  the  broad  road.     The  other  is  the  narrow.     It  is  not 


302         SECOXD   AXD   TIIIED   PASSOVER   m   THE   LITE   OF  JESUS. 


rjiirow  p:itc' ;  for  'jrciad 
and  Rpucious  is  the 
ruiui  loiifiing  away  into 
destruction,  and  many 
arc  those  entorinj^ 
through «,',  because  nar- 
row is  the  Kate  and  re- 
stricted *  tlie  road  tliat 
leads  away  into  life, 
and  few  are  they  wlio 
find  it. 


of  itself  so  difficult  a  thing  that  men  may  abandon  the  attempt  to 

enter  it.     Tlie  fewness  of  those  who  do  enter  is  not  due  so  much 

Enter  thron-h  the  to  its  difficulty,  Avlilch  is  admitted,  as  to  the  fact 

that  so  many  are  drawn  away  into  the  broader 

road.     But  that  the  narrow  way  rather  than  the 

spacious  road  should  be  souglit,  is  ui-ged,  and  a 

powerful  reason  suggested  l)y  the  very  verb  that 

is  used,  ''  leads  hwiuj^''  one  to  destruction  and  the 

other  to  life,  intimating  tliat  both  roads  are  very 

long,  and  carry  the  ti-avellers  thereon  into  scenes 

far  removed  from  this  present  state  of  affairs,  and 

therefore  the  clioice  of  roads  should  be  made  with  great  care. 

Tlie  difficulties  of  cultivating  character  are  enhanced  by  teach- 
ers of  falsehood,  wlio  assume  such  manners  of  sanctity  that  they 
Beware  of  false  pro-  "^^J  tlcccive.     "  From  witliiu  "  sucli  mcu  are  ra- 
phets,  who  come  to  pacious,  and  use  even  the  office  of  teaching  morals 

you  in  sheep's  clothing,     £         ^  x  i  i  t 

but  from  within  they  loi'  ^asc  purposcs.  Jcsus  shows  liow  coustautly 
nre  ravening  wolves.   \^q  hcciis  liis  great  tlicme  ill  vicw  bv  his  very 

Front   their    fruits    ye  ■\  <•     -i  •^   •  c-    i  . 

shall  know  them.  Do  uiodc  ot  dcscnbing  falsc  tcaclicrs,  not  by  saying 
persons  gather  grapes  ^^|^j^(.  ^j^^^  ^^  j^^^j.  |^     dcscribing  wliat  thcy  aro. 

from    thorns,    or    figs  -^  J  o  J         ^ 

from  thistles?  Thua  Their  actious  Spring  from  an  inmost  nature  Avhich 
duces  b!^!!tifurf..l't^  is  wolfish  and  selfish.  ^  And  the  same  thing  is  set 
and  every  rotten  tree  fortli  lu  liis  illustratiou  drawu  from  trccs  and 

produces     evil     fruits.       ■•      •      p       ..  rm  i  •  ,  n  i     • 

It  is  not  possible  that  tlieir  iruit.  Ihemauwlio  is  not  really  good  is 
a  good  tree  should  pro-  \>\^q.  a  trcc  wliicli  iiiay  be  laden  with  artificial 

duce    evil    fruits,   nor     /..  i>i''ii'i  i»  • 

that  a  rotten  tree  ii'uit,  wliile  it  IS  absolutcly  uuproductive  Or  is  ca- 
Bhouid  produce  beauti-  pablc  of  producing  only  e\-il  fruits.    A  man  need 

ful  fruits.      Every  tree    ,  ti  p  ,p.  ci'tpi 

that  docs  not  produce  havc  littlc  carc  lor  the  fruitage  of  Ins  lite,  but 
beautiful  fruit  is  he^vn  j^ust  be  luost  carcf  ul  for  thc  sap  of  his  soul.     The 

down  and  cast  into  the  ,  ^  _  ^    '^  .  _ 

fire.  So  then,  from  sap  bsiug  right  tlic  fruit  will  be  right.  Jesus 
their  fruits  ye  shau  teaclics  that  tlic  laws  of  tliG  intellectual  and  spi- 

know  them.  •■■ 

ritual  world  are  as  settled  and  as  regularly  oper- 
ative as  those  of  the  physical  world.  Where  there  is  a  really 
good  and  beautiful  life  there  must  be  a  really  good  and  beauti- 
ful soul ;  and  where  a  man's  character  is  really  bad,  no  repressive 
carefulness  can  keep  back  the  bitter  fruits  of  bad  acts.  In  either 
case,  for  a  season,  intervening  circumstances  may  prevent  the  ob- 


*  The  original  is  not  fairly  met  by 
our  English  word  "  narrow,"  the  Greek 
word  being  a  passive  participle,  strictly 


meaning  "squeezed,"  as  Dr.  J,  A,  Alex- 
ander notices. 


THE   SEEMON   ON   THE   MOUNT. 


303 


server  from  seeing  tlie  connection,  but  it  will  someliow  finally 
assert  itself,  lleuce  the  necessity  of  being  more  careful  to  culti 
vate  the  character  than  to  protect  the  reputation. 


AGAINST   HYPOCKISY. 

And  now  lie  turns  to  those  who  wei-e  gathering  about  him,  and 
instructs  thcni  tluit  mere  profession  of  attachment  to  his  person, 
that  even  zeal  for  the  orj-eat  work  which  he  had     „  .  *  ,, 

fc)  Not  *  every  one  who 

undertaken,  that  even  the  possession  of  power  to  wys  to  me,  "Lord, 

^11.1,  .  1  .1,  ,1         Lord,"  shall  enter  into 

rm  deeds  that  are   miraculous,  will  not  be  the  kingdom  of  the  hea. 

suflicient  to  insure  them  a  place  in  the  kingdom  ■»'e"s:  but  he  that  does 

1   .    1      r;ii         11     ,1         1  .^  .  11     the  things  willed  by  my 

which  nils  all  the  heavens, — the  great  m()rai  and  Father  in  the  heavens. . 
spiritual  kingdom  which  he  is  now  preaching, — but  ^'''"y  ^'^"■^^  ''"y  ^  ^° 

,..,.-  1T1  ^^  that  day,    "Lord, 

that  it  IS  absolutely  necessary  to  establish  a  pro-  ^ord,  have  we  not  in 
found  and  lofty  moral  character,  and  that  this  can  ^*^y  "'^"^'^  p>-eached, 
be  done  only  by  an  inward  conrormity  to  the  will  ,,eiied  many  demons, 

and  in  thy  name  per- 
formed many  works  of 
power  ?  "  And  then 
will  I  profess  +  to  them, 
"  I  never  knew  you." 
Separate  yourselves 
from  me,  yo  who  aio 
working  lawlessness. 


of  his  heavenly  Father. 

That  not  only  are  professions  comparatively 
valueless,  but  that  even  the  possession  of  singular 
gifts,  such  as  excite  the  admiration  of  the  world, 
M'ill  avail  nothing  in  the  absence  of  a  true  and 
high  character,  he  teaches  in  a  brief  dramatic 
passage  of  almost  fearful  jiower.  It  is  as  if  he  had  said :  All 
time  is  not  now.  Days  are  coining  after  this  day.  To  all  In^po- 
crites  and  self-deceivers  some  day  of  exposure  will  come.  They 
may  plead  againist  it.  They  may  appeal  to  the  eloquent  sermons 
they  have  delivered  in  explanation  or  defence  or  enforcement  of 
my  doctrines ;  they  may  appeal  to  the  force  that  lay  in  them,  which 
was  sufficient  to  cast  out  the  demons  who  had  taken  possession  of 
men ;  they  may  appeal  to  apparent  miracles  which  they  have  per- 
formed in  my  name,  and  these  appeals  may  be  founded  on  facts 
which  I  will  not  deny.  But  this  I  will  do,  I  will  make  such  ex- 
posure of  them  as  shall  be  the  same  as  if  in  speech.  I  will  tell  them 
that  I  had  never  known  them  as  being  of  my  people  and  subjects 


*  The  Greek  ov  -na^  6  AeycDi'  .  .  .  sio-f- 
XtviTtrat  does  not  signify  that  every  one 
who  calls  Jesus ' '  Lord  "  shall  be  excluded 
from  the  kingdom  which  he  was  preach- 
ing ;  but  that  calling  him  so  does  not  of 
itself  secure  such  admission. 


f  The  word  in  the  Greek  is  striking. 
It  means,  as  Alford  points  out,  a  state- 
ment of  the  simple  tnith  of  facts  as  op  • 
posed  to  the  false  coloring  and  self-de- 
ceit of  the  hypocrites. 


304         SECOND   AND   TIIIED   TASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

of  tlie  heavenly  kingdom ;  tliat  I  always  knew  that  they  were  not 
doing  my  Father's  will. 

Then,  after  that  startling  announcement,  which  was  all  the 
more  terrible  because  the  day  was  not  designated,  Jesus  turned 
upon  the  crowd  about  him,  and  in  substance  said :  "  Seeing  that 
this  is  the  case,  I  charge  every  man  whose  life  is  a  series  of  works 
done  lawlessly,  without  i-cgard  to  the  law  of  the  I'ight,  which  is 
the  will  of  my  heavenly  Father,  to  separate  himself  from  me  and 
my  community.  Whatever  power  to  perform  miracles  he  may 
Geem  to  possess,  I  acknowledge  no  gifts  and  no  professions.  Char- 
acter is  everything.  Law  is  eternal.  God  is  the  law-maker. 
Those  who  obey  Ilim  follow  me ;  let  others  separate  themselves." 

It  must  not  be  unnoticed  that  Jesus  asserts  that  it  is  possible  for 
one  who  does  not  conform  to  God's  moral  law  to  cast  out  demons 
and  perform  works  of  power  and  wonder,  that  is  to  say,  miracles, 
or  seem  to  do  so.  The  performance  of  miracles,  therefore,  accord- 
ing to  this  teaching  of  Jesus,  is  no  proof  that  the  teacher  who 
does  them  is  true,  or  that  his  teachings  are  in  accordance  with 
truth.  It  follows  that  he  did  not  lay  his  claim  to  the  attention  of 
the  world  upon  the  miracles  which  he  performed.  lie  claimed, 
as  we  shall  see,  through  all  his  course,  to  be  something  higher  than 
a  miracle-worker,  namely,  to  be  a  teacher  of  truth,  and  to  be  king 
over  all  other  teachers  and  over  all  other  men  in  that  he  taught 
the  truth  authoritatively.  lie  claimed  to  have  the  right  to  say 
what  the  truth  is,  and  declare  it,  not  as  a  discovery  made  by  his 
intellect,  not  as  an  inspiration  from  some  spiritual  force  outside  of 
himself,  but  as  originally  knowing  it  and  authoritatively  declar- 
ing it.  lie  certainly  conformed  his  subsequent  teachings  to  these 
announcements  in  the  Mount  Sermon,  in  which  we  learn  that  a 
truth  is  greater  than  a  miracle,  and  to  obey  God  is  better  than  to 
do  marvellous  works. 

conclusion:    the    safe   foundation   of   CnAKACTEK. 

This  wonderful  discourse  terminates  with  a  striking  parable. 
As  Jesus  had  begun  M'ith  an  enumeration  of  characteristics,  he 
closes  with  a  description  of  the  trials  of  character,  in  which  he 
contrasts  the  stability  of  one  with  the  downfall  of  another.  All 
goodness  and  safety  lie  in  placing  the  life  upon  the  truth  and 
remaining  there.  Knowledge  of  truth  is  in  no  way  helpful  to  a 
man  if  he  do  not  obey  the  truth ;  it  rather  makes  his  destruction 


THE    SERMON   ON   THE    MOUNT.  305 

more  appalling.  The  same  kind  of  trial  comes  to  those  who  are 
mere  hearers  of  truth  and  to  those  whose  lives  are  conformed 
to  it.     To  all  outward  appearance  the  characters 

•*■  •*■  Every  one,  then,  who 

of  the  two  men  were  the  same,  except  as  to  foun-  hears  these  wotjs  of 
dation.  Both  built.  Both  built  residences,  not  ^aii'be"'^iikr'C'cVtlJ"a 
mere  sheds.     The  houses  were  the  same.     If  both  wise  man,  wu.bmithia 

house   upon  tie  rock: 

had  been  built  upon  the  rock,  both  would  have  and  down  came  the* 

i        1         Ti  2.    J.^  i      •    1  2.1^  t^'i.„         shower,  and  the  floods 

stood,  it  was  not  the  materials  or  the  architec-  ^^^^^  \^^  ^j^^,  ^i,^^,^ 
ture  that  was  at  fault.    It  was  the  foundation.    If  I'lew,  and  feu  on  that 

house,  and  it  fell  not; 

the  winds,  the  rains,  and  the  freshets  could  have  for  it  had  been  founded 
swept  away  the  foundation  of  the  first,  liis  house  e^inewhfheat'fheL* 
would  have  fallen   and   its  downfall  have  been  words  of  mine,  and  does 

.  them  not,  shall  be  liken- 

great.  ii  the  sandy  foundation  of  the  second  man  cd  to  a  fooiish  man, 
had  been  able  to  resist  the  winds,  the  rains,  and  ^^°  ^'^^*'  ^''  ^°'''^ 

upon    the    sand :    and 

the  freshets,  his  house  was  good  and  strong  enough  down  came  the  shower, 
to  have  stood.     But  the  stronger  the  timbers,  and  "^  *^^  ^°°^^  ^'''"^' 

"  _  '  and  the    winds   blew. 

the  more  thoronghly  knitted  and  nailed  together,  and  gmote  that  house, 
the  more  prodio-ious  the  wreck  and  ruin  when  the  "°'^**^«"'  ^""^  ^^  ^'^ 

^  c5  was  great. 

foundation  subsided  and  the  lofty  and  strong 
edifice  collapsed.  Men  who  pa}^  no  attention  to  the  upbuilding 
of  their  characters  may  fall  and  attract  little  attention.  Men  who 
are  most  careful  to  build  up  their  characters,  and  yet  secure  no 
foundation,  have  no  security,  whatever  be  the  materials  or  the 
painstaking.  This  is  the  important  and  generally  neglected  thought 
to  which  Jesus  calls  attention.  It  is  the  collapse  of  character 
which  is  the  most  appalling  catastrophe  possible  in  the  universe. 

This  Discourse  has  been  dwelt  upon  at  length,  because  as  Jesus 
came  a  Teacher  of  Truth  his  words  are  most  important,  and  this 
is  the  lono-est  report  of  his  speeches  made  in  any 

.  -^      .  ^  ''       The  manner  of  Jesus. 

biographical  memoir  extant,  it  must  be  supposed 
to  embrace  the  essence  and  spirit  of  the  gospel  he  came  to  pro- 
mulgate. We  have  the  recorded  statements,  the  propositions  ver- 
bally rendered,  but  there  was  something  in  the  manner  of  Jesus 
that  was  extraordinary.  There  was  a  tone  which  made  his  hear- 
ers feel  that  this  was  a  man  altogether  superior  to  any  other 


*  The  articles  as  used  in  the  original 
show  that  all  those  things  were  familiar 
to  the  hearer ;  that  from  personal  obser- 
vations they  knew  the  rock,  the  sand, 
the  Bhower,  the  sndden  swelling  of  riv- 

2C 


ers  into  freshets,  and  the  fierce  winds. 
The  word  translated  floods  means  rivers, 
but  in  this  case  it  obviously  means  rivers 
swollen  into  floods. 


306         SECOND   AND   THIKD   PASSOVEK   EST  THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

"  greatest  man,"  because  the  latter  was  compelled  to  enforce  his 
teaching  either  by  an  argument  or  by  authoiity,  by  showing  that 
what  he  said  was  true  or  by  invoking  the  authority  of  the  ancients. 
Jesus  did  no  such  thing.  He  announced  the  truth  as  a  monarch 
announces  an  imperial  edict :  "  I  say  unto  you."  The  people  were 
struck  with  astonishment.  They  had  heard  learned  men.  They 
had  heard  enthusiasts.  They  had  heard  the  Scribes  and  John  the 
Baptist.  In  the  case  of  Jesus  it  was  not  learning.  It  was  not 
eloquence.  It  was  authority.  He  T/iade  tliem  feel  his  Toyal jpre- 
Togative.  No  other  man  had  ever  done  so  before.  No  man  in 
modern  times  is  known  to  have  made  anything  like  a  respectable 
imitation  of  this  marvellous  impression.  We  can  see  how  dicta- 
torially  the  discourse  is  constructed.  "We  must  fancy  the  manner 
of  him  who  spoke  under  the  conviction  that  he  had  the  right  to 
declare  what  the  truth  is,  and  that  of  the  finality  of  his  announce- 
ments there  was  to  be  no  discussion,  and  from  his  supreme  deci- 
sions there  could  be  no  appeal. 


CHAPTER   V. 


IN   CAPERNAUM  AND   NAIN. 


Matt.  vilL  &-1.3 ; 
Luke  viL  1-10.  Jesiia 
heals  the  centurion's 
slave. 


Upon  liis  rctuni  to  Capernaum  an  incident  occurred  in  the 
Iiistoiy  of  Jesus  of  very  great  importance.  A  Koman  company 
of  soldiery  held  the  post  in  the  town.  The  cen- 
turion in  command  was  a  person  remarkable  for 
his  faith,  his  humility,  and  his  large  charity. 
Having  had  Eonian  and  perhaps  Greek  culture, 
he  had  so  much  respect  for  the  Jewish  religion  that  he  had  actu- 
ally erected  a  synagogue  for  the  use  of  the  Jewish  residents. 
Such  considerate  liberality  had  won  the  regard  of  even  the  Jew- 
ish elders,  who  became  interested  in  whatever  concerned  this 
centurion.  His  case  presented  a  violent  contrast  with  the  relation 
usually  existing  between  the  hating,  subjugated  Jew  and  the 
scornful,  ruling  Iloman.  This  oflicer  had  a  slave  between  whom 
and  himself  existed  a  strong  attachment,  as  is  not  unusual  in 
countries  where  slavery  has  existed;*  a  sentiment  of  tenderness 
which  is  wholly  incomprehensible  to  those  whose  servants  have 
always  been  hirelings.  He  loved  his  servant,  and  his  servant  was 
ill  of  some  paralytic  disease  which  gave  him  excruciating  torture. 
The  centurion  had  probably  studied  the  character  of  Jesus,  and 
the  history  of  the  great  works  he  had  already  performed,  and  had 
the  utmost  confidence  in  his  healing  power.  The  Jewish  elders, 
whatever  may  have  been  their  prejudices  against  Jesus,  entertained 
so  high  a  regard  for  the  centurion  that  they  waited  on  Jesus  and 


*  In  the  original  Greek  the  word  is 
TTatj,  hoy.  The  ancient  Hebrew  had, 
and  the  modern  French  has,  the  same 
idiom.  In  the  Southern  States  of  North 
America,  before  the  abolition  of  slavery, 
the  servant  was  often  called  "boy," 
although  an  adult  and  perhaps  advanced 
in  years.  It  was  a  euphemism,  a  soft- 
ening: term.     If  the  slave  were  a  mar- 


ried man,  he  was  usually  called  "  un- 
cle." Domestic  servants  were  generally 
tenderly  treated,  and  the  whole  family 
thrown  into  mourning  when  they  died. 
Even  under  the  rougher  form  of  Roman 
slavery,  Cicero  expresses  the  great  grief 
he  suffered  on  the  occasion  of  a  death 
of  a  favorite  servant. 


308         SECOND   AND   THIRD   TASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

urged  the  exercise  of  his  marvellous  therapeutic  faculty  in  behalf 
of  the  Roman  slave. 

Jesus  readily  consented  to  accompany  them.  Wlien  the  cen- 
turion learned  that  he  was  approaching  the  official  residence,  he 
sent  his  friends  to  Jesus  with  a  message  most 
mmty  '^'"''^'"''^  ^"'  Roman,  most  military,  and  yet  most  full  of  a 
beautiful  humility  and  faith,  containing  the  lof- 
tiest and  the  widest  view  of  the  character  and  power  of  Jesus 
which  had  as  yet  ever  been  uttered.  He  sent  an  expression  of  wor- 
shipful regard,  and  most  humbly  told  Jesus  that  he  did  not  feel 
himself  worthy  to  have  so  illustrious  a  personage  come  under  his 
roof,  even  as  he  had  not  felt  himself  w<n-thy  to  approach  the  great 
Teacher,  and  had  therefoi-e  accepted  the  kind  mediation  of  the 
Jewish  ecclesiastics.  Moreover,  he  had  such  full  faith  in  the 
transcendent  power  of  Jesus  that  there  could  be  no  need  that  the 
great  Healer  should  touch  or  even  see  his  servant :  he  had  but  to 
speak  the  word.  And  he  illustrated  his  idea  by  a  military  fact : 
he  was  a  subaltern,  under  authority,  with  tribunes  over  him,  and 
yet  he  was  not  compelled  to  be  present  at  every  place  in  person. 
And  while  he,  as  a  soldier,  was  bound  to  obey  his  superior  in 
office,  he  nevertheless  commanded  his  slave,  and  that  slave  obeyed 
him  as  if  he  were  the  autocrat  of  the  world.  Now  Jesus,  in  the 
spiritual  realm,  in  command  over  the  forces  at  work  in  the  world, 
was  more  than  centurion  or  tribune :  he  was  Csesar,  emperor, 
supreme  commander.  He  had  but  to  speak,  and  the  hosts  would 
obey  him. 

The  tender  beauty  and  extraordinary  grandeur  of  this  faith 

aroused  in  Jesus  sentiments  of  admiration.     A  Roman  had  so  far 

overcome  the  power  of  prejudice  as  to  believe 

Jesus  admires  him.        ,  „  ,         ,  c  i        i  i  i  i 

that  from  the  bosom  or  a  broken  and  enslaved 
community  might  arise  the  great  power  of  God.  A  soldier,  an 
officer,  representing  imperialism,  had,  at  the  head  of  his  command, 
come  to  believe  in  the  superiority  of  spiritual  power  over  mere 
brute  force.  Jesus  turned  to  the  crowd  about  him,  and  said, 
"  Yerily  I  say  to  you,  I  have  not  found  so  much  faith  in  Israel. 
And  I  say  to  you,  That  many  shall  come  from  the  east  and  the 
west,  and  shall  recline  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the 
kingdom  of  the  heavens,  but  the  sons  of  the  kingdom  shall  be 
cast  into  the  darkness  outside.  There  shall  be  w^ailing  and  grat 
ing  of  teeth  "     Here  was  the  prediction  of  a  great  revolution 


IN   CAPERNAUM   AND   NAIN.  309 

presented  in  a  picture.  It  is  the  picture  of  a  happy  family. 
The  elders  are  seated  or  stretched  on  couches,  the  children  reclin- 
ing in  their  presence,  enjoying  their  society.  But  strangers  from 
a  great  distance,  never  expected,  come  in  to  this  delightful  domes- 
tic ban(juet.  That  is  wonderful.  But  there  is  something  more : 
the  children  are  cast  violently  into  the  darkness  outside,  where 
they  give  vent  to  their  rage  in  wailing  and  in  grating  tlieir  teeth. 
This  seems  to  be  as  much  as  if  he  had  said,  The  spiritual  blessings 
of  God's  kingdt)m,  which  is  as  wide  as  all  the  heavens,  are  not  to 
be  confined  to  a  close  corporation  on  earth.  From  any  distance 
any  man  may  come,  and  if  he  have  such  faith  as  numbered 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  amonc;  the  servants  of  tlie  iri'cat  Kino-, 
he  shall  take  his  place :  whereas  those  who  rely  upon  a  mere 
traditional  right  to  the  kingdom  and  its  privileges  shall  be  thrown 
outdoors  into  the  night.  It  was  a  declaration  of  the  spirituality 
and  width  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  was  a  great  blow  at  sacer- 
dotalism and  all  churchism,  a  thing  Jesus  hated  as  a  snare  to 
human  souls. 

He  then  justified  the  faith  of  the  centurion  by  telling  the  mes- 
sengers to  return  and  they  should  find  it  as  their  superior  desired. 
Upon  their  return,  they  found  that  the  servant 

I       1  T    •         1  1  mi   •  1  ^^^   servant  healed. 

had  recovered  m  that  same  liour.  This  wonder- 
ful cure  is  something.  It  stopped  pain.  It  gratified  and  rewarded 
the  centurion.  But  it  was  a  small  thing  as  compared  with  the 
saying  of  Jesus  in  the  utterance  of  a  grand  truth  which  is  to  help 
the  struggling  hearts  of  truly  religious  men  thi-ough  all  the  ages. 
A  truth  is  greater  than  a  mii-acle.  What  Jesus  said  in  the  Mount 
Sermon  is  much  moi-e  valuable  to  the  world  than  what  Jesus  did 
among  the  diseased,  when  he  had  descended  from  his  lofty  pulpit. 
But  the  latter  have  a  historical  connection  and  unity  with  the 
former.  It  was  because  of  what  was  in  him  that  Jesus  spake  and 
did  his  wonderful  words  and  acts. 

Not  far  from  Capernaum,  a  few  miles  to  the  south  of  Mount 
Tnl)or,  on  the  north-west  declivity  of  Little  Ilernion,  coinnumding 
a  wide  view  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  and  the 
northern  hills,  stands  a  village  now  called  Nein,  ^^^^  ^'-  ""''•  ^" 
in  the  time  of  Jesus  bearing  the  name  of  Nain. 
On  the  day  after  the  healing  of  the  ceiiturion's  servant,  Jesus 
visited  this  place  with  his  company  of  disciples,  and  a  great  crowd 
attracted  by  his  recent  miracle.     As  he  entered  the  town  he  saw 


310 


SECOND   AND    THIKD    PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 


a  funeral  procession.  It  was  the  J  ewish  custom  that  all  wlio  met 
gucli  a  procession  should  join  it  and  add  their  lamentations  to  the. 
tears  of  the  mourners.  This  was  a  particularly  touching  case. 
The  corpse  was  that  of  a  man  stricken  down  in  his  youth,  being 
the  only  child  of  his  mother,  who  was  a  widow,  lie  was  being 
carried  in  an  open  coffin.  Wlien  Jesus  saw  the  mother's  sorrow, 
his  heart  was  moved.  lie  6to2)ped  the  bearers,  and  turning  to  tlie 
young  man,  he  said,  "I  say  unto  thee,  Ariyc.''^     And  the  dead 


fi* 


Jc 


sat  up  and  began  to  speak.    And  Jesus  "delivered  him  to  hia 
mother." 

Here  was  an  open  meeting  between  death  and  the  foiTcs.if 
life  which  Jesus  contained  and  directed.  Tliere  was  a  crowd  i>t 
spectatoi's.  There  was  no  incantation.  Tbeie 
was  no  prayer.  There  was  no  invocation  of  the 
help  of  another.  Out  of  himself,  and  by  virtue  of  his  own  ])ower 
and  authority,  Jesus  said  to  a  dead  man,  "  J  say,  Arise."  There 
was  no  gradual  recovery.  The  dead  was  alive,  sat  up,  and  began 
to  talk.     It  was  the  collision  of  life-force  with  the  inertness  of 


Jesus  raiees  the  dead. 


IN   CAPEKNAUM  AND   NAIN. 


311 


death,  and  the  former  prevailed.  All  such  collisions  are  awful, 
but  here  was  the  additional  element  of  extraordinariness.  Usually 
death  conquered.  Here  life  was  the  victor.  Great  fear  fell  upon 
the  people.  Jesus  had  at  fii-st  been  a  teacher,  then  a  physician ; 
now  he  is  a  great  prophet.  Xever  since  the  days  of  Elisha  had 
such  a  miracle  been  performed.  For  nine  centuries  the  power  of 
resurrection  had  been  in  abeyance.  Now  it  had  come  back  among 
men.  In  tones  of  awe  they  said  one  to  another,  "  God  has  visited 
His  people,"  and  the  fame  of  Jesus  spread  through  all  the  regions 
round  about.* 

"While  Jesus  was  thus  increasing  in  popular  attractiveness,  and 
enlarging  his  field  of  operations,  his  friend  John  lay  pining  in  the 
castle  of  Machserus,f  into  which  he  had  been 
thrown^  by  Herod  Antipas,  because  of  his  bold  mrj^r^^Trf^n! 
denunciation  of  that  tetrarch's  crimes  and  public  ^"^«  ^- 1*-^^;  iratt* 
scandals.  John  had  hailed  Jesus  as  the  "  Comino- 
One,"  the  Anointed,  the  Deliverer.  Sixteen  months  had  passed 
since  the  inauguration  of  Jesus,  and  as  yet  John  had  not  heard 
that  he  had  begun  to  perform  such  Messianic  acts  as  the  Jews 
looked  for  in  the  Deliverer.  From  a  national  blaze  of  reputation 
John  had  suddenly  gone  down  into  the  gloom  of  a  dungeon.  The 
lion  had  been  caged.  This  grand  spirit  that  had  walked  the 
wilderness  and  the  shores  of  Jordan,  and  had  drawn  vast  crowds 
to  hear  his  roaring  eloquence,  lay  cankering  in  the  silent  solitude 
of  a  prison.  Day  and  night,  througli  months  of  winter  and  of 
spring  he  lay.     ISTow  and  then  notices  of  the  doings  of  Jesus  had 


*  But  the  contrast  between  the  pray- 
erful efforts  of  the  prophets  and  the 
sublime  authoritative  call  of  Jesus  must 
always  be  noticed.  It  is  set  forth  in  a 
passage  in  Massillon's  sermon,  Sur  la 
Dinnite  de  Jesus-  C/inst,  which  is  worth 
quotation  for  its  great  eloquence,  finer 
in  the  original  than  I  can  give  in  a  trans- 
lation :  "  Elias  raised  the  dead,  it  is 
true,  but  he  was  obliged  to  throw  him- 
self often  on  the  corpse  of  the  child  he 
would  resuscitate  :  he  breathed  hard, 
he  drew  himself  together,  he  threw 
himself  about ;  it  is  plain  that  he  is  in- 
v».>king  a  power  outside  himself  (un 
puissance  etrangere),  that  he  is  recall- 


ing from  the  empire  of  death  a  soul 
that  is  not  submissive  to  his  voice,  and 
that  he  is  not  himself  the  master  of 
death  and  of  life.  Jesus  Christ  raises 
the  dead  as  he  does  the  most  common 
actions  ;  he  speaks  as  a  master  to  those 
who  are  slumbering  in  the  eternal  sleep ; 
it  is  quite  apparent  that  he  is  the  God 
of  the  dead  as  well  as  of  the  living,  but 
always  the  most  serene  when  he  is  per- 
forming the  grandest  deeds. " 

f  Next  to  Jerusalem,  the  best  forti' 
fied  place  in  the  Holy  Land.  It  waa 
near  the  summer  residence  of  Herod  in 
Per». 


312         SECOND   AND   THIKD   PASSOVEE   IN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

reached  him.  All  that  these  seemed  to  show  was  the  free  and 
easy  manner  in  which  the  new  Teacher  mingled  \\'ith  peoples  oi 
all  kinds,  rising  apparently  above  all  ecclesiastical  and  national 
prejudices,  and  setting  himself  and  his  disciples  free  from  the 
ei'emitical  restrictions  which  characterized  the  lives  of  John 
and  liis  disciples.  John's  soul  M-as  growing  weak  with  waiting. 
lie  was  bemnnino^  tb  doubt.  Had  he  made  a  mistake  ?  If  Jesus 
were  the  Deliverer,  why  did  he  delay  the  deliverance  ? 

It  was  probably  at  this  j  uncture  that  Joliu  heard  of  some  of  the 
mighty  works  of  Jesus.  This  increased  rather  than  diminished 
John  hears  of  works  his  pcrplcxity.  It  sccmcd  unaccountablc  to  John 
"*  ''^^^^  that  more  than  a  year  before  he  should  have  pro- 

phetically seen  signs  of  Messiahship  in  Jesus  which  appeared  most 
nnqnestionable,  and  that  now  Jesus  had  begun  to  perform  miracles 
that  surpassed  the  deeds  of  even  Elijah,  and  that  still  he  declined 
to  assert  his  Messiahship.  He  determined  to  seek  a  solution  of  the 
difficulty.  Accordingly  he  sent  two  of  his  chosen  disciples  to 
Jesus.  They  foimd  him  surrounded  by  the  populace.  They  ad- 
dressed to  him  publicly,  in  John's  name,  the  question,  "  Art  thou 
the  Coming  One,  or  do  we  look  for  another  ?  " 

No  more  unfortunate  question,  as  coming  from  John,  could  have 
been  propounded  to  Jesus  at  this  moment,  and  under  these  cir- 

john's  message  to  cumstauces.  It  Said  to  tlic  pcople  that  the  man 
Jesus,  and  his  reply,  whoui  they  had  regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest  of 
the  prophets,  who  had  introduced  Jesus  to  pulJic  life  in  a  season 
of  great  excitement,  now  that  he  had  time  for  cool  reflection,  had 
begun  to  doubt  the  mission  of  Jesus.  It  was  a  blow  on  the  heart 
of  Jesus  from  the  hand  of  his  best  friend.  It  showed  him  what  a 
melancholy  effect  was  being  produced  upon  the  mind  of  John  by 
his  long  and  cruel  imprisomnent. 

The  acts  and  words  of  Jesus  on  this  occasion  passed  up  into  the 
si)liere  of  the  sublime.  John  must  be  saved.  That  was  the  first 
thing.  In  the  presence  of  the  embassy  from  John,  Jesus  relieved 
iiuiiiy  of  the  infirmities  of  the  people,  opened  the  eyes  of  tlie  blind, 
and  cured  demoniacs.  Turning  to  the  messengers  he  said  in  sub- 
stance, "  Go  to  John,  and  tell  him  what  you  yourseU^es  have  seen 
and  have  heard  from  reliable  witnesses.  The  blind  see,  the  lame 
walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  the  deaf  liear,  the  dead  are  i-aised, 
and  the  men  of  humble  souls  have  a  jubilee,  for  they  are  hearing 
glad  tidings.     And  happy  is  he  who  is  not  offended  in  me." 


IN   CAPERNAtTM    AND    NAIN.  313 

Tliat  was  the  whole  message  to  John.  It  implied  more  than  it 
said.  Jesus  did  not  wish  to  womid  tlie  imprisoned  propliet  as  that 
friend  had  Avonnded  him.  He  was  grander  than  even  tlie  grand 
John.  Instead  of  saying,  "  Woe  to  liim  who  is  offended  in  me," 
lie  puts  it  in  the  softer  way,  "  Blessed  he  who  is  not  offended." 
John  knew  what  the  prophets  had  indicated  as  true  Messianic 
signs.  lie  remembered  the  words  of  Isaiah  in  Ixi.  1,  2,  and  xxxv 
5,  6,  and  other  prophetic  utterances.  If  these  met  in  Jesus,  then 
Jesus  was  the  Messiah,  and,  for  any  who  believed  that,  it  Avas  a 
happy  thing  to  wait  his  motions  and  not  be  striving  to  precipitate 
his  announcements. 

But  there  were  the  peoi)le  hearing  all  these  things.     The  repu- 
tation of  his  incarcerated  friend  was  dear  to  Jesus,     lie  saw  at 
once  that  the  people  might  begin  to  turn  against      Defence  of  joun  by 
John,  and  charge  him  with  weakness  in  thus  so  •''^'"*- 
Btrangely  modifying  his  own  endorsement  of  Jesus.      As   soon 
therefore  as  John's  disciples  had  departed— for  he  would  not  even 
seem  to  flatter  his  gi-eat  friend— he  recalled  to  the  minds  of  his 
heai-ers  the  picture  of  John  in  the  glory  of  his  sti-ength,  in  the 
height  of  his  popularity,  when  he  was  crowding  the  Jordan  with 
auditors  and  disciples.     If  they  susi)ected  John  of  being  a  vacil- 
lating weakling,  it  was  doing  him  great  injustice.    He  was  no  reed 
shaken  in  a  wind.     He  was  himself  rather  a  storm  that  shook 
others.     Xor  was  he  a  courter  of  public  applause,  a  flatterer,  or  a 
sycophant.    If  he  had  been  such  he  would  have  been  found  amono- 
the  sumptuously  dressed  attendants  on  the  court  of  Ilerod  Antipas, 
instead  of  a  prisoner  waiting  away  in  a  dungeon  because  of  his 
bold  out-spokenness  against  the  wrong.     He  was  neither  a  reed 
shaken  in  the  wind  nor  a  delicate  self-seeker.     He  was  acknow- 
ledged as  a  prophet  by  those  Avho  heard  his  tremendous  hai-angues 
at  the  Jordan.     And  Jesus  asserted  that  John  was  more  than  an 
ordinary  prophet,  that  he  was  as  great  as  the  greatest  prophet,  and 
that  no  greater  man  had  ever  been  raised  up  by  Providence  for 
any  Avork  so  great  as  that  of  John.     AVith  this  generous  eulogy  he 
at  once  defended  the  reputation  of  his  afflicted  friend,  and  made 
his  hearers  to  remember  that  the  greatest  men  have  their  hours 
of  Aveakness  and  distrust. 

But  having  so  done  justice  to  the  character  of  John,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  say,  "Notwithstanding,  he  that  is  less  in  the  kingdom 
of  the  heavens  is  greater  than  John."  Here  manifestly  the  speaker 


314         SECOMD   AND   THIRD   PASSOVER   IK   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

draws  a  distinction  between  the  world  which,  closed  with  John 
and  the  world  which  opened  with  liimself.     John  had  not  become 
Relative  estimate  of  a  citizen  of  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens.    Jesus 
•^"^'^  is  proclaiming  that  kingdom.     John  had  not  .been 

set  free.  lie  was  still  held  by  formalisms,  and  still  made  much 
of  baptisms  and  mortifications.  lie  had  not  3'et  risen  to  regard 
the  kingdom  of  God  as  a  kingdom  of  the  heavens,  covering  all 
parts  of  the  universe  and  running  through  all  the  ages,  of  which 
our  planet  and  the  time  of  our  generation  make  a  ^■ery,  very  small 
part.  Jesus  came  speaking  the  breadth  of  God's  love  and  God's 
law.  He  came  to  preach  those  principles  which  rituals,  and 
canons,  and  human  foi-ms  of  creeds  and  hierarchies  cannot  bind  ; 
principles  which  survive  all  human  institutions,  all  consecutive 
literatures  and  civilizations,  and  which  vitalize  them  all.  lie  that 
is  less  in  position,  or  office,  or  native  endowments  than  John,  less 
in  relation  to  this  kingdom  than  Jolm  to  the  old  theocracy,  is, 
nevertheless,  greater  than  John.  He  Jias  gone  into  the  temple  on 
whose  porch  died  all  these  greatest  men  who  knew  things  only 
in  their  outwards. 

It  is  to  be  carefully  noted  that  Jesus  does  not  say  that  the 
crowds  who  M'aited  upon  his  ministiy  are  so  superior;  that  those 
who  after  liim  were  to  pervert  the  name  of  Cln-istian  and  preach 
Churchism  were  so  superior.  Very  far  from  that.  That  was  pre- 
cisely the  defect  in  the  Jews  generally,  and  in  John  specially. 
A  modern  churchman,  of  any  sect,  is  precisely  in  tlie  condition  of 
the  Israelite  M'ho  depended  upon  liis  having  Abraham  to  his 
fatlier.  He  is  a  citizen  of  perha])s  a  snug  little  kingdom  of  the 
earth,  but  he  is  not  a  citizen  of  the  bi'oad  kingdom  of  the  heavens. 
He  is  depending  upon  what  must  perish  if  the  M'orld  shall  pass 
awa}^,  and  not  upon  what  will  survi\-e  the  measureless  cycles  of 
eternity.  He  that  builds  on  churchism,  builds  on  tlie  sand :  he 
that  builds  on  the  woi-ds  of  Jesus  erects  his  edifice  upon  the  rock. 
He  that  even  measurably  recognizes  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens, 
and  strives  to  live  according  to  its  wide,  deep,  ceaseless  laws,  is  a 
greater  man  than  the  man  who  is  greatest  in  a  kingdom  of  cir- 
cumcisions, baptisms,  and  general  decent  ritualisms.  That  seems 
to  be  what  Jesus  taught. 

The  law  and  the  prophets,  he  proceeded  to  teach,  did  their  work 
np  to  John's  completion  of  his  public  ministry.  Now,  although 
that  last  and  greatest  of  the  prophets  had  retired  from  his  actual 


IN   CAPERNAUM   AND   NAIN. 


315 


labors,  the  spirit  of  liis  work  lived.  He  had  been  a  hei  aid.  He 
had  aroused  the  people.  He  had  announced  a  coining  King  anc" 
a  coming  kingdom.  There  was  power  in  the  ainiouncement  and 
in  the  rushing  influences  which  had. begun  to  break  down  ecclesi- 
astical barriers,  and  bring  the  world  under  the  influence  of  this 
kingdom.  John  could  not  retract.  He  had  excited  a  furore 
which  should  increase.  From  his  days  the  kingdom  of  the  heav- 
ens suffers  violence ;  people  violently  press  into  it;  multitudes  are 
eager  to  break  the  shell  and  reach  the  kernel ;  multitudes  are  zeal- 
oush'  striving  to  rise  into  the  higher  life.  John  had  come  in  the 
spirit  and  power  of  Elias  to  prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord  of  the 
kingdom. 

All  this  explanation  and  defence  was  made  to  a  fickle  genera- 
tion. Jcsns  knew  their  waywardness.  He  reflected  upon  the 
treatment  received  by  John  and  by  himself.  To  Both  John  ana  Jesu8 
John's  ba]>tism  the  common  people  and  the  pub-  «jectea. 
licans  had  come;  but  the  Pharisees  and  Doctoi-s  of  tlie  Sacred 
Law  had  i-ejected  him,  and  the  same  leaders  had  rejected  Jesus : 
and  the  two  rejections  were  for  opposite  reasons.  He  seemed 
for  a  moment  at  a  loss  how  to  describe  this  capriciousness,  and 
then  selected  an  illustration  from  the  petulance  of  whimsical  chil- 
dren so  often  exhibited  in  their  sports.  He  described  a  party  of 
boys  at  play  in  a  town  square.  One  party  endeavors  to  draw  the 
others  into  their  amusements.  First  there  is  a  mock  wedding,  and 
a  portion  would  not  join  in  that ;  then  the  leaders  get  up  a  mock 
funeral,  but  the  same  companions  refuse  to  take  part  in  that; 
whereupon  the  leaders  break  foi-th  into  vociferous  reproaches  : 
"  "VVliat  kind  of  fellows  are  you  ?  We  have  tried  to  amuse  you 
every  Ava}'.  We  have  fluted,  and  you  would  not  dance  :  we  have 
played  funei-al,  and  j'ou  would  not  beat  your  breasts.  Wliat  will 
please  you?"  So  John  came,  an  ascetic,  withdrawing  himself 
from  the  ordinary  conventionalities  of  life.  He  was  most  abste- 
mious, confining  himself  to  a  diet  of  locusts  and  wild  honey.  The 
Pharisees  and  the  Doctors  denoimced  him  as  one  possessed  of  a 
demon.  lie  mourned;  they  did  not  lament.  Jesus  came, — the 
Son  of  Man,  as  he  calls  himself  in  this  passage,  thus  claiming 
the  Messiahship,* — came  eating  and  drinking  as  other  men  did, 


*  The  reader  is  again  referred  to  Dan. 
vii.  13,  where  the  phrase  the  "  Son  of 
Man  "  is  used  confessedly  as  a  designa- 


tion of  the  Messiah.  By  applying  it  to 
himself  Jesus  obviously  intended  to 
claim  Messianic  functions  and  honors. 


310 


SECOND    AND   THIRD   PASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 


havinof  notliino-  siiiffular  in  liis  habits.  The  Pharisees  and  the 
Doctors  denonnced  him  as  a  erhitton  and  a  wine-bibber,  an  associ- 
ate of  tax-gatherers  and  vagabonds.  lie  made  music  for  them  ; 
they  did  not  dance.  Jesns  closed  this  vivid  invective  by  the  irony 
of  the  saying,  "And  such  is  the  justice  which  Wisdom  receives  at 
the  hands  of  her  professedly  devoted  children !  " 

Tlecalling  the  treatment  which  he  had  received  from  several 
towns  in  his  beneficent  mission,  he  -breaks  forth  in  words  which 
show  the  depth  of  his  grief  and  anger.  "  "Woe  to 
thee,  Chorazin !  woe  to  thee,  Bethsaida !  For  if 
hi  Tyre  and  Sidon  had  been  done  the  things  of  might  which  have 
been  done  in  you,  in  old  times,  sitting  down  in  bag-cloth  and  in 
ashes,  they  would  have  changed  their  minds  and  repented.  But 
I  say  unto  you.  That  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  Tyre  and  Sidon 
in  the  day  of  separation  than  for  you.  And  thou,  Capei-naum, 
why  hast  thou  been  exalted  to  heaven  ?  Thou  shalt  descend  even 
to  Hades!" 


None  of  the  three  places  thus  denounced  had  any  distinction 
beyond  what  they  derived  from  the  presence  and  works  of 
Jesus,  and  they  have  all  so  passed  away  that  the  site  of  them  is 
no  longer  definitely  known.  The  Tyre  and  Sidon  must  be  sn].- 
posed  to  refer  to  the  old  Phoenician  cities  against  which  the 
prophets  had  hurled  their  predictions,  and  on  the  ruins  of  which 


IN   CAPERNAUM  AND   NAIN. 


317 


stood  modern  towns  of  the  same  name.  Capemanni  had  been 
selected  as  liis  residence  when  Jesns  had  been  driven  from  Na/a- 
retli.  The  lesson  seems  to  be  that  the  ne2;lect  of  superior  privi 
leges  brings  the  greater  destruction.  Jesus  employed  phrases  from 
the  pagan  rn^'thology  to  convey  this  idea,  "  heaven  "  as  contrasted 
with  "  hades  "  signifying  a  contrast  between  great  height  of  privi- 
lege and  great  depth  of  doom. 

A  few  days  afterwards  a  Pharisee  invited  Jesus  to  an  enter- 
tainment at  his  house,  probably  in  Capernaum,*  thus  paying  with 
a  small  civility  the  healing  of  some  small  ailmentf 
by  the  kindness  and  power  of  Jesus.  The  recep-  Dine"  w^th'a  Pharisee, 
tion  of  the  great  Teacher  does  not  seem  to  have  ^^'^  "  anointed  by  a 
been  eminently  cordial.  Simon  felt  compelled  to 
invite  him,  and  was  probably  glad  to  have  the  interview  short.  lie 
showed  few  civilities  to  his  distinguished  guest.  Nevertheless 
Jesus  found  sufficient  reason  for  accepting  the  invitation.  "While 
rechning,  with  his  unsandalled  feet  stretched  from  the  rear  of  the 
couch,  after  the  manner  of  the  ancients,  a  woman  of  the  city,  who 
was  a  notorious  sinner,  came  behind  him  with  a  vase  of  perfumed 
ointment,  weeping,  and  unostentatiously  wetting  his  feet  with  her 
tears,  and  with  most  exquisite  reverence  wiping  them  with  her 
beautiful  hair.  Her  adoring  tenderness  made  her  feel  that  when 
that  delicious  ointment  had  touched  the  holy  feet  of  Jesus  it  was 
sweeter  than  ever  before,  and  she  instinctively  caught  it  back  into 
her  tresses. 

The  Pharisee  at  length  noticed  this,  and  reasoned  thus :  "  This 
man  has  a  certain  sti-ange  power  with  him ;  but  if  he  were  a 
true  prophet  he  would  know  what  kind  of  woman  j,^,,  ,,^^3  ^  ^^^.^ 
this  is  who  pollutes  him  by  touching  him,  would  tiioughts. 
know  that  she  is  a  prostitute."  Jesus  read  his  thoughts.  This 
Teacher  seems  to  have  been  the  first  of  pure  men  who  had  for- 
giveness and  pity  for  that  sin  which,  in  a  woman,  no  one  forgives. 
Turning  to  his  host,  he  said :  "  Simon,  I  have  something  to  say  to 
you."  And  Simon  replied,  "  Teacher,  say  it."  "A  money-lender 
had  two  debtors.  One  owed  him  five  hundred  denarii,  and  the 
other  fifty.     And  when  neither  could  pay  he  freely  forgave  them 


*  Robinson  and  Meyer  believe  that  it 
was  Capernaum. 

•^  If  Jesus  had  not  conferred  some 
favor  upon  him  there  had  been  no  point 


in  his  comparison  of  those  who  love 
much,  as  the  woman  did,  and  those  who 
love  little,  as  the  Pharisee  did. 


318 


SECOND   AND   THIKD   PASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 


both.  Now,  wluch  of  tliera  will  love  liim  most  ? "  Simon,  not 
Beeing  as  yet  the  bearing  of  the  question,  replied,  "  I  suppose  he 
to  whom  he  foi'gave  most."  "  Quite  right,"  said  Jesus ;  and  turn- 
ing upon  his  elbow  as  he  reclined,  so  that  he  could  see  the  woman, 
he  said,  "  Simon,  look  at  her :  I  entered  your  house  a  bidden  guest, 
yet  you  failed  of  the  ordinary  courtesy  of  furnishing  water  for 
my  feet,*  while  this  woman  has  washed  my  feet  with  her  tears 
and  wiped  them  with  the  hair  of  her  head.  You  gave  me  no 
warm  salutation :  she  has  caressed  my  feet  with  kisses.  You 
poured  not  even  ordinary  oil  upon  my  head :  she  has  expended 
her  precious  ointment  on  my  feet." 

This  was  most  delicately  pungent.     The  woman  had  entered 

the  apartment  in  the  crowd  accompanying  the  Teacher.     Simon 

did  not  take  offence  at  this,  because  he  knew  that 

The  delicacy  of  Jesus.  tihi-i  p      ^  •        ^  ' 

Jesus  had  all  kinds  oi  characters  m  his  tram. 
But  when  he  saw  what  he  considered  the  polluting  touch,  he  won- 
dered and  was  scandalized.  Jesus  most  delicately  gave  him  to 
understand  that  this  unbidden  guest  was  now  in  a  better  moral 
condition  than  the  giver  of  the  entertainment.  Her  great  sins 
had  been  forgiven  her,  or  else  she  never  would  have  been  so 
grateful.  Jesus  had  done  more  for  her,  whatever  it  was,  than  he 
had  done  for  Simon,  and  therefore  she  loved  much  more.  It  was 
no  longer  a  prostitute  who  bent  over  his  feet,  but  a  penitent.  She 
lingered.  She  had  been  a  great  sinner.  It  required  distinct  as- 
surance to  confirm  her  faith.  Jesus  said  to  her  :  "  Your  sins  are 
forgiven  you."  Then  those  who  were  reclining  at  the  dinner- 
table  began  to  whisper  among  themselves  in  protest  against  his 
assimiption  of  power  to  forgive  sins.  It  was  greater  to  forgive  a 
sin  than  perform  a  miracle.  But  Jesus  repeated  it,  "  Your  faith 
has  saved  you  ;  go  in  peace." 

Who  this  woman  was  is  not  known.  There  is  not  the  slightest 
intimation.  By  a  most  unhappy  mistake  Mary  of  Magdala,  called 
This  woman  not  Mary  in  our  common  versiou  Mary  Magdalene,  has  been 
of  Magdala,  coufouuded  with  this  woman.f   This  mistake  has 

been  perpetuated  in  painting  and  in  sculpture,  and  is  counte- 
nanced by  the  caption  to  the  chapter  of  St.  Luke  in  the  English 


*  TNTiich  was  necessary  in  a  country 
where  men  walked  over  dusty  roads 
witliout  shoes. 

f  The  anointing  took  place  in  Nain 


or  Capernaum,  of  one  of  which  cities 
this  penitent  sinner  probably  was  a  na- 
tive or  an  inhabitant ;  but  Mary  was  o1 

Magdala. 


m   CAPERNAUM   AND   NAIN. 


319 


version.  But  there  is  nothing  whatever  on  record  in  the  history 
to  give  the  slightest  coloring  to  this  supposition.  It  is  doing  as 
much  injustice  to  the  tnith  of  history  as  to  suppose  that  the  Vir- 
gin Mary  was  this  sinner.  The  name  of  this  penitent  sinner  is 
strictly  withheld.  There  is  nothing  in  the  history  of  Mary  of 
Magdala  to  justify  this  aspersion  of  her  fair  fame  ;  on  the  con- 
trary, we  shall  see  how  she  came  into  greatest  intimacy  with  the 
purest  followers  of  Jesus,  devoted  herself  to  him,  and  came  to 
be  controlled  by  a  powerful  yet  pure  passion  for  Jesus, — the  Virgin 
Mary  and  the  Magdalan  Mary  being  his  most  devoted  friends, 
and  this  latter  Mary  loving  him  quite  as  warmly  as  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  but  with  an  ardor  which  certainly  was  not  mother-love. 


■ii.^=^'^^i~  '"i 


XaiNS   AT  TELL  HUM.      CAFEBNAUM. 


CHAPTEE    VI. 

THE   SECOND   TOUE   OF   GALILEE   AND   KETUEN   TO   CAPEia^^AUM. 

Immediately  after  this,  Jesus  began  another  circuit  of  preach- 
ing and  miracle-working,  going  from  village  to  village  and  from 
Luke  viii.  1-3.  Ac-  citj  to  citj,  prcacliing  the  happy  news  of  God's 
companied  by  women,  tiug^jom.  On  this  tour  hc  was  accoiupanied  by 
his  twelve  chosen  Apostles,  aad  by  many  women  whom  he  had 
cured  of  evil  spirits  and  other  infirmities.  This  companionship 
with  Jesus  was  not  out  of  the  usual  order  of  things,  since  it  was 
customary  for  women  of  means,  especially  for  widows,  to  con- 
tribute of  their  substance  to  the  support  of  rabbis  whom  they 
reverenced.*  Three  are  mentioned  as  being  in  this  company, 
namely,  Mary  called  Magdalene,  and  Joanna,  and  Susanna.  The 
first  of  these  so  devoted  herself  to  Jesus  that  she  became  his  chief 
friend  among  women,  and  it  may  be  worth  while  to  make  a  sum- 
mary of  what  we  can  learn  concerning  her. 

In  the  first  place,  it  should  be  repeated  that  there  does  not  ap- 
pear the  slightest  reason  for  belie\'ing  that  she  had  been  an  extra- 
ordinary bad  woman,  particularly  that  she  was  a  prostitute,  but 
quite  the  contrary.  Here  is  one  of  those  unhappy  cases  in  his- 
toiy  in  which  some  misapprehension  has  occurred  which  has  suc- 
ceeded in  branding  a  name  with  an  undeserved  infamy  and 
perpetuating  it  through  generations.  Let  us  see  what  is  said 
about  her. 

El-Mejdel  is  the  name  of  a  "miserable  little  Muslim  village," 

as  Kobinson  calls  it,  which  is  most  probably  the  representative  of 

the   town   on   the  western  shore  of  the  lake  of 

MagdaJa. 

Gennesaret,  known  as  Magadan  in  the  days  of 
Jesus,  and  so  called  in  the  chief  MSS.,  although  in  the  author- 
ized English  version,  and  in  the  usually  received  Greek  text  of 
Matthew  (xv.  30)  it  is  written  Magdala.f    It  was  one  of  the  many 

*  See  Jerome  on  1  Cor.  ix.  5.  I  embrace    every    point    worth     notice. 

f  Prof.  Stanley's  description  seems  to  |  "Of  all  the  numerous  towns  and  vil- 


THE    SECOND    TOUK   OF    GALILEE. 


321 


Mary  llagdiilcne. 


Migdols  {watch-towr.rs)  whicli  existed  in  Palestine.  The  nnfortu- 
nute  identification  of  the  saintly  and  loving  friend  of  Jesus 
Mitli  the  sinner  who  bathed  the  feet  of  Jesus  with  her  tears,  has 
made  Magdala,  this  Mary's  birthplace,  familiar  to  all  modern 
huio'ua<:;es. 

!She  comes  before  us  first  in  this  passage  in  St.  Luke,  associated 
with  women  of  great  respectability.  These  ladies  were  Joanna 
and  Susanna.  The  former  M'as  the  wife  of  Chuza, 
the  steward  of  Herod  Antipas,  the  tetrarch  of 
Galilee.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  this  lady  of  the  court 
would  associate  herself  with  a  "  woman  of  the  city,"  a  street- 
walker, a  prostitute,  or  ]>rubably  even  with  one  who  had  had  that 
reputation.  Moreover,  the  fact  that  Mary  was  engaged  with  these 
ladies  in  ministering  to  the  jx'i-sonal  wants  of  Jesus,  shows  that 
she,  as  well  as  each  of  the  otliers,  had  means  at  her  own  dis])osal. 
She  was  not  a  woman  of  the  lower  ranks,  in  point  either  of  prop 
erty  or  of  reputation. 

In  this  passage,  and  in  Mtirk  xvi.  0,  the  fact  is  stated  that  out 
of  her  Jesus  had  cast  seven  devils.  Modern  thought  has  been 
accustomed  to  associate  demoniac  possession  with 

^       .  Her  "seven  devils.'* 

the  idea  or  bad  moral  character  ni  the  pos- 
sessed, which,  however,  is  a  -sery  great  error.  Children,  women 
of  good  repute,  people  in  any  class  of  societ}',  had  been  liable  to 
this  terrible  disease.  It  is  a  very  proper  remark,  therefore,  that 
we  miist  think  of  her  "  as  having  had,  in  their  most  aggravated 
forms,  some  of  the  phenomena  of  mental  and  spiritual  disease 
A\hich  we  meet  with  in  other  demoniacs,  the  wretchedness  of  de- 
spair, the  divided  consciousness,  the  preternatural  phren&y,  tlie 
long-continued  fits  of  silence."  Her  case  had  been  so  marked 
and  painful  that  the  contrast  it  afforded  with  the  serenity  of  her 
condition  after  the  great  Healer  had  restored  her,  made  such  an 
impression  upon  those  "wlio  were  familiar  with  the  circle  of  Jesus, 


lages  in  what  must  have  been  the  most 
tliickly  peopled  district  of  Palestine, 
one  only  remains.  A  collection  of  a 
few  hovels  stands  at  the  south-east  cor- 
ner of  the  plain  of  Gennesaret,  its 
name  hardly  altered  from  the  ancient 
Magdala  or  Migdol,  so  called  probably 
from  a  watch-tower,  of  which  ruins  ap- 
pear  to   remain,  that  guarded  the  en- 

21 


trance  to  the  plain.  A  larg^e  solitaiy 
thora-tree  stands  beside  it.  The  situa- 
tion, otherwise  unmarked,  is  dignified 
by  the  high  limestone  rock  which  over- 
hangs it  on  the  south-west,  perforated 
with  caves,  recalling,  by  a  curious 
though  doubtless  unintentional  coinci- 
dence, the  scene  of  Correggio'a  cele- 
brated pictui'e." 


322 


SECo^^)  AKD  TnmD  passovee  in  the  life  of  jesus. 


and  "u-lio  afterwards  chronicled  tlieir  movements,  that  repeated 
mention  is  made  of  the  fact. 

It  seems  probable  from  the  whole  history  that  other  women 

came  and  went,  and  did  for  Jesus  all  their  love  prompted  and 

their  means  allowed,  but  Marx  Mao'dalene*  never 

Her  devotion  to  Jesus.  i     i   .  t  r~i 

forsook  hnn.  Joanna  and  Susanna  were  not  with 
him  in  his  last  moments.  Mary  Ma^-dalene  was.  She  was  then 
accompanied  by  the  wife  of  Alplu«us  and  the  wife  of  Zebcdee. 
She  remained  even  after  Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  had  left  the 
sight  of  horror.*  Her  love  never  faltei'ed.  The  other  women 
stood  afar  off.  She  stood  close  to  the  ci-oss,  where  she  heard  all 
his  last  words  and  groans.  She  endured  the  sight  of  the  death 
of  him  whom  her  heart  adored.  She  was  present,  perhaps  ten- 
derly aiding,  Avhen  the  body  was  taken  down  and  when  it  was 
wiapped  in  fine  linen,  and  probably  assisted  in  depositing  it  in  the 
se])ulchre,  and  then,  with  her  friend  Mary  the  mother  of  Joses, 
she  sat  down  o\'er  against  the  sepulchre.  All  her  attentions  were 
such  as  the  daintiest  love  gives  to  the  most  honorable  and 
dearly  beloved.  She  had  regarded  him  as  a  man ;  l)ut  as  the 
holiest,  most  gifted,  most  charming  of  all  the  sons  of  men.  She 
saw  him  buried,  and  had  no  hope,  nor  even  thought,  of  ]iis  re- 
sun-ection.  She  wrapped  her  heart  up  with  her  lord  in  the  linen 
cloth  they  wound  about  the  precious  limbs.  The  next  day  wis  a 
sorrowful  Sabbath,  and  on  the  morning  following  she  went  to  the 
sepulchre  and  found  it  empty.  She  saw  angels  there :  but  one 
Jesus  was  to  her  worth  more  than  a  thousand  ano^els.  She  ilew 
with  anguish  to  Peter  and  John,  and  ran  back  with  them  to  the 
sepulchre,  crying,  "  They  have  talcen  away  my  lord,  and  I  know  not 
where  they  have  laid  him."  And  then  she  sank  down  almost  to  the 
verge  of  that  horrible  pit  of  mental  disease  from  which  she  had 


*  From  reading  all  the  accounts  in 
the  four  historians,  it  would  seem  that 
there  was  a  crowd  of  women  sorrow 
fully  present  at  the  execution,  but  all 
"  standinfj  afar  off."  Some  sign  from 
Jesus,  or  the  promptings  of  nature,  sent 
his  mother  Mary,  aud  his  aunt,  and  his 
fi-iend  Mary  Magdalene,  aud  his  disciple 
John  up  near  the  cross.  When  Jesus 
Lad  committed  his  mother  to  this  disci- 
ple, the  latter  drew  her  away  to  the 
city.     The  aunt  seems  to  have  accom- 


panied the  mother,  so  that  only  Mary 
Magdalene  was  present.  Mary  the 
mother  of  Jesus  joined  her,  probably 
coming  up  from  the  crowd  which  stood 
at  a  distance,  and  sat  down  with  her  be- 
side the  sepulchre.  But  the  whole  stoi*y 
l)uts  Mary  JIagdalene  forward.  This 
much  of  the  history  we  have  been  com- 
pelled to  anticipate  to  make  clear  the 
case  of  ]\rary  of  Magdala,  the  sweet  and 
suffering  saint. 


THE   SECOJn?   TOUR   OF   GALILEE.  323 

been  lifted.  "When  Jesns  came  slie  did  not  perceive  that  it  was 
lie.  ITc  spoke.  lie  said  "Maiy."  Probably  it  was  the  one  tone 
in  which  he  had  always  spoken  to  her.  It  thrilled  her  back  to 
widest  conscionsiiess,  and  she  rushed  forward  to  clasp  his  feet. 

Calf  there  be  anything  more  beantif  id  than  this  ?  Every  great 
man — great  in  pnrity  as  well  as  power — has  some  special,  honored 
fi'iciid  among  women,  which  friend  is  not  his  kins-  The  relation  of  jesus 
woman.  Such  Jesus  had,  and  that  nearest  and  *''^'''"- 
dearest  friend  was  Manj  called  Magdalene.  It  was  not  fitting 
that  he  should  marry.  His  mission  was  too  awful.  lie  was  to 
stand  in  snbliine  solitariness.  He  had  no  eartldy  father;  he  was 
never  to  have  bodily  descendant.  But  he  had  a  human  heart,  and 
must  have  had  craving  for  human  love.  He  was  the  incarnation 
of  goodness,  and  had  no  fierce  words  of  denunciation  for  fallen 
women,  whom  he  raised  as  well  as  forgave  ;  but  his  whole  record 
is  so  spotless  that  it  shocks  ns  to  think  that  such  a  being  could 
have  found  his  best  beloved  friend  in  a  former  prostitute,  and  that 
she  who  had  been  so  morally  degiaded  could  have  had  more  than 
any  other  woman  the  fineness  of  sonl  to  have  been  able  to  appre- 
ciate Jesus  and  to  attach  herself  to  such  a  man  with  such  adherent 
love.  She  was  a  beautiful  character.  She  had  been  a  great  suf- 
ferer. Jesus  had  healed  her.  She  was  all  the  finer  for  what  she 
had  endured.  She  was  the  watchful  attendant  of  his  footsteps. 
Hers  were  probal)ly  the  last  human  eyes  into  which  the  dying 
eyes  of  Jesus  looked,  and  hers  the  first  human  eyes  he  is  repre- 
Bcnted  to  have  shown  himself  nnto  when  he  came  back  from  the 
crave.     This  is  all  that  is  told. 

It  is  most  exquisite.  The  ntmost  delicacy  is  here.  It  is  the 
sweetness,  not  the  words  of  the  narrative,  which  betrays  the  holy 
love.  And  after  that  last  interview  in  which  Jesns  The  most  beautiful 
showed  her  how  her  mortal  affection  mnst  be  lifted  °^  ^"^"^ 
into  religions  Avorship,  there  is  nothing  more  said  of  Mary.  And 
then  history  takes  this  beautifullest  love  of  all  the  world  and  mars 
it,  and  blotches  her  name,  and  associates  her  with  all  the  fallen  of 
lier  sex.  It  is  to  ns  one  of  the  most  awful  problems  of  human 
biography.  lid's  was  a  bitterly  beautiful  lot.  She  had  suffered. 
She  liad  recovered.  She  loved  her  healer.  She  never  could  be 
asked  to  cross  a  certain  line.  But  there  she  was  met,  more  than 
any  other  woman,  by  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  most  ex- 
ceptional of  all  marrellously  fine  characters.     lie  died  looking  at 


to 


324 


SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVEE    m   THE   LIFE   OF  JESUS. 


her.  He  rose  and  showed  himself  first  to  her.  If  slie  lived  to 
be  a  century  old,  she  had  such  a  memory  as  never  has  been  vouch- 
safed to  any  other  woman.  In  her  real  life  she  was  lifted  to  a 
heaven  of  love ;  in  history  she  has  been  cast  down  to  a  hell  ol 
infamy.  Let  her  be  restored.  .  The  truth  does  restore  her*  Th& 
Frieiid  of  Jesus  was  a  blessed  saint. 

When  Jesus  and  his  party  returned  to  Capernaum,  so  great  waa 

his  fame  that  crowds  assembled  about  the  dwelliiig  and  pressed 

,,  ,    them  so  much  that  they  could  not  even  eat  bread. 

Capenianra.       Mark  '' 

iiL  i!>-35;  Matt.  xii.  Ilis  motlier  and  brothers,  learning  how  he  Avas  ex- 
"""  '  "  ^  ■  erting  himself,  and  how  the  crowds  were  pressing 
him,  said,  "  He  is  beside  himself,"  and  went  to  restrain  him  from 
such  excessive  labors.  Although  they  did  not  believe  in  his  doc- 
trines, they  loved  his  person  and  had  tender  care  of  him.  But  the 
multitude  blocked  the  entrance. 

Meanwhile  there  had  been  brought  him  one  possessed  of  a 
demon,*  and  at  once  blind  and  dumb.     It  was  certainly  the  most 
The  blind  and  dumb  cxactiug  demand  upoii  powcr  to  heal  this  com- 
demoniac.  plicatiou  of  mental  and  physical  disease.     If  the 

objective  theory  of  demoniacal  possession  be  lield,  then  some  evil 
spirit  had  found  in  this  human  soul  an  organ  it  could  use,  and 
in  malignity  had  deprived  the  victim  of  sight  and  speech.  On 
the  subjective  theory,  the  psychical  ailment  had  struck  out  and 
had  bedumbed  and  blinded  the  patient.  In  either  view  Lango 
has  graphically  described  the  case,  in  his  Leben  Jesu,  when  he 
says :  "  Shut  up  in  this  most  shocking  manner  did  this  being  come 
before  Jesus,  like  a  dark  riddle  of  hellish  restraint  and  human 
despair."  The  sim])le  statement  of  the  historian  is,  "And  he 
healed  him,  insomuch  that  the  blind  and  the  dumb  both  spake 
and  saw."  This  was  a  culminating  marvel.  It  was  a  manifold 
miracle.  It  showed  the  power  of  Jesus  over  nature  and  super- 
nature.  It  threw  the  populace  into  an  ecstasy.  They  hailed  Jesus 
with  Messianic  salutations.  They  cried  out,  "  Is  not  this  the  Son 
of  David?" 

At  this  time  there  had  come  down  from  Jerusalem  to  Caper- 
naum delegations  from  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  engaged  in  the 


*  It  cannot  be  necessary  to  go  into  the 
question  of  demoniacal  possession  every 
time  an  incident  of  this  species  of  ail- 


ment appears.  The  reader  is  referred 
to  the  ample  discussion  given  this  sul>« 
ject  on  p.  173. 


•mE   SECOND   TOUR   OF   GALILEB.  325 

Trork  of  Inyiiig  snares  for  Jcsns  tluat  they  might  vnth  impunity 
put  him  out  of  the  way.  Affairs  had  now  reached  a  climax. 
He  had  raised  the  son  of  the  widow  of  Xain ;  he 

1      J  1  .  • ,       1  1      y,     T .  1  .  •  Pharisaic  conspirators. 

liaa  made  a  cn-cuit  tlu-ougli  CTahlee,  increasing 
his  train  and  his  fame  ;  and  he  had  returned  to  find  the  people  re- 
garding him  with  greater  reverence  and  wonder  than  before ;  and 
he  had  cured  the  "  possessed  "  man,  opening  his  eyes  and  ears  and 
restoring  him  to  mental  sanity.  He  had  thus  aroused  the  popu- 
lar enthusiasm  to  a  degree  that  they  were  ready  to  civiwn  him  king 
and  accept  him  as  the  Messiah.  As  he  would  not  rank  himself 
with  the  ruling  class,  but  had  set  his  influence  directly  against 
their  authority,  the  hour  had  come  Avhen  something  must  be  said. 

The  unfortunate  expression  which  the  other  sons  of  Mary  had 
used  in  kindly  meaning  toward  Jesus,  namel}^,  "He  is  beside  him- 
self," was  probably  suggested,  if  not  it  was  seized,  xhey  charge  that 
by  the  hierarchic  party  and  emploj-ed  against  him.  J'^s"'  '^=1''  a  <iLmon. 
"  You  see  that  his  own  mother's  sons  say  that  he  is  deranged.  The 
truth  is  that  this  fellow  has  Beelzelnil,*  and  casts  out  devils  only 
through  Beelzebul,  the  prince  of  the  devils."  It  is  to  be  noticed 
that  they  do  not  deny  the  apparently  hopeless  condition  of  the 
patient,  nor  the  greatness  of  the  miracle  which  Jesus  had  openly 
performed  in  the  presence  of  them  all.  They  did  as  other  men 
do  when  a  great  good  deed  has  been  performed  by  one  whose 
goodness  they  do  not  desire  to  admit:  they  assigned  the  good  deed 
to  a  bad  raoti\e  and  a  wicked  source. 

This  accusation  roused  Jesus.  He  called  them  nearer  to  him 
and  addressed  them  first  in  a  parable.  "Every  kingdom  divided 
against  itself  is  desolated,  and  every  city  or  house  divided  against 
itself  shall  not  stand.  If  the  Satan  cast  out  the  Satan,  he  is 
divided  against  himself.  How  then  shall  his  kingdom  stand  ? " 
Wliate\er  anarchy  there  may  be  in  this  kingdom  of  the  Satan, 
there  is  this  point  of  unity,  that  all  its  energies  are  directed 
toward  marring  where  he  cannot  destroy  the  kingdom  of  God. 
He  shows  how  this  perverse  captionsness  is  caught  in  its  own  net. 

*  This  is  the  word  in  the  original,  not 
Beelzebub.  The  name  of  the  Philistine 
god  was  Baal-zebul,  god  of  the  fly,  wor- 
shipped as  represented  by  the  Scara- 
hams  pillularius,  or  dungJdll  beetle. 
Beel  zebul,  which  means  dung-god,  is  a 
form  given  according  to  a  custom  the 


Jews  had  of  changing  a  letter  so  as  to 
convert  a  word  into  another  having  a 
contemptible  signification.  As  it  does 
not  appear  earlier  in  Jewish  literature, 
may  it  not  have  been  invented  to  deride 
Jesus  on  this  special  occasion  ? 


326 


SECOXD    AND   THIRD   PASSOVEE   IN   THE   LIFE   OF  JESUS. 


The  reply  of  Jesua, 


There  is  certainly  one  course  of  conduct  which  cannot  be  said  to 
be  instigated  ])y  Satan,  and  that  is  such  conduct  as  shows  tho 
actor's  determination  to  do  all  he  can  to  overthrow  Satan.  This 
is  the  brief  and  conclusive  reply. 

But  Jesus  furthermore  said,  "  If  I  by  Beelzebul  cast  out  de- 
mons, by  whom  do  your  sons  cast  them  out?  Therefore  they 
shall  be  your  judges."  lie  calls  attention  to  tho 
fact  that  he  was  not  the  only  healer  of  these  ter- 
rible maladies ;  that  there  were  those  among  the  sons  or  disciples 
of  the  Pharisees  ^vho  had  been  healers,  and  whose  success  had 
always  been  attributed  to  the  aid  of  the  Spirit  of  God.*  His 
works  in  this  department  surpassed  those  of  their  sons  in  the 
greater  malignity  of  the  cases  cured,  in  the  suddenness  of  the  re- 
lief afforded,  and  in  the  authority  with  which  he  spoke  the  word 
of  poM'cr.  The  people  testified  (Matt.  ix.  33)  on  one  occasion 
that  "  it  was  never  so  seen  in  Israel."  Some  milder  forms  had 
yielded  to  the  spiritual  influence  of  some  of  the  healers,  but  never 
in  such  a  manner  had  they  seen  such  a  case  so  thoroughly  cured. 
If  the  one  had  no  collusion  with  Beelzebul,  the  other  must  not  be 
80  charged.  If  not  of  the  Evil  One  it  must  be  of  God.  "  But 
if  I  cast  out  demons  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  then  the  kingdom  of 
God  has  come  upon  you."  A  celestial  surprise  had  come  upon 
that  generation.  "Without  their  expectation  the  kingdom  of  God 
had  come  in  on  them.  And  whether  the  Pharisees  belie \-ed  it  or 
not,  the  long  prayed  for  kingdom  had  come.  And  this  was  tho 
king  of  that  kingdom. 

Jesus  represents  himself  as  more  powerful  than  Satan.  "  How 
can  one  enter  the  house  of  the  strong  and  carry  off  his  instruments  f 
He  is  more  powerful  cxccpt  lic  fii'st  biiid  tlic  sti'oug  ?  and  thou  lie  can 
than  Satan.  pluudcr  liis  liousc."     lu  tlicse  woi'ds  Jesus  claims 

to  lia\e  the  power  to  bind  the  Evil  One  and  wrench  the  prey  from 
him.  When  a  man  of  powei-,  able  to  defend  himself  against  or- 
dinary robbers,  is  Openly  deprived  of  his  goods  in  broad  day  by 


*  See  in  Acts  xix.  13  an  account  of 
travelling  exorcists,  the  seven  sons  of 
a  high-priest.  The  argument  of  Jesus 
has  the  same  force  whether  the  ordinary 
Jewish  exorcists  did  really  cast  out 
demons  or  were  only  believed  to  have 
done  so.  In  either  case  their  success 
was  always  spoken  of  favorably,  and  that 


the  g-reater  deeds  of  Jesus  should  be 
attributed  to  a  bad  source  shows  the 
malignity  of  his  accusers :  and  that  waa 
all  his  argument  was  intended  to  rstab- 
lish. 

jf  The  word  means  all  the  furniture 
which  constitutes  the  outfit  of  a  house, 
all  the  vessels  and  instruments. 


Q07 

THE    SECOND   TOUR   OF    GALILEE. 

one  whom  he  sees,  then  no  one  is  so  much  a  fool  as  to  say  that  the 
stron<^  man  robbed  himself.     All  say  tliat  some  one  who  was  able 
to  bind  the  strong  man  had  done  so,  and  then  spoiled  hnn._   Jesus 
declared  that  a  stronger  than  Satan  had  come.     The  Messuxh  was 
to  be  the  hero  of  God.     All  such  prophecies  as  are  represented  by 
the  passages  in  Isaiah  (xlix.  24,  and  more  particularly  1  in.  1. 
^'IleshaUhavethe  strong  ones  ior  a  prey  ") -ere  attributed  to 
him      Now  Jesns  declares  himself  that  Mighty  One.     Then  he 
pushes  the   ecclesiastical  clique  of  inquisitors  and  persecutors  a 
little  harder.      He  plants  himself  against    Satan.      These   two 
champions  are  at  war  for  the  empire  of  the  world      0^^«  f  ^>  ?^';^; 
quer      All  must  take  sides.     There  is  no  neutrality.     The  hght 
is  over  the  surface  of  the  universe.     Satan  is  to  be  destroyed,  or 
Jesus.     All  who  are  not  for  Jesus  are  for  Satan.     And  thus  he 
swiftly  retorts  the  charge,  and  shows  them  to  be  m  league  with 
Satan  by  opposing  him?     There  is  no  passivity  possible  to  a 
rational   being.      "Whoever   does   not   collect  *  m   aid   of   me, 
scatters  "     He  that  does  not  help  the  work  of  Jesus  brea.vs  down 
and  scatters  the  work  of  God.     Opposition  to  Jesus  is  allegiance 

to  Satan,  ^    •  „, 

Jesus  then  uttered  one  of  the  most  profound  and  mysteriou. 
sentences  which  ever  fell  from  his  lips.     Few  people  Iuinc  been 
able  to  read  it  witliout  shuddering.     It  is  so  im-      Bia.ph.n.y    a,ain,st 
portant  that  I  shall  present  a  careful  translation,  -eH.yo.o.. 
L<,pin^  to  be  helped  thereby  to  a  better  understanding  of  tlie 
words!    The  passage  in  Matthew  is,  "Because  this  is  the  case,  I 
savto  you   Every \ki.id  of,  or  form  of)  sin  and  blasphemy  shall 
be  f org  ven  to  men.     But  the  blasphemy  of  the  Spirit  shall  not  be 
foro-iven.     If  one  speak  a  word  against  the  S,>n  of  Man,  it  slia 
be  forgiven  him  ;  but  if  one  speak  against  the  H^ly  Spirit,  it  sha 
not  be'forgiven  him,  in  this  age  nor  in  the  coming.       In  Mai  k  it 
"  Assiii-edly  (amen)  I  say  to  yon.  That  all  sins  shall  be    o. 
.Ivcn  to  the  sons  of  men,  and  the  blasphemies,  whatever  they 
^hall  have  blasphemed.     But  whoso  shall  blaspheme  m  reference 
to  the  lloly  Spirit  has  not  forgiveness  for  an  age  (during  the  tym) 
,.t   is  held  iound  by  a  perpetual  loss."     ^^ark  says    hat  he 
uttered  these  words  because  the  Pharisees  had  said  "  H^/-;^  ^ 
thy  spirit."    ThepassagcmJLi^^ 

-T^^^:^Z^;;i^^^^l^mean  coming  I  street,  but  ra^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  ^i 
together,  ub  a  crowd  coUects  upon  the  I  gathering  a  harvest. 


32S 


SECOND    AND    TITIRD    TASSOVEE    IN    THE    LIFE    OF   JESUS. 


"We  may  be  helped  to  tlie  meaning  of  this  utterance  by  recol- 
lecting that  it  is  a  warning,  and  that  the  Pharisees  had  not  yet 
committed  this  fatal  offence  ;  and  also,  that  whatever  this  destruc- 
tive sin  may  be,  it  is  a  sin  of  words,  of  speech  rather  tlian  of  action 
or  of  thought.  The  perpetrator  of  this  hopeless  sin  imist  have 
said  it  !  It  is  hlasjphemy  against  the  Holy  Spirit,  not  a  sin  against 
the  Holy  Spirit.  It  seems  to  be  an  open,  outspoken  vituperation 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  deliberately  uttered  by  a  man  when 
he  knows  what  he  says  to  be  false,  and  says  it  for  the  distinct  pur- 
pose of  committing  spiritual  suicide.  The  enemies  of  Jesus  had 
not  yet  done  this.  They  had  said  that  Jesus  had  an  unclean 
spirit ;  but  this  they  had  uttered  in  the  heat  of  passion.  Never- 
theless, that  speech  liad  come  out  of  bad  hearts,  and  he  kindly 
warns  them  to  beware  lest  they  come  to  such  a  state  as  to  be  able 
to  commit  this  fatal  crime.  They  were  blaspheming  the  Son  of 
Man  in  their  anger,  and,  because  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  was  in 
him,  as  he  claimed,  they  might  by  persistent  wicked  intent  against 
him  come  to  some  such  state  as  to  be  able  to  do  what  would  be 
endlessly  destructive  to  their  souls. 

The  sense  in  which  Jesus  uses  the  word  "reon,"  age,  it  is  im- 
portant to  know.  In  the  lexicons  it  has  different  meanings,  as 
has  the  corresponding  adjective,  "ceonial,"  which 
seems  to  signify  "  continuous  duration  throughout 
the  period  referred  to,"  and  that  period,  tlie  duration  indicated 
by  "  jieon,"  must  be  understood  by  the  context.*     One  of  the  most 


The  word  "  seou." 


*  Thus  the  phrase  as  tdv  atatva,  which 
I  have  translated  by  the  two  phrases 
for  an  age,  or,  durinrj  the  cfon,  is  precise- 
ly the  phrase  which  occurs  in  1  Cor. 
viii.  13,  where  Paul  says  that  if  meat 
make  his  brother  to  offend,  he  will  eat 
no  more  meat  sis  tou  aiwva,  for  an  age, 
during  the  teon,  but  in  the  common 
version,  "while  the  world  standeth," 
which  seems  to  me  a  good  translation  ; 
but  a  better  rendering  would  be,  "  as 
long  as  I  live,"  as  Paul  simply  meant  to 
make  a  strong  assertion  in  regard  to  his 
total  abstinence  from  meat,  not  in 
eternity  but  in  his  lifetime.  We  find 
in  Eph.  iii.  9,  and  in  Col.  i.  2G,  the 
plirase,  &nh  twv  altiyuy,  and  in  Romans 


xvi.  25,  xp'"""^  olwiidis.  The  common 
version  renders  the  first  passage  "from 
the  beginning  of  the  world  ;"  the  second, 
"  from  ages;"  and  the  third,  "  since  the 
world  began  ;  "  but  the  i^hrase  in  the 
first  two  instances  is  the  same  in  the 
original,  and  strictly  translated  means, 
"  from  the  ages,"  and  the  third  signifies 
''  through  age-long  times."  These  ci- 
tations are  made  that  the  reader  may 
see  that  the  signification  of  the  word  is 
limited  by  its  cormections.  The  Hebrew 
word  which  the  Septuagint  translates 
by  these  Greek  words,  is  one  applied  to 
many  things  which  have  passed  away, 
such  as  the  Jewish  priesthood,  the  time 
for  which  a  person  whose  ears  had  been 


THE   SECOND   TOUR   OF    GALILEE.  829 

Btrikins^  chai-acteri sties  of  the  teaching  of  Jesns  is  the  absence  of 
all  metapliysical  terms.  Thus  he  has  no  word  for  eternity,  or 
eternal,  nor  apparently  any  phrase  to  convey  the  idea  of  never- 
beginningness  and  never-endingness.  Whatever  he  speaks  of 
is  mentioned  as  if  its  duration  were  connected  with  an  aeon,  or 
the  aeons,  an  age,  or  the  ages.  So  here,  "  in  this  ?eon,  or  age," 
may  mean  the  age  before  the  establishment  of  the  Messianic  king- 
dom, and  the  "  ceon,  or  age  to  come"  may  mean  the  Messianic  age  ; 
or  the  former  may  mean  the  duration  of  the  human  race,  or  any 
part  of  them,  on  the  earth,  and  tlie  latter  the  duration  of  the 
human  race,  or  any  part  of  them,  elsewhere  and  hei-eafter.  Or 
the  whole  phrase  may  be  taken  hyperbolically,  to  give  the  utmost 
strength  to  the  expression  ;  or  it  may  be  taken  literally.  If  liter- 
ally, whatever  may  be  the  interpretation  given  to  the  special 
phrases,  the  statement  must  have  meant,  to  any  intelligent  and 
attentive  hearer,  that  it  was  possible  to  commit  a  sin,  from  the 
direful  and  spiritually  ruinous  results  of  which  there  could  never 
be  any  escape.  But  if  taken  literally,  and  "  the  age  to  come  "be 
understood  to  mean  the  state  of  luiman  existence  beyond  the 
grave,  then  the  words  also  imply  that  thei'e  are  sins  and  l)lasphe- 
mies  that  may  be  forgiven  after  death ;  nay,  that  every  kind  may 
be  forgiven  except  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  Ko  less 
a  person  than  Augustine*  does  actually  make  that  inference,  and 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  teaches  it  for  a  dogma. 

"Either  make  the  tree  good  and  its  fruit  good,  or  else  make 
the  tree  rotten  and  its  fruit  rotten :  for  the  tree  is  known  by  its 
fruits."     This  was   the   proposition  with   which 

^  111  Ti-  •  -T      '        1         T^°  '-''•"'  '*°'^  ''-^  fniits. 

Jesus  closed  the  reply  to  his  enemies,     it  is  the 
announcement  of  a  well-known  fact  in  nature,  that  the  outer  is  a 
representative  of  the  inner.     Good  fruits  come  only  from  good 

bored  might  be  held  in  slavery,  the  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  there 
doors  of  the  temple,  landmarks,  waste 
places,  etc.  The  Aramaic  word  which 
Jesus  used  in  bis  discourses  was  doubt- 
less the  best  possible  representative  of 
the  Hebrew  and  Greek  words  employed 
in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  and  in  the  Greek 
translation  of  the  Evangelists,  and  there- 
fore subject  to  the  same  interpretations 
as  those  words. 

*  He  says,  in  a  passage  of  which  the 
following  is  a  literal  translation,  ' '  As 


will  be  some  who,  after  the  pimi.shment 
which  the  spirits  of  the  dead  suffer,  wUl 
receive  mercy,  so  that  they  will  not  be 
cast  into  everlasting  fire.  For  it  could 
not  with  tnith  be  said  of  some  that 
their  sins  would  not  be  forgiven  in  this 
world,  or  in  that  which  is  to  come,  un- 
less there  were  others  who  would  be 
forgiven  in  the  world  to  come,  though 
not  in  this  world."  I  think  the  phrase 
is  not  to  be  talcen  literally. 


330         SECOND   AND   TUIED   PASSOVER   Ci   THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

trees,  and  bad  fruits  from  bad  trees.  He  probably  designed  this 
statement  to  tell  both  ways.  As  if  be  had  said,  So  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  take  all  my  life  that  men  can  see.  Does  that  look  as 
though  it  were  the  product  of  a  bad  soul  ?  So  far  as  you  are  con- 
cerned, the  fact  that  you  speak  such  vile  things  should  alarm  you 
as  to  your  real  character. 

And  then  he  broke  upon  them  with  language  of  great  severity. 

"  Offspring  of  vijjers,  how  can  you,  being  evil,  speak  good  things? 

For  the   mouth  utters    the  overilo\vino;s   of    the 

Severe  words.  •-' 

heart.  A  good  man  throws  good  things  out  of 
the  good  treasure,  and  an  evil  man  throws  evil  things  out  of  the 
evil  treasury.  But  I  say  unto  jon,  That  every  idle  word  men  speak 
they  shall  render  an  account  thereof  in  the  day  of  separation. 
For  from  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  declared  right,  and  fi-om  (thy) 
words  thou  shalt  be  condemned."  This  is  a  broad  and  deep  say- 
ing for  one  whose  whole  teaching  seems  to  dwell  upon  character 
and  its  proper  cultivation.  Commentators  have  generally  endeav- 
ored to  explain  it  away.  But  the  truth  lies  open  on  the  plain 
surface  of  the  statement,  if  it  be  only  considered  that  a  man's 
words  {nvariahl// show  \n&  real  character;  not  a  word  here  and 
there,  detached  speeches,  but  the  whole  body  of  all  his  utterances, 
all  his  words  spoken  through  all  his  life.  Speech  is  the  overflow 
of  the  heai't.  A  man's  heart  is  full  of  that  kind  of  thing  wliich 
drops  fi'om  his  tongue  and  pen.  It  is  utterly  impracticaljle  for 
any  man  to  misrepresent  himself  i)i  the  whole  hodij  of  Ids  sj)cech. 
It  is  the  forgetfulness  of  this  which  allowed  one  of  the  most 
sagacious  of  connncntators*  to  say  that  such  a  ci'itei-ion  "  would 
be  absurd,  and  put  it  in  the  power  of  any  man  to  settle  his  own 
destiny  by  sheer  talking  or  profession."  l^ot  at  all.  Suppose  a 
bad  man,  intending  thus  to  settle  his  destiny,  should  utter,  from 
day  to  day  even,  Avords  which  in  themselves  are  good,  but  with 
the  intent  to  deceive  his  fellow-men  as  to  his  real  character. 
Those  words  are  then  bad.  Men  might  be  deceived ;  but  the 
Judge  knows  his  heart,  and  kn-owing  that  he  uttered  hypocritical 
words,  from  those  very  words  he  shall  be  condenmed  as  a  hypo- 
crite. Even  idle  words,  Avords  that  carry  no  meaning  and  go  on 
no  mission,  come  out  of  a  meaningless  and  empty  soul  and  con- 
demn the  man  as  woi-thlcss.  Or,  if  the  word  be  one  of  wanton 
thoughtless  calumny  the  utterer  shall  not  escape  condemnation. 

*  Dr.  Joseph  Addison  Alexander. 


THE  SECOND  TOUR  OF  GALILEE. 


331 


Jesus  had  commenced  to  act  so  vigorously  on  the  offensive  that 
the  hici-archic  clique  felt  compelled  to  make  some  movement 
which  should  divert  the  force  of  his  vigorous  ^  ^j„^  ^^^„^^^,,,,. 
blows.  The  crowd  was  increasing  and  growing 
excited.  It  was  known  that  the  wonder-loving  nniltitude  looked 
for  displays  of  miracles  on  the  part  of  the  Messiah  when  he 
should  come.  So  their  leader  said,  "  Teacher,  we  wish  to  sec  a 
sign  from  you."  That  is,  a  sign  showing  yourself  the  Messiah, 
lie  replied,  "  A  wicked  and  iduhxtrous *  generation  seeks  a  sign! 
Ko  sign  shall  be  given  it  but  the  sign  of  Jonah  the  proi)hct :  for 
as  Jonah  was  three  days  and  three  nights  f  in  tlic  belly  of  the 
great  fish,:}:  thus  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be  in  the  heart  of  the 
earth  three  days  and  three  nights." 

lie  charged  them  that  they  had  gone  into  heathenism ;  that 
they  were  worshippers  of  signs  and  wonders.   This    ^^^  ^.^  ^^  ^^^^^ 
evil  disposition  should  not  be  nurtured  by  anything 
he  should  do.     The  Messianic  signs  sli(ndd  come  in  their  seasons, 


*  The  word  here  used  signifies  "  adul- 
terous" when  applied  as  usual,  but 
when  employed  to  signify  things  spirit- 
ual it  means  "idolatrous."  There  would 
have  been  no  point  in  the  application  of 
the  former  epithet  to  the  Jews.  But 
they  were  familiar  with  the  idea  of  the 
Lord  God  being  the  husband  of  His 
people,  and  with  the  application  of  the 
words  "  adultery  "  and  "  whoredom  "  to 
idolatry,  which  was  represented  as  com- 
ing from  an  unclean  love.  This  proper 
translation  of  the  word  has  the  advan- 
tage of  affording  a  key  to  the  connec- 
tion of  this  discourse.  Jesus  charged 
them  with  being  idolaters,  heathen, 
because  they  worshipped  visible  things, 
such  as  signs.  This  suggested  his  two 
illustrations  drawn  from  heathen  na- 
tions, Jsine%-ites  and  Arabians  (or  per- 
haps Abyssinians). 

f  That  is,  by  the  Jewish  reckoning. 
In  the  Talm.  Ilieros.  it  is  written  :  "  Day 
and  night  malce  together  a  space  of 
time,  and  a  j)art  of  it  is  as  the  icltole." 
That  "space  of  time"  is  called  in  He- 
brew nz'V,  which  literally  means  an 
.  evening -morning.   The  Septuagint  trans- 


lation gives  yvxdviJ-foov  as  the  equivalent. 
See  Daniel  viii.  14,  and  the  same  word 
used  by  Paul  in  2  Cor.  xi.  35,  and  trans- 
lated in  the  common  version  "  a  night 
and  a  day."  From  Monday  afternoon  to 
Wednesday  morning  would  be  repre- 
sented as  three  of  these  spaces  of  tune, 
thiec  vvx6rifj.epa,  three  eveniug-momings, 
three  nights  and  days.  Olshauscn  makes 
the  following  fine  remark:  "  The  accu- 
racy of  Scripture  never  degenerates  into 
minute  and  anxious  precision.  Like 
nature,  it  combines  regularity  with  free- 
dom ;  and  hence  it  affords  scope  to  lib- 
erty, and  states  and  fulfils  all  prophecies 
in  such  a  manner  that  they  mny  either 
be  believed  or  contradicted.  The  Holy 
Scriptures  would  altogether  miss  their 
aim  if,  by  mathematical  precision  and 
strictness,  they  should  compd  belief." 

X  In  the  Mediterranean  Sea  there  is 
found  to  this  day  a  shark,  the  sff'irtlus 
carcharias,  called  also  lamia,  sometimes 
as  long  as  sixty  feet.  Lauge  says  that 
Hubner  relates  the  instance  of  a  sailoi 
who  was  swallowed  by  a  shark  and  yet 
preserved. 


332 


SECOND   AISHD   THIKD   I'ASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 


but  sliDiild  not  be  advanced  to  gratify  a  mere  curiosity.  Jonah 
was  a  type  of  the  Messiah.  His  w'ondei'ful  adventure  shall  be 
paralleled  in  the  history  of  the  Son  of  Man.  What  he  meant 
must  have  been  wholly  unintelligible  to  all  his  hearers,  learned 
and  illiterate.  Xot  one  of  his  disciples  understood  it  to  intimate 
a  resurrection  from  the  dead.     It  was  a  perplexing  answer. 

The  mention  of  their  idolatrous  tendency,  and  of  Nineveh,  led 
him  to  say  that  Ninevite  men,  heathens,  who  were  despised  by 
The  NinevitoR  unci  tlic  supcrcilious  Jcws,  sliould  I'lsc  in  judgmciit 
the  Queen  of  the  South.  ^^^^.  separation)  against  the  men  of  the  generation 
of  Jesus,  and  condemn  them ;  that  whenever  any  moral  discrim- 
inations should  be  made,  the  men  among  the  heathen  vvdio  repented 
when  such  a  man  as  Jonah  warned  them  shall  be  considered  bet- 
ter than  the  Jewish  churchmen  who  heard  Jesus,  a  greater  than 
Jonah,  and  rejected  him.  He  added  another  illustration.  A 
Queen  came  from  the  South  *  to  hear  the  wisdom  of  Solomon. 
She  was  "  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,"  from  the  people  who  were 
most  removed  from  the  true  religion.  Without  invitation,  against 
friirhtful  risks,  a  woman  was  so  moved  with  a  desire  to  be  in- 
Btructed  in  religion  t  that  she  made  the  long,  painful,  and  ])eril- 
ous  journey  from  barbaric  regions  to  Jerusalem.  Whenever  a 
discrimination  or  judgment  is  made  on  moral  grounds,  she  shall 
be  declared  better  than  the  people  of  the  Jewish  church,  who,  pro- 
fessing to  desire  to  know  the  truth,  reject  a  teacher  who  had  per- 
formed greater  deeds  and  spoken  greater  words  than  Solomon 
ever  did,  and  whom  following  generations  would  pronounce  a 
man  superior  to  great  David's  splendid  son. 

He  closed  his  addi-ess  with  a  description  of  tlie  condition  of 
the  Jewish  nation,  contained  in  a  parable  founded  upon  their 
notions  in  regard  to  demoniacal  possession.  This 
peroration  cannot  probably  be  rendered  better 
than  in  the  paraphrase  by  Professor  Strong :  "  According  to  your 


The  peroration. 


*  From  the  southern  portion  of  the 
Arabian  peninsula,  or  from  the  Cushite 
kingdom  of  Seba  in  Ethiopia.  Jose- 
phus  {Ant.,  viii.  5,  5)  says  the  latter. 
The  Ethiopian  (or  Abyssian)  church  has 
a  tradition  to  the  same  eflfect.  It  is  not 
at  all  material  to  the  argument  of  Jesus. 
He  was  contrasting  the  conduct  of 
heathens  with  that  of  the  churchmen  of 


his  day,  to  the  disparagement  of  the  lat- 
ter. 

f  It  is  merely  fair  to  attribute  this 
motive  to  her,  since  the  history  which 
records  her  visit  says,  "  When  the  Queen 
of  Sheba  heard  of  the  fame  of  Solomon, 
concerning  the  name  of  Jeluycah,  she 
came,"  etc.     1  Kings  x.  1. 


THE    SECOND    TOUE    OF    GALILEE.  333 

owT  belief,  a  foul  fiend,  upon  his  expulsion  from  the  possessed, 
ranges  disconsolate  through  some  barren  region,  in  quest  of  relief 
from  the  anguish  of  guilt  that  torments  him,  by  a  shelter  in  some 
human  tenement ;  and  to  save  your  credit,  upon  the  relapse  of  a 
demoniac  whom  you  profess  to  have  rendered  sane,  you  say  of 
the  exorcised  demon  in  such  a  case  that,  being  unsuccessful  in  tlio 
scarcli,  he  resolves  to  return  to  his  late  victim,  and  take  up  his 
quarters  there.  Be  that  as  it  may,  such  a  fiend,  if  at  his  return 
he  find  that  former  abode  untenanted  by  any  better  occupant,  but 
swept  clean  and  put  in  order  as  if  for  his  reception ;  he  will  then 
assuredly  go  forth  to  the  general  rendezvous  of  his  comrades,  and 
associate  witli  him  perhaps  seven  other  demons,  woi'se,  it  may  be, 
than  himself,  for  the  secure  possession  of  such  an  inviting  resi- 
dence, and  these  all  repairing  thither  will  enter  and  permanently 
occupy  that  mansion.  In  the  state  of  him  whose  mind  is  the 
theatre  of  such  an  occupancy,  '  the  latter  evil  is  greater  than  the 
former.'  Precisely  such  will  become  the  condition  of  the  aban- 
doned race  who  now  hear  me ;  the  incipient  conviction  forced 
upon  them  by  my  previous  preaching  and  miracles,  by  being  re- 
sisted, Avill  but  increase  their  guilty  obduracy,  which  not  even  the 
required  miracle  would  remove." 

As  he  spolce  these  words  a  M'oman  in  the  crowd,  an  enthusias- 
tic admirer  of  the  young  Eabbi,  broke  out  into  the  exclamation, 
"  Blessed  is  the  w^omb  that  bare  thee,  and  the 
breasts  which  thou  hast  sucked  !  "  lie  answered  nicut.^"™""*  '^^^  ' 
this  womanly  but  commonplace  compliment  by 
correcting  her  low  ideas.  "  Rather  are  they  blessed  who  hear 
and  keep  the  word  of  God."  As  if  he  had  said,  "Even  Mary's 
blessedness  does  not  lie  in  the  historic  fact  that  I  became  son  of 
her  flesh,  but  that  she  was  so  humble  and  faithful  a  keeper  of  tlie 
word  of  God  as  to  be  selected  to  be  my  mother."  Biographical 
circumstances  are  so  little  when  compared  with  real  loftiness  of 
character ! 

All  this  while  the  mother  and  brothers  of  Jesus  were  outside 
the  door,  and  could  not  reach  him  for  the  press,  but  sent  word  in 
to  him.     They  had  heard,  and  perhaps  partly  be- 

"^  '  '^  r      [^  J  Mary  and  her  sons. 

lieved,  the  slanders  of  the  Pharisees.    Even  Mary's 
moment  of  weakness  was  upon  her.     She  feared.     She  did  not 
know  into  what  the  effect  of  his  excessive  labors  may  have  be- 
trayed him.     But  he  was  her  son.     ^Yhen  the  message  came  to 


334  SECOND   AND   TniKD    PASSOVER   IN   THE    LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

liiin  tlirongli  tlie  crowd,  lie  said  :  "  Who  is  my  motlier  1  Wlio  are 
iny  brethren  ?  "  And  then,  looking  upon  the  multitude  about 
him,  and  more  particularly  upon  the  disciples  who  were  clinging 
more  and  more  closely  to  him,  and  striving  more  and  more  to 
comprehend  him,  he  said  :  "  Behold  my  mother  and  my  brothers  ! 
For  whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  God,  the  same  is  my  brother, 
and  sister,  and  mother ! "  The  first  sentence  seems  a  sharp 
rebuke  to  the  weakness  of  Mary  and  the  infidelity  of  her  other 
sons  in  regard  to  this  her  greatest  s<jn  and  their  glorious  brother. 
The  second  takes  them  back  into  loving  arms,  if  they  will  also 
have  S]>iritual  relationship  with  him.  The  whole  sets  forth  a 
great  advance  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that 
he  chiims  moi-o  and  more.  lie  is  looking  M'idely  through  human- 
ity aiul  into  the  future.  lie  is  caring  less  for  lleshly  ties.  His 
love  is  founded  on  a  principle.  AVhocver  lovingly  obeys  God  is 
a  Mary  that  hath  borne  Jesus  in  the  heart.  Whoever  lovingly 
obeys  God  is  his  brotlicr:  the  same  spirit  animates  both.  If  his 
mother  do  not  obey  God,  Jesus  is  ready  to  disown  the  relationship. 
If  the  poorest  woman  in  the  world — such  as  the  poor  barbarian 
woman  in  Africa  who  gave  water  to  Mungo  Park,  and  sang  lulla- 
bies to  him  in  his  sickness  and  solitude— shall  only  lovingly  obey 
God,  Jesus  is  ready  to  i-ecognizc  her  as  sister  or  mother.  It  is  a 
sublimely  wide  and  deep  saying! 

While  Jesus  was  making  these  speeches,  one  of  the  Pharisaic 

party,  seeing  the  defeat  they  were  suffering,  invited  Jesus  to  a 

„  ,     .,,    ™    .       luncheon  at  his  house,  aiMjai-ently  that  he  im'ght 

Eats  with  ii  Phanseo,  5      11  J  & 

and  (loiiounoes  Thari-  brcalv  Up  tliis  public  discussloH  aiid  talvC  from  Jcsus 
**"''"■  the  support  of  the  po]uilar  presence  and  approval, 

and  surround  him  in  private  by  his  deadly  enemies.  Jesus  accepted 
the  invitation.  Doubtless  the  Pharisee«thought  that  this  was  done 
in  rustic  simplicity  by  an  unsophisticated  man.  But  Jesus  saw 
the  whole  manoeuvre.  lie  went  into  the  house  and  sat  down  at 
the  table,  omitting  the  ceremonial  washing  of  hands.  He  M'as 
surrounded  by  Pharisees,  who  were  Separatists,  Purists,  Puritans, 
as  their  name  implies.  These  well-washed  gentlemen,  with  nicely 
pared  finger-nails,  in  all  things  fastidiously  neat,  exchanged 
glances  of  wonder  that  he  did  not  wash  his  hands.  He  saw  it. 
lie  knew  what  it  meant.  He  had  been  invited  into  a  net.  He 
was  going  to  break  its  meshes.  Just  then  a  servant  may  have* 
■wiped  the  plates  and  cups  with  a  clean  napkin,  to  remove  any 


THE    SECOND    TOUK   OF    GALILEE. 


335 


little  dnst  that  may  Iiavo  settled  on  the  dishes.  Jesns  took  the 
occasion  to  reply  in  words  to  the  accusations  tliey  were  making 
bv  i>-lanccs.  "  You  Pharisees  are  now  as  faultless  in  your  out- 
M-aixl  behavior  as  these  dishes  are  clean  of  every  kind  of  dirt ; 
but  your  hearts  are  full  of  extortion  and  wickedness.  Thought- 
less nieu,  he  that  makes  clean  that  which  is  without,  does  not 
necessai-ily  clean  that  which  is  within  also?  l>ut  y(^u  give  alms, 
and  then  say.  All  things  are  clean  !  *  But  woe  to  you,  Pharisees ! 
you  are  so  careful  in  your  tithes  that  you  give  a  tenth  of  even 
yoin-  mint  and  rue  and  ever}^  herb,t  and  omit  righteonsness  and 
the  love  of  God  :  these  are  absolutely  necessary,  while  your  seni- 
pulousness  in  other  things  should  not  be  omitted.  Woe  to  you, 
Pharisees !  for  ye  love  the  uppermost  seats  in  the  synagogues,  and 
the  frreetino-s  in  the  markets.  Woe  to  you  !  for  ve  are  as  hidden 
irraves  wliicli  men  do  not  see,  and  so  walk  over  tliem  and  are 
ceremonially  defiled." 

Amongst  those  present  was  a  "lawyer."  When  that  name  is 
mentioned  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  the  person  occupied  the 
same  position  in  society  as  our  modern  lawyers. 
The  lawyer  in  this  case  was  rather  a  professor  or 
doctor  of  divinity.  lie  was  an  authority  in  sacred  law.  This 
person,  ])erha[)S  feeling  pinched  by  the  statement  about  the  punc- 
tilious tithing  of  the  smallest  products  of  the  garden,  a  question 
the  decision  of  which  came  before  the  lawyers,  pertly  addressed 
Jesus  with  the  remark,  "  Teacher,  saying  these  things  thou  insult- 
est  us  also." 

Then  Jesus  broke  npon  him:  "And  to  yon,  professors  of  the 
moral  law,  woe  !   for  ye  lade  men  with  burdens  grievous  to  be 


A  "lawyer." 


*  This  seems  to  me  to  be  the  mean- 
ing of  Jesus,  au  iuterpretation  held  by 
Erasiiius,  Lightfoot,  Kuinoel,  Schleier- 
macher,  the  devout  Stier,  and  others ; 
but  opposed  by  Dean  Alford,  who  has 
five  reasons  agauist  the  correctness  of 
this  rendering,  one  of  which  is  a  strong 
reason  for  the  iuterpretation  here  given, 
three  are  gi'ammatical,  one  of  which  is 
not  pertinent  when  we  regard  tliis  as  a 
dramatic  sketch,  and  another  begs  the 
question.  This  fifth  reason  is,  that  this 
makes  Jesus  cast  a  slur  upon  almsgiving, 
which  is  a  mistake  j    perhaps  he  slurs 


such  almsgiving  as  the  Pharisees  made, 
but  he  is  not  speaking  of  the  giving  of 
alms,  but  of  substituting  outward  and 
ceremonial  for  inward  and  moral  clean- 
liness. The  intei-]5retation  given  in  the 
text  has  this  advantage,  it  makes  sense; 
which  the  usual  reading  does  not,  unless 
it  be  the  sense  that  he  that  gives  alms 
is  therefore  inwardly  pure — the  very 
doctrine  of  the  Pharisees  which  Jesxia 
was  vehemently  denouncing. 

f  Perhaps,  by  a  rigid  rendering  of  the 
passage  of  the  law  in  Levit.  xxvii.  30, 
the  Pharisees  made  this  precept. 


336 


SECOJTD    AND    THIRD    PASSOVER    m    THE    LIFE    OF   JESUS. 


Lawyers  denounced. 


borne,  and  you  yourselves  touch  not  the  burdens  with  one  of  youi 
little  fingers.  Woe  to  you  !  for  ye  build  the  tombs  of  the  prophets, 
and  your  fathers  killed  them.  Truly  ye  ai'e  wit- 
nesses tliat  you  approve  the  deeds  of  your  fathers  : 
for  they  killed  the  prophets,  and  over  them  you  erect  monuments 
of  your  own  heavy  ordinances.  On  this  account  the  wisdom  of 
God  has  said :  '  I  will  send  them  prophets  and  apostles,  and  some 
of  them  they  wull  slay  and  persecute,  that  the  blood  of  all  the 
prophets,  shed  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  may  be  required 
of  this  "-eneration,  from  the  blood  of  Abel  to  the  blood  of 
Zacharias,*  who  perished  between  the  altar  and  the  temple  : '  veri- 
ly, I  say  unto  you.  It  shall  be  required  of  this  generation.  Woe 
to  you,  professors  of  the  moral  law  !  for  ye  have  taken  away  the 
key  of  knowledge  ;  ye  entered  not  in  yourselves,  and  those  that 
were  entering  in  ye  hindered," 

This  broke  up  the  meal.  Ilis  enemies  and  he  rose  to  their 
feet.  The  Pharisees  were  furious.  They  might  have  despatched 
him  there,  but  between  the  pauses  of  his  awful 
speech  they  heard  the  surging  of  the  great  crowd 
M-hich  blocked  the  street  outside,  among  whom  were  hundreds 
who  had  been  wrought  into  an  enthusiasm  for  the  Teacher,  and 
were  anxious  to  have  him  make  his  appearance.  He  passed  out 
from  the  circle  of  his  deadly  foes  into  the  midst  of  the  nniltitude. 


The  meal  broken  up. 


*  This  is  not  so  mucli  a  quotation  of 
Scripture  as  an  amplification  of  a  say- 
ing of  Scripture.  The  alhision  seems 
to  be  to  the  account  of  the  slaughter  of 
Zacharias,  the  son  of  Jehoiada  (as  re- 
corded in  2  Chron.  xxiv.  18-22),  who 
was  stoned  in  the  court  of  the  house 
of  the  Lord,  because  he  had  faith- 
fully borne  witness  against  the  sins  of 
the  people.  As  he  was  dying  he  said, 
''  The  Lord  look  upon  it,  andrequire  it." 
Jesus  amplifies  this  expression,  and 
makes  the  assertion  that  God  will  "re- 
quire "  of  the  Jews  of  his  generation  the 
blood  of  all  the  holy  martyrs  who  had 
died  for  confessing  the  truth,  from  Abel 
the  first  prophet-martyr  to  Zacharias 
the  last  martyr-prophet.  He  predicts 
that  such  obstinate  and  wicked  rejec- 
tion of  the  truth  by  his  people  should 


bring  upon  them  a  destruction  which 
should  justify  all  the  assertions  of  good 
men  in  regard. to  the  ruinous  nature  ol 
sin,  and  as  complete  as  if  they  had  real- 
ly heard  and  rejected  each  confessor  of 
the  truth  in  every  age.  Matthew  calls 
this  Zacharias  "  the  son  of  Barachias," 
thus  creating  a  difficulty  to  which  two 
solutions  have  been  offered  :  (1),  That  of 
Olshausen,  who  says,  "  There  is  nothing 
offensive  in  the  supposition  that  Mat- 
thew might  have  confused  the  name  of 
the  murdered  man's  father  with  the 
father  of  the  Zacharias  whose  book  we 
have  in  the  canon  of  Scripture  ; "  or  (2), 
Perhaps  still  better,  that  of  Ebrard,  who 
suggests  that  Zacharias  might  have  been 
the  grandson  of  Jehoiada,  and  that 
Barachias  stood  between. 


THE   SECOND   TOUE   OF   GALILEE.  337 

He  commenced  to  ^varn  them  against  hypocrisy,  against  accept- 
ing  hypocritical  invitations  to  feasts,  but  was  interrupted  by  a 
voice  from  the  crowd  inojiportunely  saying,  waming  against  hy- 
"  Teacher,  speak  to  my  brother,  that  he  divide  P<^™y- 
the  inheritance  with  me."  This  man  was  not  a  disciple,  nor 
apparently  about  to  become  one,  but  seeing  the  great  and  grow- 
ing influence  of  this  rabbi,  he  supposed  that  he  had  come  to  set 
all  things  right,  and  so  put  in  his  selfish  appeal.  Jesus  turned 
upon  him  with  tlie  speech :  "  Man,  who  made  me  a  judge  or  a 
divider  over  you  ? "  He  remitted  him  to  the  laws  of  the  land. 
But  it  gave  him  occasion  to  deliver  another  warning  against  covet- 
ousness.  "  See  and  g\iard  yourselves  against  covetousness.  Not 
because  a  man  has  abundance  does  tliis  life  consist  in  his  goods." 
The  life  comes  from  God.  It  may  be  sustained  by  a  portion  of 
worldly  goods,  but  all  that  is  over  and  above  what  a  man  can  use 
is  really  useless  to  him.     It  adds  nothing  valuable  to  his  life. 

This  admonition  is  enforced  by  the  parable  of  the  Rich  Fool, 
told  A'ery  dramatically :  "  The  large  field  of  a  rich  man  produced 
plentifully.  And  he  thought  within  himself,  rarawo  of  the  ELch 
'  What  shall  I  do  ?  Because  I  have  not  where  to  ^'"'^ 
store  my  fruits.'  And  he  said,  '  This  will  I  do :  I  will  pull  down 
my  barns  and  build  larger :  and  there  will  I  gather  all  my  pro^ 
duce.  And  I  will  say  to  my  life,  '  Life,  thou  hast  many  good 
things  laid  up  for  many  years:  take  thine  ease,  eat,  drink,  be 
merry!'  But  God  said:  'Thoughtless  man!  this  night  they* 
require  of  thee  thy  life,  and  to  whom  will  belong  the  things 
which  thou  hast  prepared  ? '  So  is  he  who  layeth  up  treasure  for 
himself,  and  is  not  rich  toward  God." 

It  would  be  exceedingly  difficult  to  find  another  passage  in  the 
discourses  of  Jesus  fuller  of  lessons  in  as  few  words.  A  man 
had  become  rich.      He  owned  a  great  field.     He 

•    1  1  All  11  Expositiou. 

was  growing  richer  every  day.   At  last  he  reached 

a  point  of  perplexity.     His  business  had  gi-own  into  a  very  large 


*  It  was  a  common  belief  among  the 
Jews  that  the  angels  had  to  do  with 
dying  men,  a  belief  alluded  to  again  by 
Jesus  in  the  parable  of  Dives  and 
Lazanis,  Luke  xvi.  22.  Evil  men  had 
their  souls  required  of  them,  dragged 
out  of  them ;  but  the  souls  of  the 
righteous     were     drawn     from     their 

22 


mouths  gently  with  a  kiss  by  the  angel 
Gabriel.  To  something  of  this  kind 
Trench  thinks  allusion  is  made  in  the 
fonnula  by  whi:h  the  early  church  so 
frequently  described  the  departure  of  a 
good  man.  "  In  osculo  Domini  obdormi- 
vit,"  he  hath  gone  to  sleep  in  the  kins  of 
the  Lard, 


33S        SECOND   AND   THIKD   TASSOVEK   IN   TUE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

affair.  IIo  had  reached  a  point  when  some  plan  for  life,  which 
should  arrange  for  the  disposal  of  all  these  riches,  must  be 
adopted.  The  Teacher  shows  us  the  inmost  mind  of  the  man, 
and  puts  his  thoughts  into  words,  and  then  renders  the  vei'dict  of 
God  upon  his  character  and  conduct.  God  pronounced  him  "a 
fool."  It  is  proper  to  learn  who,  in  the  judgment  of  God,  is  a 
fool. 

It  is  quite  apparent  that  the  man  was  not  engaged  in  an  ille- 
gitimate business,  not  even  in  one  that  was  at  all  cpiestionable. 
He  was  not  a  thief  nor  e-ambler,  nor  was  he  a 

Business  legitimate.  ,  .1. 

speculative  operator  in  stocks.  He  was  neither 
banker  nor  merchant.  If  money  has  pollution  in  its  touch,  he 
avoided  it.  He  was  not  exposed  to  the  trials  which  beset  those 
men  whose  business  compels  them  to  buy  in  the  cheapest  and  sell 
in  the  dearest  market.  He  lived  in  the  rural  districts,  away  from 
the  metropolis ;  and  he  was  an  agriculturist.  If  any  man  can 
lead  a  spotless  life,  surel}^  a  farmer  can.  But  spotless  lives  are 
not  more  frequently  led  in  agriculture  than  in  other  pursuits. 
Farmers  are  as  good  as  others,  and  no  better.  There  are  farmers 
who  have  grumbled  at  the  extortion  of  merchants,  but  who 
eagerly  snatched  at  the  advantage  given  them  by  a  droii^ht  or  a 
blockade  to  lock  up  their  corn  and  wait  for  still  greater  advance 
in  the  prices.  But  the  employment  of  farming  is  one  in  which  a 
man  is  subjected  to  the  fewest  temptations.  If  he  do  wrong, 
it  is  because  it  is  in  him.     Tliis  man  was  a  farmer,  and — a  fool. 

But  he  was  not  intellectually  or  spiritually  a  fool,  because  he 
was  rich.     It  is  not  true  that  "  any  fool  can  make  money."     It 
Riches  no  proof  of  rcquircs  braius,  and  thouglit,  and  energy,  and 
folly  or  Bin.  pcrsc  vcraucc, — all  these  in  such  amount  and  pro- 

portion as  would  make  the  man  great  in  any  department.  Nor 
does  it  follow  that  he  was  a  sinner  because  he  was  rich. 
Ordinarily,  if  a  man  be  veri/  rich,  it  is  because  he  or  some  ances- 
tor has  done  some  wrong.  But  it  is  not  so  always.  Some  men 
are  so  wise  and  good  that  wnth  increasing  liberality  they  grow 
rich.  Job  was  that  perfect  man  who  won  even  the  admiration  of 
God,  and  he  was  the  richest  man  of  his  region,  if  not  of  his  age. 
Abraham  was  the  "friend  of  God,"  and  he  was  a  millionaire. 
In  every  age  some  of  the  saintliest  have  been  among  the  most 
prosperous.  Men  ought  not  to  despise  or  hate  the  ricli,  but  pity 
them ;  for  with  great  difficulty,  as  Jesus  says,  do  they  enter  the 


TIIE   SECOND   TOUK   OF   GAilLEE.  339 

kingdom  of  heaven.  And  he  that  sets  the  poor  agahist  the  rich, 
inciting  the  many  against  the  few,  appealing  to  tlie  passions  of 
those  who  have  not  against  those  who  have,  turning  servants 
against  masters,  employes  against  employers,  labor  against  capi- 
tal, wresting  men's  houses  and  lands  and  servants  from  them  by 
preaching  the  crusades  of  agrarianism  is,  to  speak  after  the  man- 
ner of  (iod,  a  "  fool." 

This  man  in  the  parable  was  a  farmer,  was  shrewd  enough  to 
become  rich, — but  he  was  a  fool. 

This  severe  verdict  was  pronounced  on.  his  character  because. 
Firstly^  lie  could  not  comprehend  the  state  of  affairs  which  he 
himself  had  created.  lie  had  labored  for  an  in-  i.  He  axa  not  com- 
crease,  and  when  the  increase  came  he  was  not  v^^^^^^  his  affairs, 
prepared  to  invest  it  permanently  for  perpetual  use.  When  a 
man  reaches  a  point  that  he  begins  to  destroy  what  he  has  made, 
it  is  clear  that  he  is  not  long-sighted.  This  man  had  invited 
Success  to  be  his  guest.  Success  came,  and  he  did  not  know  how 
to  entertain. 

Secofidlf/,  Because  he  misunderstood  his  relation  to  the  exter- 
nal world.    lie  speaks  like  a  proprietor,    "/have  no  room  where 

to    bestow    mi/   goods."       "/will    pull    down    my       2.  Korhis  relation  to 

barns,  and  build  greater,  and  there  will  I  bestow  the  external  world, 
all  my  goods  and  viy  fruits."  Jesus  represents  him  as  a  man  who 
did  not  know  how  to  adapt  himself  to  the  facts  of  God  and  the 
laws  of  the  uni\erse.  A  wise  man  acknowledges  God  as  the 
proprietor,  and  himself  as  the  agent  whose  business  it  is  to  im- 
prove and  beautify  God's  world.  lie  sees  that  in  order  to  have 
his  world  beautified  God  has  made  this  law,  that  the  very  moment 
a  man  begins  to  draw  the  world  into  himself  he  begins  to  be 
crushed  out  of  sight.  The  very  moment  he  begins  to  pour  him- 
self out  u]3on  the  world  he  begins  to  grow,  and  the  world  to 
brighten.  This  "  fool "  did  not  know  the  meaning  of  the  words 
he  was  employing.  IS^othing  is  "fruit"  that  is  not  enjoyable. 
Nothing  that  brings  troubles  and  pei-plexities  should  be  called 
"goods."  And  this  man  had  burdened  himself  with  what  he 
could  not  enjoy. 

T/drdlt/,  lie  did  not  know  the  difference  between  his  body  and 
his  soul.  "  The  life  (or  soul)  is  more  than  meat."  He  thought 
he  could  feed  his  soul  on  corn !  And  so  he  put  all  he  had  of 
capital  and  brain  into  the  production  of  com.     "  All  my  goods," 


340         SECOND   AKD   TIIIKD   PASSOVEK   EN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

he  says,     "Wlien  a  man  lias  i]i vested  liis  "  all "  in  perishable  ob- 

3.  Didno  kr^owthe  jet^^^'  and  tlicj  ftrc  swept  away,  he  is  totally 
fliffcreiice  between  iK>ui  jioverty-striclvcn.     Tlils  iiian  acknowledged  that 

°  ^'  he  had  taken  snch  a  fearful  risk. 

I'ourthly,  lie  had  postponed  his  enjoyments.    There  is  a  sense 
in  which  the  old  Epicurean  precept,  "  Carpe  diem,"  holds  good. 

4.  Postponed  his  en-  If  there  be  any  i-eal  happiness  to  be  had  7ioiVy 
joyments.  ^j^^  sliould  not  Ict  it  slip  by  postponing  it  to  the 
uncertainties  of  the  future.  What  pleasure  we  have  ever  had  we 
still  have,  in  the  knowledge  and  memory  of  it.  What  we  have 
not  we  may  never  have.  The  past  and  the  future  lie  equally  be- 
yond our  control.  Narrow  as  is  the  Now,  it  is  the  field  for  our 
action  and  the  season  for  our  enjoyment.  It  must  be  packed  full 
and  close, — pressed  down  with  heaity  effort  and  hearty  delight. 
Many  a  man  is  like  this  fool  in  the  parable.  Many  a  man  says, 
"  AYlien  I  have  accumulated  a  fortune,  and  built  a  house,  and 
established  my  family,  I  will  settle  down  and  have  a  good  time." 
Wliy  not  have  a  good  time  now,  while  one  is  accumulating  one's 
fortune  and  building  one's  house  ?     Why  wait  ? 

Fifthly,  He  relied  upon  a  known  nncertainty.     All  that  he  pro- 
jected required  time,  and  was  environed  with  insecurity.     As  tho 

5.  Keiied  on  a  known  timbcrs  of  the  old  bams  wcro  coming  down,  or 
uncertainty.  tlioso  of  tlic  ncw  Avorc  going  up,  they  might  fall 
on  him  or  strike  him,  and  thus  kill  him  or  leave  him  a  mangled 
cripple,  wretched  for  all  life,  quite  beyond  the  anodynes  that 
wealth  can  bring  to  pain.  "J/wcA  goods — laid  ii^ — for  many 
years."  Here  is  a  triple  uncertainty.  And  yet  on  this  nncertainty 
he  was  going  to  settle  down  at  his  ease,  and  eat  and  di-ink  and  be 
merry,  forgetting  that  in  eating  and  in  drinking  men  sometimes 
choke  or  go  into  manifold  diseases  that  dampen  all  merriment. 

Sixthly,  lie  omitted  preparations  for  a  future  certainty.     He 

could  not  tell  when  he  should  die,  but  he  certainly  knew  that 

_,    whatever  wealth  men  may  accumulate  they  7nust 

6.  Made    no    provl-         ^  ''  r        ^   '      n 

eion  for  a  known  cer-  die.  IIc  had  made  uo  arrangement  for  his  fortune 
*'""*^*  when  ho  should  be  dead.    To  whom  should  belong 

the  things  which' he  had  prepared?  In  this  day  it  is  sometimes 
announced  that  a  man  has  died  and  "  left  a  fortune  of  many  mil- 
lions of  dollars."  He  "  left  "  it,  did  he  ?  Why  not  stay  with  it  1 
What  a  palace,  what  parks,  what  equipages,  what  delicious  food, 
what  sumptuous  furniture  of  books  and  statues  and  pictures  and 


THE    SECO>"D   TOUR    OF   GALILEE.  341 

articles  of  vlrtto  would  not  those  millions  bny !  Alas!  he  could 
not  stay  with  it.  The  gate  of  the  grave  is  so  narrow  that  slender 
ghosts  do  barely  struggle  through,  and  houses  and  lands,  and  cof- 
fins and  shrouds  and  bodies  are  all  torn  off,  and  the  soul  stands 
naked  on  the  other  side.  And  a  man  cannot  tell  to  whom  he 
shall  leave  his  riches.  Take  what  precaution  he  maj',  his  will  may 
be  broken,  after  much  of  the  estate  is  squandered  in  litigation. 
If  it  go  to  the  designated  heir,  he  may  squander  it  on  swindlers 
and  harlots,  or  the  heir  may  die  and  leave  it  to  his  fathers  dead- 
liest foe.  It  is  folly  to  be  all  one's  lifetime  laboring  to  acquire  a 
fortune  one  must  leave  to  one  knows  not  whom. 

"So  is  he  that  layetli  up  treasure  for  himself,  and  is  not  rich 
to^vard  God."  This  is  transcendent  folly.  The  man  has  so  buried 
himself  in  the  perishable  that  when  that  goes  he 

-fx       1  i,i'  1^'  1  •!      Not  rich  toward  Grod. 

IS  gone,  lie  has  lost  liimselr  in  the  material. 
Abstracted  his  inmost,  highmost  nature,  and  emptied  it,  as  one 
should  spill  upon  the  sands  of  the  desert  his  only  bottle  of  water, 
when  he  knows  that  thence  it  can  never  be  gathered  u})  again,  and 
that  there  is  not  another  drop  within  reach.  lie  passes  int(j  eter- 
nit}'  with  nothing,  as  if  one  should  go  into  a  foreign  land,  a  land 
of  strangers,  with  none  of  their  current  money,  and  with  nothing 
that  could  be  converted  into  currenc3\  On  this  side  rich,  on  that 
poor.  Here  the  papers  are  full  of  accounts  of  his  immense  estate, 
where  it  lies,  and  how  it  goes,  while  he  stands  a  jxxle  and  shivering 
spirit  on  the  inside  of  the  gate  of  death,  with  nothing.  He  is  not 
rich  toward  God,  nor  rich  in  God.  He  hath  not  used  the  means 
at  his  control  to  please  the  owner  thereof,  and  now  he  comes  to 
the  judgment  a  defaulter.  He  luid  not  learned  the  blessed  alche- 
my by  which  Love  and  Faith  do  change  the  baser  metals  of  this 
world  to  gold  which  endures  foi-ever.* 

Such  seem  to  be  the  lessons  of  this  striking  parable.  Jesus  fol- 
lowed it  with  a  repetition  and  enlargement  of  much  that  he  had 
spoken  against  covetousness  and  excessive  carefulness  in  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount. 

In  the  crowd  of  hearers  were  some  who  took  occasion  to  speak 
to  him  of   certain  Galilteans  whom    Pilate  had     one  of  Piiatc's  ont- 
elaiu  while  the}^  were  engaged  in  worship,  min-  "^^ 
gling  their  blood  with  their  sacrifices.     We  cannot  now  ascertain 

•In  this  exposition  I   have    ^rsxra  \  ^^  A  Prophylactic  of  Cov€iau»/ic^." 
largely  on  my  published  sermon  entitled  I 


342         SECOND  AND   THIKD   TASSOVER   m   TUE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

what  was  the  particular  atrocity  to  which  they  alluded.  The  Gali 
Iseans,  according  to  Josephus,*  were  prone  to  insurrection.  Tliey 
were  ignorant,  rude,  and  tumultuous,  and  made  frequent  distiirl> 
ances  in  Jerusalem  on  the  occasions  of  the  feasts.  And  Pilato 
not  infrequently  was  grossly  violent  in  the  government  of  his  peo- 
ple.f  Why  these  informants  should  have  brought  this  subjecit  to 
the  attention  of  Jesus  at  this  particular  time  it  is  difficult  to  decide. 
Perhaps  it  was  a  challenge  to  him,  as  he  was  putting  forth  claims 
to  the  Messiahship,  to  stretch  forth  his  arm  against  the  Roman 
governor  who  had  violated  the  Temple  by  the  introduction  of 
soldiers  and  by  mingling  human  blood  with  tlie  blood  of  sacri- 
fices. Perhaps  it  was  a  slur  on  Jesus  as  a  Galilsean.  Perhaps  it 
intimated  that  he  was  creating  trouble  for  the  people,  as  tliese 
GaHlseans  had  met  their  death  as  his  partisans.  They  may  have 
done  so.  Going  up  to  Jerusalem  to  present  their  sacrifices,  they 
may  have  found  a  test  presented  to  them,  involving  the  rejection 
of  Jesus,  or  may  have  heard  him  violently  denounced  by  the 
priests ;  and  although  they  themselves  were  not  good,  they  had  an 
enthusiasm  for  the  young  Pabbi,  and  resented  the  insults  of  the 
priests,  who  may  have  called  in  the  aid  of  the  governor  and  the 
unscrupulous  Poman  soldiery ;  or,  most  probably,  to  divert  the 
searching  address  of  Jesus  from  themselves,  they  spoke  of  this 
great  catastrophe  in  reprehension  of  the  Galilaeans  who  had  been 
slain. 

Jesus  takes  occasion  to  rebuke  the  spirit  which  was  rife  among 
the  Jews,  and  which  can  be  found  in  this  day,  leading  men  to 
adjudge  the  unfortunate  as  wicked,  and  to  regard 
singular  catastrophes  as  proofs  of  singular  crim-. 
inality.  "  Suppose  you  that  these  Galilaeans  were  sinners  above 
all  the  Galilceans,  because  they  have  suffered  such  things  ?  I  tell 
you,  No ;  but  except  you  repent,  you  shall  all  perisli  in  like  man- 
ner.:}:    Or  those  eighteen,  upon  whom  the  tower  of  Siloam  §  fell 


A  false  judgment. 


*  VU.,  17,  and  Antiq.,  17,  9,  3  ;  10,  2. 

•f  See  Josephus,  Antiq.  ^  18,  3,  1;  De 
Bell.  Jud.  ,2,9,2;  also  Winer,  the  arti- 
cle Pilate. 

X  "  Likewise  "  does  not  translate  the 
word.  It  means  that  their  punishment 
should  be  of  the  same  kind  as  that  of 
those  who  had  been  spoken  of. 

§  History  has  preserved  no  record  of 


the  incident  here  mentioned.  Winer 
refers  to  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  G,  7,  2, 
from  which  passage  it  would  seem  that 
the  lower  town  extended  as  far  aa 
this  district  of  Siloam,  which  Josephus 
distinguishes  from  a  well  of  the  same 
name,  and  that  the  district  was  enclosed 
by  the  city  walls. 


THE   SECOND  TOCK  OF  GALILISE.  3*3 


and  killed  them,  think  ye  that  thoy  were  snuiers  ahove  all  men 
who  dwelt  iu  Je  u.alem  ?    I  tell  you,  No ;  but  excop  you  repen 
™"sWl  all  (Galiteans  and  J„da.ans)  perish  m  l.ke  n^anner. 
I^tau  .  It  tha   these  unfortunates  who  fell  l,v  P.lato's  hand  were 
not  W«-^  to  he  aecounted  worse  tha,>  their  countryn.en ;  nor 
he  Galtan,  in  gene.al  to  be  disparaged  on  this  account     or  .n 
Jud^a     ay,  iu  Jerusalem  itself,  a  tower  had  fallen  upon  cghteen 
JS^'who'were  not  Galih.ans,  and  they  perished  ;  but  they  were 
not  aerefore  to  be  aecounled  worse  than  other  Judsans. 

He  1 1  gave  his  discourse  a  turn  which  his  heare,,  htt  e  ev 
peeted     Ii:  led  them  from  thinking  of  othe..  to  thmk  of  them- 
selves.    Eepeutance  and  not  judgment  wa.  the      „.,»«    ... 
Droner  occupation  of   their  lives.     Unless  the      ' 
Se  peopli  of  the  Jews  repented,  the  nation  should  be  slan, 
I^d  crLid  out.    God's  hand  flings  down  Siloam-towe..  and  u  - 
sheathes  I'ilate-swords,  and  these  are  but  ^y^^^J^^^^^ 
do  to  the  whole  nation,  if  they  do  not  repent.     Tins  wa..  a  p.ea  c 
Uon  which  was  literally  fulfilled  at  the  destruction  of  Jer,^^^^^^ 
when  multitudes  of  the  inhabitants  were  crushed  1  eneatli  the 
n^'s  of  the  Temple  and  the  city,  and  multitudes,  wlnle  engaged 
in  offeriu-  their  sacrifices,  were  slain  by  the  Eoman  army. 
"Xhe  fm-bearance  .and  the  justice  of  ^^-xi  U>.^^^^ 
nation  are  then  set  forth  iu  a  warnmg  payable.       A  ceUam 
had  afi"-trec  planted  in  his  vineyard,  and  he  came  j,^^„„,n,pig.tt^ 
Beekino.°fn.itonit,anddidnotfindit.     Then  he 
saMtohisvine-drLser,' See,  three  years*!  conre  -kmg  frmt 
on  th^s  fig^ree^amUdono^^ 

gustine    understands     them    to   mean 


the  law  of  nature  and  the  written  law 
and  the  law  of  grace !  Theophylact  in- 
terprets them  to  signify  IMoses  and  the 
prophets  and  Christ ;  and  also,  when  ap- 
pUed  to  the  individual  under  moral  cul- 
ture, childhood  and  manhood  and  old 
age.  Olshausen,  the  three  years  of  the 
ministry  of  Jesus,  ^^^lereas  the  plain 
meaning  is  simply  the  space  required  for 


mon. 

f  The  whole  force  of  the  most  impor- 
tant word  in  the  sentence  is  lost  in  the 
common  version.  ' '  In  addition  to  occu- 
pying space,  it  exhausts  the  ground." 
AMiy°should  it  ?  That  is  the  real  mean- 
in'T  of  the  text,  which,  in  our  transla- 
tion above,  is  sought  to  be  brought  out 
suggestively  by  the  world  "also." 


3U 


SECOND    AND    TIIIKD    PASSOVKK    IN    THE    I-IFE    OF   JESUS. 


injure  tlic  ground  ? '  But  tlic  vinc-dressor  replied,  '  Master,  let  il 
alone  this  year  also,  until  I  sliall  dig  and  cast  manure  about  it ; 
and  then,  if  it  produce  fruit, — but  if  not,  then  thou  shalt  cut  it 
down."  * 

It  was  a  plain  and  pungent  lesson.  The  fig-tree  was  the  Jew- 
ish people,  who  had  received  all  kinds  of  protection  and  culture 
from  God,  who  had  been  expected  to  bear  fruit  for  the  good  of 
the  world,  who  had  had  time  granted  for  that  purpose,  but  who 
liad  not  only  been  barren,  but  had  kept  the  world  back  in  the 
growth  of  improvement.  It  was  like  a  tree  drawing  from  the 
ground  the  nourishment  which,  if  other  trees  had,  they  would 
l)roduce  fruit.  It  must  be  cut  down.  But  a  merciful  space  is 
left.  If  it  begin  to  be  productive,  it  shall  be  spared ;  if  not,  it 
shall  be  cut  out  from  among  all  the  trees  of  the  nations  which 
God  has  planted  in  the  field  of  the  world.  His  hearers  certainly 
must  have  understood  this  to  be  a  prediction  of  the  destruction 
of  their  hierarchy  and  nationality.  The  construction  of  the  par- 
able, and  the  connection  in  which  it  is  uttered,  showed  them  that 
this  was  the  meaning  of  Jesus.     And  he  meant  nothinjr  else. 


*  The  following  receipt  for  curing-  a 
fig-tree  of  ban'enness  is  quoted  from 
Rosenmuller  (AUe  vrul  Neuc  Morgcn- 
Ifuid,  V.  5,  p.  187) :  "  Thou  must  take 
a  hatchet  and  go  to  the  tree  with  a 
friend,  unto  whom  thou  sayest,  I  will 
cut  down  this  tree,  for  it  is  unfruitful. 
He  answers,  Do  not  so,  this  year  it  will 
certainly  bear  fruit.  But  the  other 
eays,  It  must  needs  be,  it  must  be  hewn 


down,  and  gives  the  stem  of  the  tree 
three  blows  with  the  back  of  the  hatchet. 
But  the  other  restrains  him,  crying,  Nay, 
do  it  not;  thou  wilt  certainly  have  fruit 
from  it  thLs  year ;  only  have  patience 
with  it,  and  be  not  over-hasty  in  cutting 
it  down ;  if  it  still  refuses  to  bear  fruit, 
then  cut  it  down.  Then  will  the  tree 
that  year  be  certainly  fiiiitful  and  bear 
abundantly." 


CnAPTEE  VII. 


A  CHAPTER   OF   TARABLES. 


In  tlio  course  of  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  Jesus  left  hig 
residence  in  Capernaum  and  went  to  the  shore  of  the  hike  of 
Gennesaret.  His  appearance  in  public  Avould  Lake  ocnnesarct, 
now  inunedlately  summon  a  conc-rerration.     To  "''•■^'•capprnaum.  Matt 

*'  r?      o  xiu. ;  Mark  iv.  ;  Luke 

the  multitudes  that  had  assembled  fi-om  all  the  vul 
neighboring  towns  and  cities,  he  presented  liis  doctrines  in  the 
form  of  parables,  delivered  while  he  sat  in  a  boat  near  the  shore. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  Jesus  was  more  libei-al  of  this  kind  of 
teaching  at  this  period  of  his  ministry  than  ever  befoi-e.  In  the 
next  chapter  we  shall  have  occasion  to  consider  the  motive.  We  are 
following  the  order  of  the  original  historians  as  far  as  practicable. 

The  iirst  in  order  and  in  importance  is  the  Parable  of  the 
Sower.  Jesus  considered  it  the  fundamental  parable.  "When  his 
disciiiles  questioned  him  privately  as  to  its  si<rnifi- 

,.,-,,  ,  .  1     o       TT  Parable  ot  the  Sower. 

cancc,  he  said,  "  Know  ye  not  this  parabie  ?  How 
then  will  ye  know  all  parables?"  (Mark  iv.  13.)  And  this  is 
that  parable  :  "Behold  the  soM-er  went  forth  to  sow  ;  and  in  his 
sowing  some  seeds  fell  by  the  wayside,  and  were  trodden  down, 
and  the  birds  came  and  devoured  them.  And  others  fell  upon 
stony  places,  where  they  had  not  much  earth,  and  immediately 
sprang  up,  because  they  had  no  depth  of  earth  ;  but  the  sun  having 
risen  *  they  were  scorched,  and  because  they  liad  no  root  they  with- 
ered away.  And  others  fell  among  the  thorns,  and  the  thorns 
grew  up  and  choked  them,  and  they  yielded  no  fruit.  And  others 
fell  on  good  ground,  and  gave  fruit,  some  an  hundred-fold,  some 
sixty-fold,  some  thirty -fold.     He  who  hath  ears  let  him  hear." 


*  "  There  is  a  peculiar  beauty  in  the 
Greek  here,  which  cannot  be  retained 
in  a  translation,  arising  from  the  use  of 
the  same  verb  (but  in  a  less  emphatic 
form)  to  signify  the  rising  of  the  plant 


and  of  the  sun,  as  both  are  said  in  Eng- 
lish to  be  up,  when  one  is  above  the 
surface  of  the  earth  and  the  other  abov« 
the  horizon.  "—Jb«.  Addison  Alexander. 


34G 


SECOND   AND   THIKD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 


Of  the  Tares. 


The  next  parable  is  that  of  the  Tares.  lie  said  to  them,  "  The 
kino;dom  of  the  heavens  was  likened  to  a  man  who  sowed  ffood 
seed  in  his  field,  but  while  men  slept*  his 
enemy  came  and  oversowed  tares  f  in  the  midst 
of  the  wheat,  and  went  away.  And  when  the  blade  spraiii^  up 
and  made  fruit,  then  appeared  also  the  tares.  And  the  slaves  of 
the  master  of  the  liouse  coming  said  to  him :  '  Sir,  didst  tliou  not 
sow  good  seed  in  thy  field  ?  AVhence  then  has  it  tai-es  ? '  He  said 
to  them,  '  An  enemy  man  has  done  this.'  And  the  slaves  said 
to  him,  '  Wilt  thou  then  that  we  go  and  gather  them  ? '  But  he 
said,  'No  :  lest  gathering  together  the  tares  ye  root  up  the  wheat 
with  them.  Permit  both  to  grow  together  until  the  hai-vest;  and 
in  time  of  harvest  I  will  say  to  the  reapers.  Gather  first  the  tares, 
and  bind  them  in  bundles  for  to  burn  them  :  but  the  wheat  gather 
into  my  barn.' " 

And  he  said,  "  So  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  like  as  if  a  man 
should  cast  the  seed  into  the  ground,  and  should  sleep,  and  rise 
night  and  day,  and  the  seed  should  spring  and 


Of  the  Patient  Farmer. 


grow  up,  he  knoweth  not  how. 


The  earth  bring- 
ing forth  fruit  of  herself ;  first  the  blade,  then  the  eai',  after  that 
the  full  corn  in  the  car  :  but  when  the  fruit  is  ripe,  immediately 
he  putteth  in  the  sickle,  because  the  harvest  has  come." 

Then  he  set  before  them  the  Parable  of  the  Mnstard-seed. 
"  The  kingdom  of  the  heavens  is  like  a  grain  of  mustard,:}:  which 
a  man  took  and  sowed  in  his  field,  which  indeed 
is  the  least  of  all  the  seeds,  but  when  grown  it  is 
the  greatest  of  the  herbs,  and  becomes  a  tree,  so  that  the  bii'ds  of 
heaven  come  and  roost  in  its  branches  and  under  the  shadow 
thereof." 

Tlien  another  parable.     "  The  kingdom  of  the  heavens  is  like 


Of  the  Mustard-sccd. 


*  Simply  signifying  "at  night," — the 
time  when  men  usually  sleep, — and  not 
at  all  intimating  any  blame  of  the  ser- 
vants, as  Chrysostoni  and  Augustine  have 
taught. 

f  The  botanical  question  is  a  matter 
of  no  importance  whatever  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  a  parable.  The  tares  here 
are  probably  the  LoUum  tonulcntiim, 
darnel,  which  resembles  wheat  when 
it  first  comes,  but  the  seed  is  black  and 
has  an  intoxicating  effect.     It  is  exceed- 


ingly difficult  to  extirpate  it  when  it  has 
once  begun  to  grow  in  a  field,  and  it  ia 
almost  impossible  to  discriminate  be- 
tween tares  and  wheat.  See  a  very  full 
description  (with  pictorial  illustration) 
in  Thom-pson^  s  Land  and  Book,  \oL  ii. 
pp.  111-114. 

X  Another  botanical  question,  not  very 
important  in  a  parable.  Of  all  the  seed 
corn  used  in  Jewish  husbandry  the  mus- 
tard-seed was  probably  the  very  small  • 
est.    ■ 


A   CHArTEK   OF   TAKABLES. 


347 


They  could  not  have  failed  to  notice     ^f  ^"'"^  ''^''<=  ^ 

•^  parables. 


yeast,*  which  a  "woman  having  taken  hid  in  three  measures f  of 
meal,  until  the  whole  was  leavened." 

When  he  left  the  lake  and  retired  to  his  house 
his  disciples  sought  him,  and  asked  the  reason  for  the  great  chau'^'-e 
%vhich  was  now  cominc;  over  his  maimer  of  dis- 
course 

that  thitherto  he  had  spoken  with  great  direct 
ness,  in  a  didactic  style,  when  he  wished  to  teach  doctrine  or  incul- 
cate duty,  and  that  when  his  enemies  sought  to  entrap  liiin  he 
had  dealt  with  them  in  questions  which  greatly  entangled  them. 
Now  he  was  filling  his  speech  Avith  parables.  There  nnist  be 
some  reason  for  this  great  change.  So  they  put  the  cpiestion  to 
him  directly:  ""NVliy  speakest  thou  unto  them  in  parables?" 
His  answer  was  this  :  "  Because  it  has  been  given  to  you  to  know 
the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens,  but  to  them  it  has 
not  been  given.  For  whosoever  has,  to  him  shall  be  given,  and 
he  shall  have  abundance  :  but  whosoever  has  not,  from  him  shall 
be  taken  even  what  he  hath.  On  this  account  I  speak  to  them  in 
parables  :  because  seeing  they  do  not  see,  and  hearing  they  do  not 
hear,  nor  understand.  And  to  them  is  fulfilled  the  prophecy  of 
Isaiah,  which  saith.  By  hearing  ye  shall  hear,  and  sliall  not  un- 
derstand :  and  seeing  ye  shall  see,  and  not  perceive :  f(.)r  the 
heart  of  this  people  is  become  gross,  and  they  heard  with  their 
ears  heavily,  and  their  eyes  they  closed ;  lest  they  should  see  with 
their  eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears,  and  understand  ^vitl^  their 


*  In  the  Greek  C"/"?i  leaven  or  yeast, 
the  somf  dough  used  in  all  countries  to 
produce  fermentation,  and  thus  make 
the  bread  light  and  puffy. 

f  This  measure,  called  Saror,  saton, 
in  the  Greek,  was,  according  to  Josephus, 
equal  to  one  and  a  half  Eoman  meas- 
ures, each  of  which  was  equal  to  about 
a  peck,  so  that  all  this  meal  was  perhaps 
(for  there  is  no  absolute  certainty  as  to 
these  ancient  measures)  about  an  Eng- 
lish bushel.  But  it  makes  little  differ- 
ence whether  the  Roman  modius  was 
nearer  our  peck  than  our  bushel,  no 
definite  quantity  being  intended.  So 
the  number  three  can  be  of  no  import- 
^ce  in  a  parable,  and  yet  the  student 


may  be  amused  to  hear  the  fanta-sies  it 
has  suggested  to  worthy  and  learned 
men.  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  in  the 
fifth  century,  referred  it  to  the  Jews, 
the  Samaritans,  and  the  Greeks.  Au- 
gustine in  the  fourth  centniy,  and  Stier 
of  the  present  da^-,  refer  it  to  Sliem, 
Ham,  and  Japheth !  Olsbauscn  favors 
a  reference  of  this  particular  number  to 
the  effect  of  the  gospel  on  the  three 
departments  of  human  nature —body, 
soul,  and  spirit.  This  special  number 
was  used  probably  because  it  was  com- 
mon to  mi.\  about  that  much  dt)ugh  foi 
a  baking.  See  Gen.  xviii.  C  ;  Jmlgos  vl. 
19 ;  1  Samuel  i.  24.  In  the  hust  two 
passages  the  Septuagint  has  -fia  ftToci, 


348         SECOND    AND   THIRD   TASSOVEK   IN   TDE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

heart,  and  might  turn,  and  I  should  lieal  thcin.  But  blessed  arc 
your  eyes,  for  they  see :  and  your  ears,  for  they  hear.  Verily  I 
say  to  you.  That  many  prophets  and  righteous  men  ha^'e  desired 
to  see  what  ye  see,  and  have  not  seen  ;  and  to  hear  what  ye  hear, 
and  have  not  heard." 

All  this  seems  simply  to  mean  that  whenever  any  man  uses  his 

faculties  aright  and  cultivates  his  moral  character,  he  shall  have 

constant  growth  and  spiritual  help,  and  that  who- 

Mcaning  of  hLs  reply.  "  i  i   •  ^  p 

soever  chooses  to  shut  himself  up  against  the 
truth  shall  constantly  shrink.  God  gives  to  those  who  desire  to 
have,  whatever'may  have  been  their  personal  faults,  and  withholds 
from  all  others.  These  humble  disciples  lay  wdth  their  souls 
to  the  sun,  and  consequently  had  its  warming  and  brightening  in- 
fluence. The  "  mysteries  of  the  kingdom,"  what  appeared  mys- 
terious to  others,  began  to  become  comprehensible  to  them.  The 
Jewish  people  could  not  understand  the  present  revelation,  because 
they  had  closed  their  ears  to  former  revelations.  Jesus  felt  the 
truth  that  was  in  him,  and  set  it  forth  in  such  a  style  tliat,  if  their 
souls  would,  they  could  receive  the  truth  ;  but  if  they  preferred 
darkness  the  parable  would  be  unintelligible.  The  parable  covers 
and  discovers,  conceals  and  reveals.  It  is  the  temper  and  previ- 
ous culture  of  the  hearer  which  determine  the  effect  of  the  speech, 
whether  he  listen  to  Jesus  or  any  other  teacher.  The  j^ower  of 
closing  the  cars  while  one  seems  to  hear  is  m'cII  known.  If  this 
be  practised  toward  the  truth,  a  man  may  come  into  such  a  state 
that  when  he  desires  to  know  and  understand  he  cannot.  In  that 
case  the  fault  is  not  in  the  truth  nor  in  the  teacher :  a  law  of 
human  nature  has  been  violated. 

There  arc  special  seasons  of  great  advantage  to  the  hearer,  as 
when  a  peculiarly  gifted  teacher  conies  into  the  world  or  into  a 
community.  It  is  a  blessed  thing  for  any  man  to  be  in  a  recep- 
tive condition  at  such  a  time.  Many  an  ancient  prophet,  saint, 
and  prince  had  longed  to  know  what  those  who  listened  to  Jesus 
could  learn.  Blessed  were  the  men  who  were  ready  to  hear  when 
Jesus  began  to  speak.  In  saying  so,  Jesus  assumed  to  be  able  to 
make  revelation  of  great  truths  ;  to  be,  indeed,  such  a  teacher  as 
these  prophets  and  kings  had  longed  to  hear,  surpassing,  in  a 
word,  all  former  teachers  of  mankind. 

lie  then  began  to  unfold  the  parables  in  a  style  which  should 
be  a  guide  to  all  succeeding  commentators,  presenting  the  essence 


A   CnAPTER   OF   TARABLES 


349 


of  doctrine  contained  in  tlie  parable,  and  intended  to  be  tangbt 
by  it,  without  those  conceits  where,  with  a  lively  fancy,  one  may 
embroider  a  solid  thonght.* 

In  the  Parable  of  the  Sower,  the  seed  represents  the  word  of 
God,  and  the  places  where  it  fell  the  condition  of  the  several  por- 
tions of  the  human  race,  and  the  several  kinds  of 

h-i  ,  ^  •    ^      i^  •  t   r   ^^       £  Explication    of    tha 

nman  character  npon  which  this  seed  lalls,  tor  i-aruwc  ot  the  sowcr. 

humanity  is  God's  wide  field  of  husbandry.  Tlic 
word  or  truth  of  God  is  like  seed  in  that  it  grows  when  planted, 
and  that  it  is  of  its  nature  to  grow  when  put  into  the  liuinan 
heart,  if  that  heart  be  kindly  turned  toward  the  truth.  Moreover, 
it  produces  the  bread  of  the  soul,  and  is  self-propagative.  It  has 
been  observed  in  this  parable  that  the  seed  represents  at  one  time 
the  word  of  God,  and  at  another  the  heart  of  man.  But  no  one 
has  exer  been  perplexed  by  this  free  motion  of  thought  and 
speech.  The  illustrations  arc  as  clear  as  if  every  rule  of  the  most 
artificial  rhetoric  had  been  observed,  while  Jesus  used  "  that  dis- 
cretionary license  which  distinguishes  original  and  independent 
thinkers  from  the  mere  grammarians  and  rhetoricians." 

And  perhaps  this  matchless  Teacher  had  a  meaning  in  the  very 
change  from  seed  to  soil.  The  loss  of  the  seed  is  the  loss  of  tho 
soil,  as  the  good  seed  on  good  soil  becomes  incorporated  therewith. 
A  man  who  loses  the  trutli  loses  himself ;  he  who  receives  tho 
truth  enriches  his  own  personality. 

The  difference  in  the  reception  by  different  classes  of  hearers 
is  thus  explained  : — 

(1.)  The  wayside  hearers  are  those  who  hear  the  word  of  tho 
kingdom  so  far  as  outward  reception  of  the  mere  word  is  con- 
cerned, the  mere  listening  to  the  statement  of  propositions,  with- 
out an  active  apprehension  and  personal  a]>plication.  The  word 
lies  on  their  souls  as  seed  does  on  a  paved  and  much-trodden 
road.  It  is  t/icre  :  but  it  has  not  entered.  It  has  not  been 
received.     The  hungi-y  mouth  of  the  ploughed  furrow  is  not 


*  Of  which  a  specunen  is  Lange's  in- 
terpretation of  the  parable  of  the  sower, 
when  he  says  that  the  stony  groiand  is 
exhibited  in  "corrupted  Judaism;  the 
ground  where  the  good  seed  is  choked 
by  thorns  of  worldly  lust  is  the  Blohani- 
medan  world  ;  the  good  ground  is  Chris- 
tendom!"    (Life  of  Jesus,  \ol.   ii.,  p. 


194. )  Really  the  common  justice  which 
allows  an  intelligent  man  to  know  what 
he  meant  to  say,  ought  to  be  accorded 
to  Jesus.  After  he  has  given  his  own 
inteipretation  of  one  of  his  own  para- 
bles, surely  it  is  most  unfair  to  repre- 
sent him  as  meaning  something  else 
thereby. 


350         SECOND   AND   TnntD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF  JESUS. 

tlierc  to  take  it  in,  nor  is  the  harrow  readj  to  pnt  it  under.  It  is 
obvious  to  the  c^'es  of  the  birds,  who  see  it  and  take  it  off.  The 
Evil  One  does  that  for  the  M-ay-side  hearers  of  the  truths  of  "the 
kingdcni"  which  Jesus  was  pi-cacliing.  The  grammatical  con- 
struction of  the  sentence  shows  tliat  this  loss  of  the  word  occurs 
"almost  dvu'ing  the  act  of  hearing." 

(2.)  "  But  what  was  sown  among  the  stones,  this  is  he  who  heareth 
the  word,  and  immediately  with  joy  receiveth  it ;  yet  hath  he  no 
root  in  himself,  but  is  for  a  time,  temporary  ;  and  when  tribula- 
lation  or  pursuit  ariseth  because  of  the  M'ord,  immediately  he  is 
caused  to  stumble."  Here  is  a  different  class  of  hearers.  They 
not  only  listen  to  the  word,  and  receive  it  into  their  ears,  but  they 
have  joyful  emotions.  They  receive  it  enthusiastically.  But  so 
soon  as  a  severe  trial  of  their  faith  comes,  they  fall  away  from 
the  gospel.  They  have  not  root.  They  have  not  taken  it  into 
their  souls  and  made  it  part  of  their  lives.  They  love  the  truth 
only  so  long  as  the  truth  is  to  them  an  occasion  of  pleasurable 
emotions.  In  other  words,  they  love  pleasure  more  than  they 
love  truth,  and  when  pressure  or  pursuit,  tribulation  or  pei'secu- 
tion,  presents  to  them  for  immediate  decision  the  choice  between 
pleasure  and  truth,  their  decision  shows  how  little  root  the  truth 
had  been  able  to  strike  in  their  souls. 

(3.)  "  And  what  was  sown  among  the  thorns,  this  is  he  who 
heareth  the  word,  and  the  anxious  care  of  the  world  and  the  de- 
ceitfulness  of  wealth  choke  the  word,  and  it  becometh  unfruit- 
ful." Here  is  another  mixture  of  the  sign  and  the  thing  signified, 
making  "  the  word  "  mean  in  the  same  breath  both  seed  and  soil ; 
but  the  sense  is  very  open.  While  in  the  second  case  the  rootless- 
ness  of  the  man,  or  the  rootlessness  of  the  word  in  the  man,  is 
demonstrated  by  what  comes  to  him,  here  the  same  thing  is  de- 
monstrated by  what  the  man  himself  pursues.  In  the"  former 
ease,  if  no  tribulation  or  pei-secution  had  come,  the  man  would 
have  gone  on  quite  happy,  but  here  his  course  of  daily  life  shows 
how  little  the  truth  has  dominion  over  his  soul.  Anxious  care, 
an  elevation  of  the  present  over  the  future,  a  preference  for  tem- 
porary visible  things  rather  than  for  permanent,  eternal,  invisible 
things,  and  then  the  deceitfulness  of  wealth,  luring  men  to  ita 
pursuit  by  promises  of  enjoyments  it  never  affords — these  spring 
up  about  the  word,  and  the  truth  fails  to  have  the  happy  effect 
upon  the  character  of  the  hearer  which  it  would  other^vise  have. 


A    CIIArXER   OF   PARABLES. 


351 


(4.)  "  Bat  what  was  sown  on  the  good  irronnd,  this  is  he  who 
hearerh  and  iniderstandeth  the  word,  wlio  indeed  beareth  fruit, 
some  a   hundred,  some  sixty,  some  thirty."     That  which  "  was 
sown  on  good  grt)und,"  so  says  the  original     The  way-side,  the 
stony  places,  the  thorny  places,  are  all  bad  for  the  seed.   "  Ground," 
wlt/t  nothing  else,  is  "  good."     A  soul  without  prepossessions  and 
anxious  cares,  lying  ready  for  the  truth,  is  the  soil  in  which  this 
seed  will  grow.     That  is  the  reason  why  childlikeness  and  sim- 
plicity of  spirit,  with  desire  for  the  truth,  are  so  nmcli  connnended 
by  Jesus,  and  have  in  all  ages  been  favorable  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  character  and  the  acquisition  of  true  Avisdom.     In  such  a 
man  plant  the  truth,  and  it  will  certainly  be  fruitful.     But  as  in 
evil  hearei-s  there  are  three  classes,  so  the  Teacher  instructs  ns 
that  there  will  be  varieties  of  good  bearers,  but  that  this  variety 
will  1)0  rather  in  degree  than  in  kind.     Some  will  be  more  fruit- 
ful than  others,  but  all  will  bear  frnit,  not  perhaps  in  exact  arith- 
metically expressed  ratios,  but  certainly  in  a  proportional  diversity. 
Then  followed  his  own  exposition  of  the  Parable  of  the  Tares. 
"  He  Avho  soweth  the  good  seed  is  the  Son  of  Man.     The  field  is 
the  world.     The  good  seed,  these  are  the  sons  of" 
the  kingdom.     The  tares  are  the  sons  of  the  Evil 
One.     TJ^e  enemy  that  sowed  them  is  the  Devil. 
The  harvest  is  the  end  of  the  age.     The  reapers  are  the  angels. 
As  therefore  the  tares  are  assorted  and  burned  in  the  fire,  so  shall 
it  be  at  the  end  of  this  age ;  the  Son  of  Man  shall  send  angels, 
and  they  shall  gather  ont  of  his  kingdom  all  who  arc  snares,* 
and  those  who  make  lawlessness,  and  shall  cast  them  into  a  fur- 
nace of  fire  :  there  shall  be  wailing  and  grinding  of  teeth.     Then 
the  righteous  shall  shine  out  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their 
Father.     He  that  has  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear  ! " 

It  would  seem  impossible  to  make  anything  clearer  than  this, 
and  yet  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  in  the  histoiy  of  human  thought 
that  there  is  only  one  other  speech  of  Jesus  which  has  caused  so 
much  perplexity  to  the  church  as  this.f     A  volume  as  large  as 


Explication    of    the 
Tares. 


*  The  word  translated  "  all  things 
that  offend,"  means  that  portion  of  a 
trap  where  the  bait  is  suspended,  which, 
being  touched,  causes  the  snare  to  spring 
and  tighten  on  the  unfortunate  animal. 
As  the  word  in  the  original,  although 


neuter,  manifestly  refers  to  persons,  the 
translation  I  have  given  above  seems  to 
be  not  only  literal,  but  exactly  expres- 
sive of  the  idea  intended. 

f  I  refer  to  his  words  at  the  Supper : 
"  This  is  ray  body  ;  "  '  •  this  is  my  blood." 


352 


SECOND   AND   TIIIED   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LITE   OF   JESUS. 


this  might  be  filled  with  a  history  of  controversies  fought  aronad 
this  parable  and  its  explanation  by  Jesns.  The  most  perverse  and 
foolish  and  rninous  interpi'etations  have  been  given,  mainly  grow> 
ing  ont  of  the  interpretation  of  the  phrase  "  the  world,"  which 
men  insist  to  this  day  in  making  to  mean  "  the  clmrcli."  They 
will  not  let  Jesns  know  what  he  meant  when  he  spake.  Will  the 
reader  be  good  enough  to  refer  to  the  parable,  and  immediately 
after  reading  it  read  the  exposition  of  Jesus,  and  then  follow  with 
the  next  paragraph  ?  In  that  we  shall  present  what  seems  to  us 
would  be  the  understanding  of  an  intelligent  man  who  had  com- 
pared the  sayings  of  Jesus  with  one  another,  without  any  prepos- 
session of  interjiretation. 

Jesus  says  :  "  The  seed  is  the  word  of  God."  (Luke  viii.  11.) 
lie  represents  himself  as  being  the  Sower,  by  which  he  would 
seem  to  mean  that  in  some  way,  excelling  all  others,  he  should 
apply  the  word  of  God  to  the  minds  and  hearts  of  mankind.  He 
describes  himself  by  his  favorite  name,  "  Son  of  Man."  "The 
field  is  the  worlcl^''  not  the  church.  The  field  is  the  whole  commu- 
nity of  human  beings  occupying  this  planet,  in  successive  genera- 
tions, with  their  various  pursuits  and  developments.  "  The  king- 
dom of  the  heavens  is  like  unto  a  man  who  sowed  good  seed  in 
his  field."  "  The  field  is  the  worlds  "  The  good  sped  are  the 
sons  of  the  kingdom  "  of  the  heavens.  "  The  tares  are  the  chil- 
dren of  the  Devil,"  whose  personality  and  activity  Jesus  taught 
not  in  parable,  but  in  most  strictly  didactic  and  expository  dis- 
courses to  his  disciples  in  private,  and  in  explication  of  a  parable. 
The  "  Devil,"  the  accuser,  the  slanderer,  is  the  enemy  of  the  Son 
of  Man.  He  has  sown  evil  in  the  world,  not  specially  in  the 
church.  Because  the  church  must  be  part  of  the  world,  it  will 
have  the  characteristics  of  the  world  in  the  particular  of  a  mixed 
population.     "  The  harvest  is  the  end  of  the  age." 

In  our  common  vei-sion  of  Matthew  xili.  Ave  have  in  the  thirty- 
eighth  verse, "  The  field  is  theworld^''  and  in  the  thirty-ninth  verse, 
"  The  harvest  is  the  end  of  theworld.^^  The  words  in  the  original 
are  totally  different.  In  the  former  passage  it  means  this  orderly 
universe  of  God,  and  the  human  race  occupying  this  planet.  In 
the  latter  it  means  cao'i^  age,  fera.    The  whole  phrase*  means  the 


*  The  phrase  here  is  avrjTe\iia  rov 
aituvos.  In  Hebrews  ix.  20,  Paul  uses 
the    phi'aso,  avynXeia    tuv    atdiyuy,    the 


]*uncture  of  the  agea,  the  moment  of 
passage  from  one  tera  to  another. 
Trench  thinks  "the  phrase  equivalent 


A    CIIAPTEE    OF    I'ARABLES.  353 

coming  together  of  asras,  tlie  joining  of  tlicir  ends,  the  conclud- 
ing end  of  one  and  the  opening  end  of  the  other. 

In  this  phrase  there  is  nothing  wliatever  which  iniphes  or  in- 
sinuates the  destruction  or  end  of  either  this  phinet  or  its  inhah- 
itants.  There  is  very  phainlj  indicated  a  great  transition  epoch, 
when  one  cycle  ends  and  another  begins,  and  this  juncture  of 
tlie  aeras  is  marked  by  an  epoch  of  vast  changes  in  tlie  constitu- 
tion of  things.  It  will  be  the  harvest-home  of  the  kingdom  of 
tlie  heavens.  Until  that  time  no  man,  and  no  set  of  men,  must 
undertake  the  weeding  process  to  cast  the  evil  out.  It  cannot  be 
done.  "  Lest  gathering  together  the  tares  ye  root  out  the  wheat 
with  them."  Obviously  Jesus  believed  that  the  world  was  not 
so  much  hurt  by  the  existence  of  evil  men  as  it  was  benefited  by 
the  existence  of  the  good.  It  is  better  to  permit  an  evil  man  to 
reside  in  a  comnmnity,  a  church,  a  society-,  a  town,  than  by  mis- 
take to  destroy  a  good  man.  The  faith  of  Jesus  in  the  goodness 
of  goodness  is  both  beautiful  and  sublime.  It  rested  upon  an- 
other thought.  The  evil  is  to  be  destroyed  at  the  end  of  this 
seon  and  the  beginning  of  the  next,  whenever  that  shall  be.  The 
destiny  of  the  evil  is  to  be  destroyed.  The  destiny  of  the  good 
is  to  be  preserved. 

At  the  conjunction  of  the  ages  the  Son  of  Man  will  send  his 
reapers  forth  officially,  and  he  will  direct  them  Avhat  to  do.  Here 
Jesus  assumes  to  himself  the  final  supervision,  and  accomplish- 
ment by  the  agency  of  angels,  of  the  destiny  of  the  evil  and  the 
good.     He  will  direct  what  shall  be  done  with  them. 

The  evil  are  to  be  dealt  with  first.  TMierever  in  any  part  of 
his  kingdom,—"  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens,"— there  are  any 
who  are  baits  to  othei-s,  enticing  them  to  evil,  or  any  Avho  make 
lawlessness,  teach  or  practise  disregard  of  the  laws  of  tlie  king- 
dom of  the  heavens,  they  are  to  be  separated  from  all  the  good. 
That  is  the  first  process.  Then  these  evils  and  these  evil  people 
will  be  assorted.  All  shall  not  be  destroyed  alike.  Every  man 
is  to  be  judged  and  punished  "  according  to  his  works."  There 
are  "few  stripes"  and  "many  stripes."  There  is  discrimina- 
tion and  assortment.  "  Bind  them  in  hundles  for  their  burning." 
Augustine  sees  this,  and  teaches  that  sinners  shall  be  punished 
together.     "  Hoc  est,  rapaces  cum  rapacibus,  adulteros  cum  adul- 

to  the  T€\rj  Twf  aidivwv  of  1  Cor.  x.  11,  the  I  the  one  and  the  commencement  of  the 
extremities  of  the  two  aeras.  the  end  of  I  other." 
23 


354 


SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 


teris,  homicidses  cum  liomocidis,  fares  cum  furibus,  derisorea 
cum  derisoribus,  similes  cam  similibus ;  "  that  is,  robbers  with 
robbers,  adulterers  with  adulterers,  murderers  with  murderers, 
thieves  with  thieves,  scorners  Avith  scorners,  like  with  like.*  Then 
these  bundles  are  to  be  thrown  into  a  furnace  of  fire.  The  weak 
Bliall  burst  into  wailing,  and  the  fierce  wicked  ones  shall  gnash 
their  teeth  in  rage  ;  but  they  shall  be  destroyed.  This  intimates 
the  most  fearful  anguish  in  the  process  of  destruction.  Then, 
when  whatsoever  and  whosoever  offends,  or  causes  to  offend,  shall 
have  been  destroyed, — shall  have  been  rolled  away  like  a  dark 
cloud, — the  righteous  shall  blaze  forth  gloriously  in  the  kingdom 
of  their  Father.  Until  which  time  let  no  man  undertake  the 
work  of  excision  and  destruction.  It  is  the  prerogative  of  the 
Son  of  Man,  and  shall  be  accomplished  at  the  juncture  of  the 
seras,  when  "  this  age  "  shall  end  and  "  the  age  to  come  "  begin. 
And  yet,  with  such  plain  teaching  set  before  the  world  by  Jesus, 
and  in  face  of  the  corroboration,  by  the  history  of  the  whole 
world,  of  the  utter  impracticability  of  infallible  judgment  as  to 
the  character  of  men,  some  called  Christians  have  insisted  upon 
persecution  for  opinion's  sake,  making  a  man  an  offender  for  a 
word,  until  at  some  period  of  the  church's  history  ecclesiastics 
have  become  morl)id  hei-esy-hunters.  For  instance,  Aquinas,  who 
in  the  thirteenth  century  won  the  name  of  the  Angelic  Doctor , 
taaglit  that  the  prohibition  is  binding  only  when  there  is  danger 
of  plucking  up  the  wheat  while  extirpating  the  tares,  as  if  Jesus 
had  not  expressly  taught  that  that  danger  is  always  and  will  be, 
M'hile  this  a^ra  lasts.  John  Maldonatus,  a  Spanish  Jesuit  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  taught  that  the  householder  was  to  determine 
whether  such  danger  existed,  and  he  added,  that  as  the  Pope  is 
the  representative  of  that  householder,  he  must  be  asked  whether 
or  not  the  tares  shall  be  removed.  Upon  which  he  addresses  to 
all  Catholic  princes  an  exhortation  to  imitate  these  slaves  of  the 
householder,  so  that  instead  of  having  to  be  urged  to  the  work  of 
rooting  out  heresies  and  heretics,  they  will  rather  need  to  ha\'e 


*  Dante,  "the  dark  Italian  hiero- 
phant,"  represents  that  among  other 
Bpectacles  in  hell  he  saw  one  moving 
flame,  divided  at  the  top,  and  was  told 
that  it  contained  Diomed  and  Ulysses, 
• "  who  speed  together  now  to  their  own 


misery,  as  formerly  they  used  to  do  to 
that  of  others."  The  Old  Testament 
Scriptures  give  this  intimation  repeat- 
edly. "  That  man  perished  not  alona  in 
his  iniquity."  ' '  The  deceiver  and  the 
deceived  are  His."    Job  xii  16. 


A   CKAPTER   OF   PAKABLES.  355 

tlieir  :.eal  restrained !    So  totally  has  what  is  called  "  The  Church" 
misrepresented  the  teaching  of  Jesus. 

Having  now  the  invaluable  help  of  the  Great  Teacher's  method 
of  explaining  his  own  parables,  let  ns  apply  it  to  all  that  follows. 

The  next  is  the  Parable  of  the  Seed  growing  in  secret.  In  that 
the  commentators  have  found  great  difficulties.  They  say  that  if 
the  man  who  sows  the  seed  is  Jesus,  then  the  par-  Kxpu«ation  of  the 
able  seems  to  disparage  him, — "  something  is  at-  Patient  Husbandman. 
tributed  to  him  which  seems  unworthy  of  him,  less  than  to  him 
rightly  appertains, — while  if,  on  the  other  hand,  we  take  him  to 
mean  those  that  in  subordination  to  himself  are  bearers  of  his 
word,  then  something  more,  a  higher  prerogative,  as  it  would 
seem,  is  attributed  than  can  be  admitted  to  belong  rightly  to  any 
save  only  to  him."  *  Another f  says  that  this  parable  "is  another 
and  imperfect  version  of  that  of  the  tares,  only  with  the  circum- 
stance of  the  tares  left  out !  "  As  to  the  fii-st,  the  question  is  set- 
tled. Jesus  says  that  he  is  the  Sower.  If  that  distinct  declara- 
tion of  his  cannot  be  made  to  consort  with  his  pictorial  represen- 
tations of  truth,  it  cannot  be  helped  by  even  an  archbishop.  He 
was  not  careful  to  preserve  the  unities,  and  a  German  doctor 
must  bear  it.  He  spoke  with  the  fi-eedom  of  a  soul  too  lai-ge  for 
mere  rhetorical  rules.  Why  should  commentators  be  so  careful 
for  the  reputation  of  Jesus  ?  As  to  the  second,  the  slightest  ex- 
amination would  have  shown  the  learned  author  that  this  is  an- 
other version  of  the  parable  of  the  tares,  as  Othello  is  another 
version  of  Hamlet,  when,  of  coursp,  "  the  circumstance  "  of  Ham- 
let is  "  left  out."  That  of  the  tares  teaches  one  thing,  this  an- 
other. 

This  parable  sets  forth  that  the  seed  of  the  kingdom,  the  word 
of  God,  the  germ  of  truth,  is  under  the  great  system  of  law  per- 
vading the  universe.  The  truth  grows  of  itself.  All  a  man  can 
do  is  to  plant  it.  He  need  have  no  worry,  no  excessive  anxiety. 
It  will  grow.  The  Son  of  Man,  Jesus,  has  cast  seed  into  the 
ground,  and  whatever  he  may  know  of  all  the  secret  processes  of 
nature  beyond  Mhat  men  know,  the  seed  he  plants  can  grow  no 
otherwise  than,  and  will  certainly  grow  just  as,  the  seed  of  the 
most  unlearned  farmer  grows.  That  is  to  say,  it  is  part  of  the 
universal  plan,  and  obeys  the  universal  law.     Jesus  does  not  pro- 

*  Trench,  in  his  treatise  on  the  Para-  I  f  Strauss,  Leben  Josv,  voL  i. ,  p. 
blea  I  6G4. 


356         SECOND   Am)   third   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

fess  to  give  his  vrords  an  unnatural  element.  He  will  wait.  The 
seed  of  God  will  surely  grow  day  and  night.  Every  part  of  its 
development  is  beautiful  in  its  season,  the  blade,  the  ear,  and  the 
full  corn  at  last.    It  is  an  impressive  lesson  of  faith  and  patience. 

Then  we  have  the  Parable  of  the  Mustard-seed.  We  need  no 
fanciful  interpretation  of  this  parable.  It  plainly  means  the  ex- 
Expiication  of  the  tcusivc  growth  of  tlio  principles  of  the  kingdom 
Mustard-seed.  ^j^  ^^iQ  licavens  from  the  small  beginnings  of  the 

obscure  life  of  Jesus.  He  professed  to  plant  that  little  seed  in 
the  field  of  the  world.  The  planting  took  place  in  one  of  the 
most  obscure  corners  of  the  field.  It  consisted  of  some  spoken, 
not  written,  words,  uttered  to  a  few  ordinary  people,  and  coming 
out  of  a  life  of  moderate  length,  only  one-eleventh  of  which  was 
spent  in  ])ublic.  lie  had  such  faith  in  the  power  of  his  own 
words  that  he  predicted  the  time  when  they  should  be  eo  exten- 
sive in  their  influence  that  the  utterances  of  no  other  man  should 
be  as  potential.  And  that  prediction  is  this  day  fulfilled.  The 
parable  and  its  fnlfihnent  shows  what  prodigious  results  God  ac- 
complishes with  what  apparently  slender  resources. 

From  setting  forth  the  extensive  growth  of  the  kingdom  of  the 
heavens  by  the  propagation  of  truth,  Jesus  proceeds  to  conclude 
this  series  of  parables  by  teaching  the  intensive 
Lea^vS!'^""''  °'  ''''  growth  of  truth.  This  kingdom  is  like  hidden 
leaven.  It  is  a  small  body  when  compared  with 
the  three  measures  of  meal,  but  it  is  more  than  a  match  for  the 
mass  of  inert  substance  in  which  it  is  hidden.  Tlie  meal  has  no 
effect  on  the  leaven.  The  leaven  instantly  attacks  tlie  meal.  It  is 
a  vivid,  restless,  transforming  agency.  It  seizes  the  particles  of 
meal  next  to  it  and  changes  them  to  leaven.  It  converts  the  use- 
less into  an  ally.  There  is  now  more  leaven  and  less  unleavened 
meal.  This  process  goes  forward  until  the  whole  mass  is  leavened. 
It'is  a  noiseless  process.  No  one  sees  it,  no  one  hears  it ;  but  just 
as  certainly  as  if  the  work  were  performed  in  the  sight  of  all  men, 
and  ^vith  blare  of  trumpets,  the  great  change  goes  steadily  forward. 
Placed  in  contact  with  humanity,  the  truths  of  the  kingdom  will 
go  forward  changijig  that  humanity  by  a  potency  peculiar  to  itself. 
It  will  cover  humanity  and  take  the  whole  world,  not  by  over- 
powering, or  conquering,  or  subjugation,  but  by  transforming  the 
world,  and  converting  the  mass  of  inert  hmnanity  into  a  vigorous 
agency. 


A   CHAPTER   OF   PAKABLES.  357 

Thus  did  Jesus  set  forth  his  ideas  of  the  nature  of  the  kino-dom 
of  the  heavens  when  addressing  multitudes,  and  thus  did  he  ex 
plain  his  teaching  to  his  disciples  in  private  when 
thej  sought  an  explication  of  his  dark  sayings.  ™    u  <». 

And  teaching  his  immediate  followers  he  adds  these  other  para- 
bles, or  "  similitudes,"  as  Origen  says  they  should  be  called.  (1) 
"  The  kingdom  of  the  heavens  is  like  to  a  treasure  hidden  in  the 
field,  which  a  man  having  found  he  hid,  and  from  the  joy  of  it 
goeth  and  selleth  all  that  he  hath  and  buyeth  that  field."  (2) 
"  Again  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens  is  like  to  a  merchant  scekino- 
good  pearls,  and  having  found  one  pearl  of  great  value,  he  went 
and  S(  )ld  all  that  he  had  and  bought  it."  (3)  "  Again  the  kino-- 
dom  of  the  heavens  is  like  to  a  drag-net,  cast  into  the  sea,  and 
gathering  of  every  kind,  which  when  it  was  full  they  drew  upon 
the  shore,  and  having  sat  down,  they  gathered  the  good  into  ves- 
sels, but  cast  the  bad  away.  So  shall  it  be  in  the  end  of  the  age : 
the  angels  shall  come  forth  and  separate  the  bad  from  the  midst 
of  the  righteous,  and  shall  cast  tliem  into  the  furnance  of  fire. 
There  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth." 

After  the  method  of  Jesus  in  explaining  his  parables,  it  would 
Beem  that  these  similitudes  should  contain  no  difficulties.  And 
they  do  not,  to  simple  minds.  There  is  not  a  particle  of  difficulty 
except  to  such  as  have  the  old  barren  idea  of  churchism,  to  whicli 
all  things  must  bend.  Jesus  is  talking  about  something  much 
higher  and  deeper  than  church ;  he  is  talking  about  the  kingdom 
of  all  ages  and  all  heavens.     He  presents  it  again  in  tlu-ee  wa^'s. 

1.  In  the  Parable  of  the  Treasure,  it  is  as  if  a  man  walking 
over  the  field,  which  may  seem  to  him  barren  and  worthless,  ail 
at  once  comes  miexpectedly  upon  a  treasure,  which 
so  enhances  the  value  of  the  field  that  everything 
else  in  compai-ison  witli  it  seems  worthless.  "The 
field  is  the  world."  The  kingdom  of  the  heavens  is  the  treasure. 
It  is  this  which  makes  the  world  so  valuable.  It  is  in  the  world. 
Men  do  not  see  it.  They  are  like  unlettered  rustics  who  walk 
over  a  field  and  perceive  nothing.  The  chemist,  the  botanist,  the 
geologist,  the  mining  engineer,  come  into  the  same  field,  and  they 
see  a  thousand  beautiful  and  valuable  thino-s ;  and  the  jxeoloo-ist 
and  engineer  perceive  traces  of  coal  or  copper,  or  silver  or  gold, 
exliibitions  or  jiromises  of  riches  sucli  as  Australia  and  California 
never  presented.     How  rapidly  the  field  appreciates !     Just  so  ia 


The  Treasure  in  ths 
Field. 


So 8         SECOND   AND   THIKD   PASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS- 

it  often  witli  men  who,  not  expecting  it,  have  sucli  a  sudden  rev- 
elation  of  the  glory  of  the  reign  of  God  in  the  world.  Then  the 
world  becomes  vastly  precious  to  them. 

The  basis  of  this  parable  was  a  fact  common  to  society  in  the 
East,  not  only  in  the  days  of  Jesus,  but  in  this  da}^  Curious  ex- 
plorers of  oriental  ruins  have  obstructions  in  their  work  created 
by  the  belief  of  the  natives  that  they  come  to  cari-y  away  vast 
treasures  from  the  country,  the  existence  of  which  had  somehow 
become  known  to  these  travellers.  In  ancient  times,  when  there 
were  rapid  changes  of  dynasties,  men  adopted  methods  of  invest- 
ment unknown  to  modern  times.  It  is  said  that  they  divided 
their  estates  into  three  parts,  one  of  which  was  put  into  commerce 
for  current  use ;  another  converted  into  costly  aiiicles,  which  were 
easily  portable  and  salable  in  all  countries,  so  that,  if  obliged  to 
fly,  these  would  be  their  means  of  support ;  and  the  third  they 
buried,  so  that  if  they  returned  to  their  own  land  they  might  find 
their  riches  again.  As  in  the  changes  of  this  mortal  life  many  a 
man  did  not  return,  there  were  frequent  occasions  when  treasure 
would  be  found.  Idling  peasants  often  sighed  for  the  discovery 
of  great  riches,  and  so  many  romantic  incidents  would  necessarily 
be  connected  with  the  burying  and  the  finding  of  these  treasures, 
that  they  occupy  no  inconsiderable  space  in  oriental  literatui-e. 

Jesus  meant  to  teach,  (1)  That  the  reign  of  changeless  principles 
occupying  God's  universe  and  pervading  God's  eternity  is  incom- 
parably valuable.  (2)  That  its  existence  is  what  gives  value  to 
the  woild,  which  would  otherwise  be  woithless.  (3)  That  men 
sometimes  have  these  great  truths  revealed  to  them  as  by  an 
inspiration,  and  all  true  men  are  excited  with  gladness  thereat. 

2.  But  there  are  men  who  are  seeking  the  ^■aluable,  the  most 

precious,  and  they  find  it  in  this  kingdom.    This  truth  is  set  fortli 

in  the  Parable  of  the  Pearl-buyer.    It  is  necessary 

The  Pearl-buyer.  •  i   .    i      i  • 

to  recollect  the  great  esteem  ni  which  the  ancients 
held  the  pearl,  and  the  great  sums  often  given  for  a  single  perfect 
pearl.  The  two  pearls  which  Cleopatra  proposed  to  dissohe  in 
acid,  in  honor  of  Mark  Anthony,  were  valued  at  10,000,000  ses- 
terces, or  about  $390,000  in  gold.  But  tlie  value  depended  upon 
several  things,  such  as  size,  form,  color,  and  purity  of  lustre.  It 
was  rare  to  find  a  pearl  that  united  all  the  good  qualities,  and 
when  found  if  was  of  great  price,  of  so  great  price  as  to  stimulate 
elaborate  counterfeitino-.     It  was  worth  while  sometimes  to  invest 


A   CHAPTEK   OF   PAKABLES.  359 

all  one  possessed  in  a  single  pearl.  There  was  less  fluctuation  in 
its  value  than  in  that  of  other  commodities  in  the  world's  markets. 
So  Jesus  likens  the  earnest  truth-seeker  to  the  pearl-merchant. 
lie  finds  the  most  costly  truth  in  the  kingdom  which  Jesus  was 
preaching.  As  men  come  to  see  and  know  the  vahie  of  these 
truths,  all  other  things  will  become  comparati\"ely  valueless.  They 
will  seek  this.  They  will  give  up  evei-ything  else  for  this.  The 
possession  of  this  truth  is  the  gaining  of  an  everlasting  fortune. 

3.  Again,  this  kingdom  is  likened  unto  a  drag-net.  Such  a  net 
is  loaded  with  lead  at  the  bottom,  to  sink  it  into  the  sea,  and  fur- 
nished with  cork  at  the  to]),  which  floats  it,  and 
then  carried  far  out,  as  on  the  English  coast  some- 
times lialf  a  mile,  and  brought  round  with  a  sweep  that  takes  all 
in  and  pulls  all  to  the  shore.  Such  a  drag-net  is  the  kingdom 
of  the  heavens,  not  the  church.  It  sweeps  the  sea  of  life.  It 
gathers  in  all  the  good  fish  and  all  the  bad.  It  inight  be  likened 
to  the  sea  itself,  but  that  Jesus  desired  to  convey  again  a  very 
deep,  important  lesson  of  this  kingdom,  namely,  that  at  the  end  of 
the  current  age,  at  the  period  when  this  cycle  shall  come  to  its 
conclusion,  at  the  moment  when  another  cycle  shall  be  at  its  be- 
ginning, then  there  is  a  discrimination,  judgment,  separation  crisis, 
and  that  this  separation  shall  be  followed  by  the  destruction  of 
the  wicked.  Fishermen  sit  on  the  shore  and  throw  away  upon  the 
sand  all  fish  that  cannot  be  sold  in  the  mai-ket.  And  the  fish  die, 
rot,  disappear.  Now  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  Jesus  teaches  the 
doctrine  of  the  final  destruction  of  the  wicked  at  the  end  of  this 
aeon,  but  connects  with  it  the  idea  of  suffering,  teaching  us  that  the 
wicked  shall  not  rot  away  out  of  the  universe  painlessly,  but  shall 
be  as  if  a  man  were  cast  into  a  furnace,  when  there  should  be  pain 
in  the  process  of  destruction,  pain  which  should  vent  its  expres- 
sion, according  to  the  character  of  the  sufferer,  in  weak  wailing  or 
in  terrific  grinding  of  teeth. 

When  Jesus  had  said  these  things  he  asked  his  disciifles  if  they 
understood  them,  and  when  they  said  "  yes,"  he  added,  "  On  this 
account  every  scribe  disciplined  for  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens, 
is  like  to  a  man,  a  housemaster,  who  throM-s  forth  from  his  treasury 
new  things  and  old."  That  is  to  say,  that  all  who  are  to  be  ex- 
pounders of  the  truth  must  be  themselves  trained  to  it,  and  tlien 
must  be,  like  householders,  bringing  forth  whatever  those  who  are 
the  taught  need,  old  things  and  new  things.     The  truths  of  the 


360         SECOND   AND   THIED   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

kingdom  will  perpetually  expand  to  the  soul's  vision  as  they  are 
studied.  The  truth  is  no  worse  for  being  old ;  but  if  a  man  sup- 
poses that  there  will  never  be  new  revelations  of  truth  he  is 
sadly  mistaken.  It  has  always  been  a  part  of  the  injury  which 
the  race  has  suffered  from  churchism,  that  it  has  been  taught  that 
the  limit  of  the  knowledge  of  truth  can  be  definitely  fixed  by  one 
set  of  men  for  all  men,  and  by  one  generation  for  all  succeeding 
generations,  so  that  a  church  may  say  in  a  council  that  such  and 
such  a  thing  is  semper  et  ubique,  always  and  everywhere  the  truth, 
and  whosoever  does  not  see  it  and  acknowledge  it  to  be  trutli, 
"  let  him  be  accursed." 

Every  man  disciplined  for  the  kingdom  pours  out,  to  those 
whom  he  is  in  turn  disciplining,  all  things  7iew  and  old ,  old  truths 
in  new  developments  of  science  and  human  experience ;  and  thus 
the  truth,  to  the  teacher's  mind,  is  as  old  as  the  hills  and  as  fresh 
as  the  flowers  that  grow  thereon.  And  thus  the  word  "ortho- 
doxy "  comes  to  be  the  contempt  of  the  wise  and  the  horror  of  the 
good,  for  it  no  longer  means  "  right  thought,"  but  the  edict  of  an 
overbearing  and  dogmatic  and  narrow  self-conceit.  The  ortho- 
doxy of  to-day  may  be  the  heterodoxy  of  to-morrow.  Thinking 
which  is  right  on  the  plane  of  the  discoveries  of  to-day  may  be 
most  wrong  on  the  plane  of  the  discoveries  of  to-morrow.  A  wise 
man  holds  on  to  all  valuable  truth  bequeathed'  him  by  the  ages, 
and  seeks  to  gather  something  new  to  add  thereto  for  the  benefit 
of  those  who  shall  succeed  him.  Research  into  the  laws  of  the 
whole  expanse  of  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens  is  as  much  taught 
as  research  into  that  small  section  we  call  the  animal  kingdort), 
the  vegetable  kingdom,  or  the  mineral  kingdom.  Xew  things  are 
useful ;  and  so  are  old  things. 


CHAPTER  YIII. 


A   CUAPTER   OF   ilTRACLES. 


About  this  time  occurred  one  of  those  seasons  of  excitement  ir, 
which  the  populace  showed  a  disposition  to  make  Jesus  king,  and 
hasten  his  revehition  of  his  Messianic  powers,  ^att  viu -Markiv.: 
These  popular  paroxysms  were  always  so  man-  Luke  viii.,  ix.  jesua 
aged  by  Jesus  that  they  should  create  no  outbreak,  ^^  *^°  ^°  ^^^' 
Rud  thus  comiect  his  name  and  mission  with  the  ephemeral  poli- 
tics of  his  nation.  No  man  can  be  a  great  moral  teacher  and  a 
politician.  Politics  are  for  a  da}^ ;  morality  for  eternity.  It 
seems  utterly  impracticable  to  make  a-ny  satisfactory  conjecture 
as  to  the  political  opinions  of  Jesus,  whether  he  was  Ilerodian  or 
anti-Ilerodian,  He  would  have  absolutely  nothing  to  do  wi'th 
these  questions.  So,  when  another  burst  of  excitement  came,  he 
directed  his  disciples  to  accompany  him  to  the  other  side  of  the 
lake.* 

A  certain  scribe,  an  official  expounder  of  the  moral  law,  came 
to  him  and  said,  "  Teacher,  I  will  follow  you  wherever  you  go," 
He  may  have  amplitied  this  short  speech  into  a 

'^  ,       ,         .  ,    .  A  political  follower, 

statement  of  his  views  of  the  position  and  pi'os- 
pects  of  Jesus,  or  there  may  have  been  something  in  his  mannei 
which  showed  that  he  had  ulterior  designs,  or  else  Jesus  read  his 
character  at  a  glance.  The  reply  shows  that  the  Teacher  under- 
stood precisely  tlie  spirit  in  which  the  statement  was  made  by  this 
new  disciple.  "  The  foxes  have  lairs,  and  the  birds  of  the  heaven 
have  places  of  shelter ;  but  the  Son  of  Man  hath  not  where  he 
may  lay  his  head." 

It  is  supposed  that  Jesus  adopted  the  name  The  Son  of  Man 
with  reference  to  the  prophetic  vision  of  Daniel  (vii.  13),  and 
because  all  other  titles  of  the  Messiah  had  been  perverted  to  fos- 


*Into  Perea.  The  eastern  side  of 
the  lake  of  Gennesaret  and  of  the 
river    Jordan    was    called    "beyond." 


Hence  its  Greek  name  "Perea,"  which 
means  "beyond." 


862         SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

ter  the  worldlj  expectations  of  the  Jewish  people,  and  because  it 
comported  at  once  with  the  humility  of  his  position  and  the  dig- 
nity of  his  character.  The  scribe  was  willing  to  endure  for  a  few 
days,  or  even  a  few  months,  the  roving  life  which  Jesus  had 
adopted,  expecting  that  the  great  Leader  would  soon  ascend 
the  throne  of  David,  and  then  those  who  had  shared  his  poverty 
w^ould  share  his  glorious  fortunes,  lie  was  as  cunning  as  a  fox, 
and  doubtless  felicitated  himself  on  his  sharpness  of  calculation 
and  superior  skill  in  reading  the  signs  of  the  times. 

The  reply  of  Jesus  is  graphic  and  touching,  and  perhaps  by  its 

figures  had  reference  to  the  cunning  and  the  "  fugitive  character  " 

of  the  scribe's  enthusiasm.     He  did  not  mean  to 

Jesus  discourages  him.  ic^  r    nr         t       ^  i  • 

say  strictly  that  the  Son  oi  Man  had  no  sleepmg- 
place,  for  he  had  at  this  very  time  some  friends  who  devoted 
themselves  to  looking  after  his  pei-sonal  comfort,  and,  so  far  as  we 
know,  he  was  never  without  a  night's  lodging,  except  when  he 
voluntarily  set  apart  a  night  to  devotional  vigils.  He  simply 
meant  that  he  had  no  fixed  place  of  residence,  a  comfort  enjoyed 
by  even  the  lower  ordei*  of  animals.  It  was  a  solemn  warning  to 
the  scribe,  that  if  he  joined  his  fortunes  to  those  of  Jesus  he 
would  become  a  homeless  wanderer,  as  the  Son  of  Man  had  given 
himself  to  a  life  of  perpetual  voluntary  poverty.  Whether  the 
scribe  became  a  "disciple,"  in  the  stricter  sense,  we  have  no 
means  of  knowins;.  Lange  suffffests  that  this  was  Judas  Iscariot. 
But  it  is  a  mere  hypothesis,  suggested  by  the  characteristics  of 
Judas  displayed  by  this  scribe. 

Another  of  the  f ollowei's  of  Jesus,  called  quite  generally  "  dis- 
ciples," said  to  him,  "  Sir,  permit  me  first  to  go  and  bury  my 
father."     Jesus  rei^lied,  "  Follow  me,  and  leave 

A  hard  saying.  ' 

the  dead  to  bury  their  own  dead  :  but  go  thou  and 
preach  the  kingdom  of  God."  It  is  not  said  who  this  person  was. 
A  church  tradition,  which  can  be  traced  to  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria, in  the  third  century,  says  it  was  Philip,  which  cannot  be  cor- 
rect, as  he  had  already  been  called.  Lange  suggests  Thomas,  but 
this  is  only  conjectural.  It  is  not  important.  But  the  lesson  of 
Jesus  is.  What  did  he  mean  ?  The  request  of  the  follower  seems 
natural,  and  even  dutiful.  The  Jews  buried  their  dead.*  Great 
etress  was  laid  on  this.     The  interment  was  conducted  with  mi- 

*  The  Greeks  burned  the  corpses  of  I  Pliny  (vii.  55 )  say  that  burial  was  the 
their  friends.     Cicero  {Legg. ,  ii.  22)  and  I  ancient  mode  of  disposing  of  the  dead. 


A   CHAPTER   OF   MIRACLES.  363 

nuteness  of  ceremonial.  It  was  considered  one  of  the  most  sacred 
duties  of  a  son  to  "bury  bis  parents  when  they  deceased.*  The 
disciple  in  this  case  seemed  to  desire  to  follow  Jesus.  lie  did 
not  make  an  excuse  that  he  might  go  seeking  his  own  pleasure  or 
liis  own  gain.  It  was  to  perform  what  all  his  nation  regarded  as 
a  son's  imperative  duty.  Celsus,  early  in  the  third  century,  brought 
the  reply  of  Jesus  as  objection  to  him,  because  he  demanded  what 
was  opposed  to  duty  to  parents. 

This  saying  of  Jesus  does  present  grave  difficulties.  "We  must 
interpret  the  word  "  dead  "  in  both  places  in  the  sentence  as  mean- 
ing the  same  or  difPerent  thino-s.     If  the  same, 

1  1  •       •     o       mi  1     •  •  11  Its  difficulty. 

tlien  what  is  its  Ihe  plain  sense  is  usually  ac- 
cepted, namely,  naturally  dead.  But  this  seems  nnintelligible, 
because  corpses  cannot  inter  corpses.  If  difPerent,  then  we  may 
attach  to  the  former  the  sense  of  spiritually  dead — those  described 
by  Paul  as  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins — and  to  the  latter  the 
natural  meaning ;  and  then  the  passage  would  signify,  "  Let  the 
work  of  interment  be  committed  to  sinners."  But  that  is  a  most 
harsh  interj^retation,  and  not  consistent  with  the  temper  of  Jesus 
and  the  general  spirit  of  his  teachings. 

If  the  whole  expression  be  taken  as  hyperbolical  and  paradoxi- 
cal, it  will  give  ns  this  sense :  Jesus  thus  teaches  in  the  most  strik- 
ing and  impressive  manner  the  lesson  that  the 
interests  of  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens,  which  he 
was  preaching,  are  paramount,  so  that  if  there  seem  to  be  even  a 
natural  duty,  the  performance  of  which  will  di-aw  a  disciple  of 
the  Messiah  from  obeying  some  express  command  of  his,  then  that 
apparent  duty,  even  if  it  be  that  of  burying  a  parent,  is  in  reality 
not  a  duty.  Let  the  dead  go  unburied  rather  than  Jesus  be  dis- 
obeyed. It  certainly  is  a  claim  on  the  part  of  Jesns  to  supremacy 
over  the  hearts  and  lives  of  his  disciples.  It  is  a  claim  to  be  more 
than  teacher.  It  is  a  peremptory  demand  for  the  total  surrender 
of  the  whole  man  to  Jesus  and  the  interests  of  his  kingdom.  It 
is  the  voice  of  a  spiritual  autocrat.  Jesus  must  have  felt  that  he 
had  a  right  to  all  this,  or  he  must  have  been  conscious  that  he  was 
l)uttiiig  forward  a  claim  which  he  had  no  right  to  make.  His 
consci(.)usness  at  the  moment  this  speech  was  made  was  either  that 
Df  the  Supreme  Spiritual  Ruler  of  the  world  or  that  of  the  most 

*  Honorable  mention  is  made  of  those  I  Gen.  xxv.  9 ;  xxxv.  29,  etc. ;  Tobit  iv. 
who  discharged  this  filial  duty.      See  I  3. 


364         SECOND   AND   THIED   PASSOVEE   IN   THE   LIFE   OF  JESUS. 

daring  impostor.  But  lie  speaks  unwaveringly,  and  died  witli  tliij 
claim  upon  his  lips,  having  never  for  a  moment  abated  a  jot  there- 
of. There  never  was  a  teacher  or  leader,  before  the  time  of  Jesus 
or  after,  who  went  so  far  as  this.     lie  stands  alone  in  this  claim. 

In  immediate  connection  with  this  circumstance  there  occurred 
a  similar  occasion  for  a  similar  lesson.     Another  of  his  mere  fol- 
lowers said,  "  Lord,  I  will  follow  thee,  but  let  me 

Another  lesson.  i   .  i     p  ^^  ^  •  i  i?       -r> 

go  to  bid  lareweil  to  those  in  my  house.  JJut 
Jesus  said  to  him,  "  No  man  putting  his  hand  to  the  plough,  and 
looking  at  the  things  behind,  is  rightly  disposed  for  the  kingdom 
of  God."  Here  again  is  brought  out  the  paramoimt  importance 
of  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens.  The  mind  must  have  no  inde- 
cision. A  man  who  wavers  so  is  as  unfit  for  the  great  work  of 
teachino;  the  doctrine  of  the  universal  kiiii^dom  as  one  is  iiniit  for 
agriculture  who  holds  the  handle  of  a  plough  and  gazes  back  at 
the  furrow. 

Upon  dismissing  the  multitude  who  had  waited  upon  his  min- 
istry, Jesus  went  down  to  the  shore  of  the  lake  and  entered  into 

a  ship  with  his  disciples.     Accompanied  by  other 

storm  on  the  lake.  -,  ■,,  i  ,  ^      ,-  ,  i 

and  smaller  vessels,  they  started  for  the  other 
Bide.  Worn  with  the  fatigue  of  teaching,  Jesus  fell  asleep  on  a 
pillow  in  the  hinder  part  of  the  ship.  It  was  probably  evening. 
There  fell  upon  the  lake  one  of  those  storms  to  which  the  pecu- 
liar position  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  exposes  it.  Thompson  (ii.  32) 
was  for  several  days  in  one  of  those  storms,  which  he  thus  do- 
scribes : — 

"  To  understand  the  causes  of  these  sudden  and  violent  tempests,  we  must 
remember  that  the  lake  lies  low,  six  hundred  feet  lower  than  the  ocean  ;  that 
the  vast  and  naked  plateaus  of  the  Jordan  rise  to  a  great  height,  spreading 
backward  to  the  wilds  of  the  Hauran  and  upward  to  snowy  Hernion ;  tliat  the 
water-courses  have  cut  out  profound  ravines  and  wild  gorges,  converging  to 
the  head  of  the  lake,  and  that  tliese  act  like  gigantic  funnels  to  draw  d()-\\ai 
the  cold  winds  from  the  mountains.  And,  moreover,  these  winds  are  not  only 
violent,  but  they  come  down  suddenly,  and  often  when  the  sky  is  perfectly 
clear.  I  once  went  in  to  swim  near  the  liot-baths,  and  before  I  was  aware  a 
wind  came  rushhig  over  the  cliffs  witli  such  force  that  it  was  with  great  diffi- 
culty I  could  regain  the  shore." 

Of  another  storm,  when  on  the  eastern  side,  he  says  : — 

"The  sun  had  scarcely  set  when  the  wind  began  to  rush  down  toward  the 
lake,  and  it  continued  all  night  long  mth  constantly  increasing  violence,  so 


A   CnAPTER   OF   MIRACXES.  365 

that  •when  we  reached  the  shore  next  morning  the  face  of  the  lake  was  like  a 
huge  boiling  caldron."  ..."  We  had  to  doul)lc-i)in  all  tlie  tent-ropes, 
and  frequently  were  obliged  to  hang  with  our  whole  weight  upon  tlieni  to  keep 
the  quivering  tabernacle  from  being  carried  off  bodily  in  the  air." 

It  was  such  a  storm  as  this  that  was  rocking  the  sliip  which 
held  Jesus  and  the  Apostles.  The  Teacher  was  in  the  quiet  of 
slumber.     The   disciples  perceived    their    cjreat 

.  -^,  ...  Jesus  stills  the  storm. 

jeopardy,  ihey  ran  to  him  in  terror,  some  cry- 
ing, "Master,  Master,  we  are  perishing!"  while  others  cried, 
"  Master,  carest  thou  not  that  we  perish  ?  "  Their  solicitude  did 
not  seem  to  be  wholly  selfish.  Undoubtedly  some  of  them  in- 
cluded Jesus  in  that  "  we,"  as  the  most  precious  of  all  existences. 
It  must  have  agitated  them  greatly  to  see  a  person  who  had  ex- 
hibited such  power  and  wisdom  now  lying  in  utmost  carelessness 
asleep  amid  such  imminent  peril.  Jesus  arose  and  spoke  unto  the 
wild  Avhirl  and  storm-fury,  and  said  to  the  winds  and  the  raging 
of  the  sea,  "  Peace !  be  still !  "  and  the  wind  ceased  at  once  and 
there  was  a  great  calm.  The  stars  shone  in  the  quiet  sky  above 
the  quiet  lake.  And  he  quietly  said  to  the  men  in  the  ship, 
"  Why  are  ye  so  fearful  ?  AVhere  is  your  faith  ?  "  The  simple 
exercise  of  such  prodigious  power  over  the  forces  of  nature  when 
in  stormy  motion,  produced  in  their  minds  a  sudden  sentiment  of 
awe.  They  were  surprised  and  amazed,  and  filled  with  exceeding 
fear,  and  said  to  one  another,  "  Who  is  this,  that  even  the  winds 
and  the  sea  obey  him  ?  " 

It  was  morning  when  Jesus  and  his  disciples  readied  the  south- 
eastern margin  of  the  lake,  in  a  region  into  which  it  was  the 
intent  of  Jesus  to  carry  his  beneficent  ministry,  south-eastern  shore 
This  landino;  was  signalized  by  a  very  remarkable  °^  ^^°  '"''®  oennesa- 

,         11  -1        J-        1   •    1  1         •       .  .  *■'=*'      ""•■'''       Gadara. 

miracle,  the  details  01  which  make  it  interesting  Matt,  viii.,  ix. ;  Mark 
to  fix  the  locality,  if  possible.  A  difiiculty  meets  ''•'  ^'^'^'''^ 
us  in  the  names  employed  by  the  historians.  Matthew  calls  it  the 
country  of  the  Gasaroies,  Mark  of  the  Gerasenes,  and  Luke  of 
the  Gergesenes.^  Three  places  are  mentioned  in  the  ancient 
writers,  Gadara,  Gerasa,  and  Gergesa.  The  first  was  ten  miles 
inland,  and  the  approach  to  it  was  by  a  toilsome  way,  which  would 
require  several  hours  to  make  it  on  foot.  It  is  represented  by 
Josephus  as  the  capital  of    Perea,  and  by  Polybius  as  a  very 

*  The  reading  of  Codex  Sinaiticus  is  followed,  and  not  the  common  English  version. 


366         SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

strongly  fortified  cit}^  The  ruins  to  this  day  give  evidence  of 
great  former  magnificence.  This  can  hardly  be  accepted  as  the 
place  where  the  miracle  was  performed,  as  we  find  among  its  cir- 
cumstances the  fact  that  a  herd  of  swine  ran  down  a  steep  place 
into  the  sea.  In  order  to  do  so  from  Gadara,  they  must  have  run 
down  a  mountain  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  town,  have  forded 
a  stream  quite  as  formidable  as  the  Jordan,  and  then  crossed  a 
plain  of  several  miles  before  reaching  the  sea.  For  similar  rea- 
sons we  must  reject  Gerasa,  a  city  also  mentioned  by  Josephus  as 
situated  among  the  mountains  of  Gilead,  twenty  miles  east  of  the 


Jordan.  The  highest  probability  is  in  favor  of  a  spot  suggested 
by  Dr.  Thomson.*  On  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake  he  has  found 
'  a  pile  of  ruins  still  called  by  the  natives  Gersa,  very  nearly  pro 
nounced  Gergesa,  the  name  in  Luke,  and  that  which  Origen  gi\es 
as  the  supposed  site  of  the  miracle.  Thomson  represents  that  an 
"  immense  mountain  "  stands  above  these  ruins  ;  so  high  and  so 
declivitous  that  a  herd  of  swine  rushing  frantically  down  would 
be  carried  by  the  momentum  of  the  descent  over  the  narrow  ledgo 
of  beach  into  the  sea.     Mr.  Tristam  (in  his  Land  of  Israel)  in- 


*  Land  and  Book,  vol.  ii.  35. 


A   CHAPTER   OF   MIRACLES. 


367 


The  demoniac 


dorses  tliis  -view  of  the  question.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  his- 
torians do  not  mention  any  particular  town,  .but  call  the  site  of 
the  miracle  "  the  country  of  the  "  Gadarenes  or  Gergesenes,  so 
that  whatever  town  be  selected,  the  miracle  must  have  occurred 
near  the  sea,  and  somewhere  near  the  site  of  the  ancient  city  of 
the  Girgashites.  All  that  region  abounds  in  rock  excavated  for 
purpores  of  sepulture,  and  to  this  day  a  whole  community  in  that 
region  make  their  dwellings  in  the  tombs.  The  testim(iny  of 
Origen,  the  ancient  traditions,  and  the  opinion  of  so  well-informed 
a  traveller  as  Thomson,  concur  to  fix  the  place  at  the  site  of  the 
ancient  Gergesa. 

It  was  at  this  spot,  then,  that  Jesus  landed  early  in  the  morning 
which  followed  the  night  in  w^hich  he  had  calmed  the  storm  on 
the  lake.  Here  a  sight  met  him  more  appalling 
than  a  tempest  on  a  lake — the  fury  of  a  man 
lashed  by  the  tortures  of  insanity.  Mark  and  Luke  speak  of  one 
demoniac,  while  Matthew  mentions  two.  It  is  probable  that  there 
were  two,  but  one  was  so  much  fiercer  than  the  other,  and  his  cure 
so  much  more  striking,  and  his  after-life  so  much  better  known  to 
these  historians,  that  they  speak  of  him  alone  in  a  special  man- 
ner.* He  exhibited  all  the  most  shocking  phases  of  that  terrible 
phj^sical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  insanity  which  manifested 
itself  so  frightf ull}^  in  the  days  of  Jesus.  He  was  so  ungovern- 
ably frantic  that  he  had  abandoned  the  abodes  of  men  and  made 
his  dwelling  among  the  dead.  He  tore  his  clothes  from  his  per- 
son. He  was  a  terror  to  travellers,  so  that  men  might  not  pass  by 
that  way.  He  had  acquired  that  wonderful  strength  which  some- 
times seems  to  come  to  maniacs.  Men  could  not  keep  him 
bound.  Often  they  had  chained  him,  but  he  burst  the  bonds 
asunder.  Night  and  day  this  unhappy  man,  with  fierce  cries  that 
made  the  rocks  and  seashore  ring  wath  the  expression  of  his 
agony,  roved  through  the  wilderness  or  rushed  along  the  beach  of 
the  lake. 

On  this  eventful  morning  he  saw  Jesus  from  afar.     Whatever 


*  Robinson,  in  his  Harmony,  proposes 
the  following  illustration :  "In  the  year 
■  1824  Lafayette  ^dsited  the  United  States 
and  was  everj'where  welcomed  with 
honors  and  pageants.  Historians  will 
describe  these  a»  a  noble  incident  in  his 
life.     Other  writers  will  relate  the  same 


visit  as  made,  and  the  same  honors  as  en- 
joyed by  two  persons,  namely,  Lafayette 
and  his  son.  Will  there  be  any  contra- 
diction between  these  two  classes  of 
writers  ?  Will  not  both  record  tho 
truth?"     See  jKm,  195. 


368 


SECOND   AND   THIRD   TASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 


may  have  been  the  cause,  there  was  somethiiio;  in  the  appearance 
of  Jesus  that  arrested  him.     He  paused.      He  gazed.     lie   ap- 
proached,   lie  fell  at  the  feet  of  Jesus.    He  cried, 

His  appeal  to  Jesus.     '■  _  ^  r    /^      i 

"  vVliat  to  thee  and  me,  J  esus,  bon  or  (rod  most 
high  ?  "  Here  is  an  exhibition  of  that  flux  and  reflux  of  passion 
frequently  noticed  in  maniacs.  He  was  alternately  attracted  and 
repelled  bj^  the  spiritual  magnetism  of  the  pure  Jesus.  Jesus 
connnanded  the  unclean  spirit  to  leave  the  unhappy  man,  who 
then  cried  out,  "  Comest  thou  here  to  torment  us  before  the 
time  ? "  As  if  to  steady  the  man's  mind  for  a  moment,  and  re- 
call him  to  a  sense  of  his  personality  and  identity,  Jesus  asked 
him  his  name.  Still  believing  himself  to  be  in  possession  of  the 
departed  spirits  of  wicked  men,  and  recollecting  how  his  whole 
intellectual  and  moral  constitution  had  been  laid  waste,  as  when 
troops  dismantle  a  town,  and  probably  recalling  the  appearance 
of  a  battalion  of  Roman  soldiers,  the  wretched  sufferer  said,  with 
the  confusion  of  ideas  so  natural  to  his  condition,  "  My  name  is 
Legion,  for  we  are  many."  And  he  besought  Jesus  that  he  would 
not  send  them  away  into  "  the  abyss,"  whatever  that  might  mean. 
On  the  adjoining  mountain  \vas  a  herd  of  about  two  tliousand  hoga 
feeding:.  The  demons  besou<rht  Jesus  to  allow  them  to  enter  the 
swine. 

If  it  were  really  tlie  fact  that  evil  spirits,  whether  such  as  had 
inhabited  human  bodies  or  not,  had  the  power  to  seize  and  em- 
ploy the  faculties  of  living  human  beings,  the  narrative  shows 
that  the  powers  of  evil  are  full  of  a  hateful  malignity  which  is 
bent  upon  the  work  of  destruction.  If  they  could  not  occupy 
the  bodily  organs  of  men  they  were  willing  to  use  those  of  beasts. 
Jesus  granted  their  request :  forthwith  they  left  the  man  and 
entered  the  swine  ;  and  the  swine  ran  frantically  down  a  steep 
place  and  fell  into  the  lake  and  were  drowned.* 
The  feeders  of  the  swine  went  quickly  to  their 
employers  in  the  city  and  related  these   marvellous  incidents. , 


The  swine. 


*  It  requires  some  patience  to  give 
the  least  notice  to  such  an  objection  as 
this :  that  it  was  a  lawless  act  in  Jesus 
to  destroy  the  property  of  the  owners 
of  the  hogs,  and  was  cruelty  to  the 
swine  themselves.  Jesus  did  this  work 
or  he  did  not.  If  he  did  not,  there  is 
no  ground  for  criticism  in  detail.     If  he 


did,  he  had  all  authority  over  hogs, 
devils,  and  men.  As  to  the  cruelty,  the 
same  objection  would  lie  against  every 
case  of  the  prevalence  of  murrain  in  cat- 
tle, or  of  the  disease  known  as  the  hog 
cholera,  which  has  visited  parts  of 
America  in  late  years.  The  only  ques- 
tion is,  Did  such  an  incident  as  this  oo- 


A   CHAPTER    OF   MIRACLES. 


369 


The  grateful  patient 


The  people  from  the  city  and  the  surrounding  country  flocked  to 
the  scene.  When  they  beheld  tlie  placid  face  of  the  man  who 
had  been  an  untamable  maniac,  and  saw  him  sitting  clothed  and 
in  his  right  mind,  and  heard  the  narrative  of  the  panic  that  had 
swept  the  swine  away,  and  probably  saw  them  floating  in  the  lake 
beneath,  the  Gergesenes  were  seized  with  fear,  and  began  to  pray 
Jesus  to  leave  their  coasts.  The  recovery  of  their  fellow-citizen 
was  not  to  them  such  a  matter  of  congratulation  that  they  could 
afford  to  pay  for  it  by  the  loss  of  their  hogs.  Jesus  left  them,  and 
went  down  towards  the  ship. 

Tlie  healed  and  grateful  patient  accompanied  his  benefactor  to 
the  lake  side,  and  solicited  permission  to  follow  him,  which  Jesus 
declined  to  give,  saying  to  him,  "  Go  to  ^^our  home 
and  to  your  friends,  and  tell  them  what  the  Lord 
hath  done  for  you,  and  hath  pitied  you."  If  the  Gergesenes  de- 
clined the  personal  ministry  of  Jesus,  they  should  not  be  without 
a  missionaiy.  The  restored  demoniac,  not  only  in  his  own  town 
but  throughout  a  district  of  ten  cities,  known  as  Decapolis,  awoko 
the  wf)nder  of  men  by  describing,  as  only  such  a  man  could,  the 
horrible  abyss  out  of  which  Jesus  had  so  graciously  lifted  him. 

When  Jesus  recrossed  the  lake  he  found  a  crowd  animated  by 
sentiments  the  very  opposite  of  those  that  had  caused  the  Gerge- 
senes to  urge  him  to  depart  from  their  coasts.  The  inliabitanta 
of  Capernaum  and  that  region  had  been  longing  for  liis  return. 
A  day's  absence  was  intolerable  to  people  so  elithusiastic  in  their 
admii-ation.  The  stoi-m  of  the  previous  night  had  deepened  their 
anxiety,  so  that  they  watched  with  interest  tlie  approach  of  tho 
boat  which  lield  the  great  Teacher.  They  received  him  gladly 
and  escorted  him  to  his  home  in  Capernaum. 


cur  in  the  history  of  Jesus  ?  The  his- 
torians, who  were  present,  say  it  did. 
If  these  theories  be  rejected  this  r^uch 
is  left :  A  man  was  found  exhibiting  the 
phenomena  described.  Jesus  spoke  the 
words  which  are  quoted  as  his.  The 
change  as  described  came  upon  the 
man.  He  waS,  or  thought  he  was,  held 
in  the  power  of  the  souls  of  departed 
wicked  men.  They  asked  to  be  per- 
mitted to  go  into  the  swine,  or,  in  his 
disordered  fancy,  he  asked  it  for  them. 
Jesus  gave  assent.     At  that  instant  an 

24 


immense  herd  of  swine  on  the  mountain, 
seized  by  a  sudden  and  unaccountable 
panic,  rushed  over  the  ledge  and  fell  into 
the  sea.  The  man  resumed  his  clothes 
and  his  reason.  The  owners  of  the 
swine  were  incensed,  the  spectators 
filled  with  awe,  and  Jesus  was  requested 
to  leave  their  coasts.  Apart  from  the 
settlement  of  the  precise  nature  of  de- 
moniac possession,  which  mu?t  always 
probably  be  perplexing,  here  is  a  history 
of  extraordinary  spiritual  power. 


870 


SECOND   AND   THIRD   TASSOVEK   IN   THE   LITE   OF   JESrS. 


As  nearly  as  we  can  fix  the  date,  we  must  here  introduce  several 
narratives  of  transactions  which  are  given  with  great  simplicity, 
Capernaum.  Matt,  ^^^t  are  vcry  afeccting.  They  present  pleading 
ix. ;  Mark  v. ;  Luke  sorrow  iu  aspccts  most  touching,  and  set  forth  the 
^^  charm  Avhich  the  loviugness  of  Jesus,  combined 

with  "his  extraordinary  power,  was  exerting  upon  people  of  all 
ranks. 

There  was  a  man  of  distinction,  the  president  of  a  synagogue,* 
whose  name  was  Jairus.     lie  had  an  only  daughter,  twelve  years 


Jairus. 


of  age,  and  the  girl  was  about  to  die.     In  his  des- 


peration of  grief  the  father  bethought  him  of  Je- 
sus, and,  knowing  \vhere  he  was,  ran  to  him  and  fell  at  his  feet,  and 
besought  him  to  come  and  save  the  child.  So  bewildering  was  his 
grief  that  he  gave  a  hurried  and  somewhat  contradictory  report 
of  the  state  of  affairs  at  home.  He  says  she  is  dead.  He  says 
she  is  dying.f  The  facts  seem  to  have  been  these  :  when  he  left 
the  house  she  was  apparently  in  extremis,  she  could  live  but  a 
short  time  ;  he  had  l)een  absent  about  long  enough  for  the  end  to 
have  come ;  "  she  would  be  dead,"  he  said  ;  but  he  had  not  re- 
ceived distinct  information  of  the  event,  and  therefore  was  not 
prepared  to  affirm  it ;  and  so  in  his  agitation  and  hurry  the  father 
says:  "My  daughter  is  dead — she  is  dying — come!  Lay  thy 
hands  on  her,  and  she  shall  be  saved  and  live ! "  He  forgot  the 
formalities  and  dignities  of  his  office  in  his  natural  love  for  his 
child.  His  faith  seemed  to  increase  in  his  extremity.  It  touched 
the  heart  of  Jesus,  who  arose  and  went  with  him,  and  all  the 
throng  about  him  followed  the  party  to  see  what  the  end  of  this 
might  be,  as  the  vcry  going  of  Jesus  seemed  to  pi-omise  that  he 
would  do  somethino;. 


*  Every  synagogue  had  its  president, 
who  superintended  and  directed  the 
services,  and  was  at  the  same  time 
president  of  its  college  of  elders. 

f  It  seems  heartless  to  cite  these  self- 
contradictions  of  the  poor  man  as  proofs 
of  the  contradictions  of  the  historians 
and  the  unreliability  of  the  narrative. 
It  is  more  than  heartless;  it  is  sense- 
less. Careful  observers  of  the  workings 
of  human  passions,  and  close  students 
of  the  poets,,  those  quick  reporters  of 
the  soul  of    the  humanity,  cannot,    it 


seems  to  me,  fail  to  see  in  these  touches 
proofs  that  the  affair  occurred  as  all 
these  historians  tell  it ;  that  Matthew, 
and  Mark,  and  Luke  are  right,  each 
and  all,  and  that  they  could  not  have 
colluded  here,  and  that  this  little  scene 
could  not  have  been  painted  by  any 
master  of  fiction  not  superior  to  Shake- 
speare. To  my  mind  there  are  few 
stronger  internal  marks  of  the  genuine- 
ness and  truthfulness  of  these  narra- 
tives than  this  particular  passage. 


A   CHAPTER   OF   MIKACLES. 


371 


On  the  way  tliere  was  an  interruption  and  a  wonder,  shewing 
again  what  faith  in  Jesus  was  growing  in  the  liearts  of  the  peo- 
ple. There  was  a  woman,  w'hosc  name  is  pru-  The  woman  with  the 
dently  withheld,  who  had  had  an  internal  hem-  hcmonh«ge. 
orrhage  for  twelve  years.  This  troublesome  disease  had  been  an 
annoying  and  exhausting  plague  through  all  that  time.  It  had 
probably  prevented  her  marrying.  She  had  expended  her  estate 
on  physicians  and  nostrums.*  She  had  not  been  helped,  but  in- 
jured. Now  she  was  reduced  from  competence  to  poverty,  and 
was  afflicted  with  what  seemed  an  incurable  disease.  But  she 
had  not  lost  her  womanly  delicacy.  Hearing  of  the  wonderful 
things  M'hich  Jesus  was  doing,  she  had  formed  an  incorrect  idea 
of  his  character  and  power.  She  fancied  that  there  was  some- 
thing magical  in  his  person.  She  said  to  herself,  "If  I  touch f 
but  the  hem  of  his  garment  I  shall  be  saved."  As  this  hem,  or 
blue  fringe,  was  put  on  the  garment  by  divine  command,:}:  perhaps 
she  also  fancied  that  special  virtue  would  come  through  that  part 
of  the  varments  of  the  Great  Healer.  AVhile  the  crowd  thronijed 
him  she  quietly  mingled  with  them,  and  at  a  moment  when 
she  thought  she  was  not  perceived,  she  came  up  from  behind  him 
and  touched  the  hem  of  his  garment,  and  instantly  felt  a  thrill 
and  knew  that  she  was  healed  of  her  plague. 

The  loftiness  of -the  character  of  Jesus  now  exhibits  itself  sub- 
limely, lie  knew§  what  liad  been  done.  He  knew  the  woman's 
mistake  and  the  woman's  faith.  He  intended  to  is  hcaied  in  touching 
correct  the  one  and  confirm  the  other.  lie  would  '^'^^"*- 
not  for  a  moment  consent  to  have  himself  confounded  with  jug- 
glers, magicians,  and  miracle-mongers,  even  in  the  simple  mind 
of  a  woman  weakened  by  disease.     He  turned  upon  the  crowd 


*  For  an  extraordinary  list  of  cures 
prescribed  for  this  disorder,  consult 
Lightfoot's  Ilor.  Ileh.  on  Jlark  v.  20. 

f  The  beauty  is  lost  in  our  transla- 
tion, '■'■  may  hnt  touch,"  which  may  im- 
ply permission,  while  the  idea  with  her 
was  that  if  she  could  but  accomjilish  of 
herself  mere  contact  with  his  garment, 
it  would  be  enough. 

X  See  Numbers  xv.  37-40 ;  Deut. 
xxii.  12.  Because  it  was  a  badge  to 
the  Jews  of  being  God's  peculiar  people, 


those  who  desired  to  be  considered  emi- 
nently pious  were  accustomed  to  "  en- 
large the  borders  of  their  garments,"  a 
custom  which  the  simple  Jesus  con- 
demned.    See  Matt,  xxiii.  5. 

§  Not  "perceived,"  as  Luke  viii.  4G 
is  rendered  in  our  common  version, 
which  seems  to  favor  the  idea  that  it 
was  involuntary  upon  the  part  of  Jesus, 
while  his  whole  conduct  is  quite  the  r& 
verse  of  this. 


372         SECOND   AND   THEED   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

and  said  :  "  "Who  touched  my  clothes  ? "  They  all  denied.  Peter, 
always  impetuous,  and  sometimes  impatient  even  with  his  Master, 
said  :  "  You  see  the  throng,  and  you  say,  '  Who  touched  me  ? '  " 
But  lie  assured  them  that  some  one  had  touched  him  with  a  pur- 
jiosc,  and  that  he  knew  that  that  purpose  had  heen  accomplished, 
lie  evidently  did  not  ask  the  question  for  his  own  information, 
])ut  to  draw  the  woman  into  an  open  confession.  He  would  not 
let  her  go  mistaken,  although  healed.  He  desired  to  put  himself 
right  before  her  mind,  and  to  leave  with  her  an  intellectual  and 
spiritual  blessing  whicli  sliould  even  surpass  the  extraordinary 
physical  fav^or  he  had  conferred  upon  her.  All  the  multitude 
had  come  in  contact  witli  him,  probably  each  one  having  touched 
more  of  his  garment  than  this  woman.  She  only  had  received 
any  benefit.  He  determined  to  make  her  know  that  it  was  not  mere 
animal  magnetism,  nor  any  unconscious  magical  influence,  but 
that  it  was  a  voluntary  response  on  his  part  to  the  pleadings  of 
faith  on  hers. 

When  the  woman  saw  that  she  could  not  be  hid,  she  came  for- 
ward with   confusion  and   trembling,  and  fell  down  before  him 
and  told  before  all  the  i>eople  all  the  truth — for 

Her  faith  confiiined. 

what  cause  she  had  touched  him,  and  how  she  had 
been  immediately  healed.  This  was  all  that  Jesus  desired.  He 
had  tenderly  abstained  from  extracting  this  confession  until  the 
poor  woman  was  healed.  She  might  not  have  been  able  to  make 
it  in  advance.  Now,  although  a  trial,  she  was  able  to  endure  it. 
Jesus  said :  "  Daughter,  your  faith  hath  saved  you.  Go  in  peace, 
and  be  well  of  yonr  plague."  He  caused  her  and  those  who 
were  about  him  to  know  that  no  miracle  of  good  would  ever 
be  wrought  for  men  who  did  not  trust  his  beneticence ;  and  that 
in  every  case  there  must  be  desire  and  faith  on  the  part  of  the 
subject,  and  volition  upon  the  part  of  Jesus,  to  make  the  happy 
operation  complete.  This  single  incident  lifts  Jesus  forever  out 
of  the  mass  of  tricksters  and  magicians. 

AVhile  he  was  engaged  in  this  work  of  mercy,  messengers  ar- 
rived from  the  house  of  Jairus  informing  him  that  his  daughter 
Death   of    jairus's  was  ccrtaiidy  dead.      He  had  accompanied  Jesus 
daughter.  uucouiplainingly,  but  doubtlessly  extremely  rest- 

lessly, and  now  it  appeared  that  the  delay  had  blasted  his  hopes. 
He  seems  scarcely  to  have  trusted  that  Jesus  could  raise  her  from 
the  dead,  while  he  believed  that  there  was  such  power  in  him 


A   CHAPTER   OF   MIRACLES.  373 

that  he  could  pluck  her  back  from  death  even  when  she  was 
almost  in  the  last  gasp.  The  messenger  who  announced  the 
fatal  news  added:  "  Why  troublcst  thou  the  Teacher  further?" 
as  though  Jesus  could  now  be  of  no  avail.  But  his  quick  car 
cauglit  the  word,  and  before  Jairus  could  sink  away  into  dc.ul>t>- 
Jesus  said  to  him:  "Be  not  afraid  ;  only  believe  ;  and  she  shalJ 
be  saved."  Jesus  by  this  Avord  seemed  to  pledge  himself  to  save 
her,  even  if  she  were  really  dead. 

And  so  he  proceeded  towards  the  house  of  Jairus.  And  when 
he  arrived  he  found  that  they  had  already  brought  in  the  profes- 
sional mourners,  who,  after  the  vicious  fashion  jesus  brings  her  bac. 
of  the  JcAvs,  were  making  loud  lamentations,  *°^«- 
howling  dirges  amid  the  din  of  musical  instruments,  and  beating 
themselves  in  token  of  grief.  Jesus  said  to  them  :  "'  Give  place*^ 
why  make  ye  this  ado?  The  child  is  not  dead,  but  is  sleeping." 
They  took  these  words  in  their  literal  sense,  and  laughed  Je'^us 
to  scorn.  They  hiew  that  she  was  dead.  She  was,  undoubtedly.* 
But  Jesus  taught  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  On  another  occa- 
sion he  called  himself  "The  Eesurrection."  Since  he  has  taught 
the  world,  those  who  believe  his  teachings  do  not  sorrow  for  the 
dead  as  those  who  have  no  hope.  Death  is  not  destruction,  nor 
annihilation— it  is  sleep.  Sleep  implies  waking.  So  to  the 
thought  of  Jesus,  and  of  all  who  believe  in  his  teaching,  sleep  is 
the  most  appropriate  possible  representation  of  death.  AYhen 
men  die  we  see  them  fall  asleep.  We  do  not  see  them  awake. 
But  Jesus,  this  wise  Teacher,  assures  us  that  they  do,  and  here  he 
exerted  his  power  to  give  men  a  \-isible  and  tangible  example  of 


*  The  attempt  to  put  away  all  mira- 
cle out  of  this  transaction,  by  taking  the 
words  of  Jesus  literally,  "  She  is  not 
dead,  but  sleeping-,"  cannot  succeed. 
For  suppose  we  grant  that  this  was  a 
mere  case  of  syit.coj)e,  and  that  the  girl 
was  still  alive,  there  will  yet  remain 
these  miraculous  facts  :  1.  That  before 
Jesus  reached  the  house  or  saw  the 
girl,  he  knew  that  she  was  not  totally 
dead,  although  he  had  not  seen  her,  and 
her  father  had  represented  her  as  dying, 
if  not  dead,  and  messengers  direct  from 
the  house  had  proclaimed  her  dead; 
»nd,  2.  When,  having  not  hurried,  but 


stopped  to  cure  the  woman  with  the 
hemorrhage,  he  reached  the  house,  the 
mourners  and  assembled  friends  still 
saying  she  was  dead,  and  laughing  to 
scorn  his  literal  or  figurative  saying, 
"  She  is  not  dead,  but  sleeping,"  he  i)ro- 
ceeded  to  her  chamber,  accompanied 
by  her  parents  and  three  other  persons, 
and  by  two  words  and  a  single  touch  he 
brought  her  imtantlj/  to  her  feet,  and  to 
perfect  health,  after  all  the  effoits 
which  the  skill  of  the  ph^'sicians  could 
devise  had  utterly  failed.  We  must  put 
the  whole  of  Jesus  out  of  history  oi 
accept  the  mirac^ous. 


374         SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

this  great  awakening.  He  entered  the  chamber  of  the  dead,  ac- 
companied by  the  father  and  mother,  and  bj  the  tln-ee  disciples, 
Peter,  and  James,  and  Jolm,  whom  now  for  the  first  time  we  see 
elected  from  among  the  elect  friends  of  Jesus,  that  they  might 
be  special  witnesses  of  his  greatest  and  most  sacred  doings.  He 
approached  the  bed,  took  the  girl  by  the  hand,  and  said  to  her  in 
the  Aramaic  tongue,  "  Talitha-cumi,"  which  is  simply,  "Maiden, 
arise."  It  was  no  magical  formula,  no  incantation,  but  a  simple 
authoritative  command.  Her  spirit  came  to  her,  and  she  arose 
straightway. 

In  the  confusion  of  the  rapid  and  great  transitions  through 
which  she  had  been  passing,  the  girl  walked  about  the  room. 
The  astonishment  of  the  parents  was  so  great  that  tliey  forgot  the 
necessities  of  the  child ;  but  the  ever  calm  Jesus  simply  told 
them  to  give  her  something  to  eat.  She  was  necessarily  weak. 
She  was  no  ghost,  although  if  a  ghost  had  come  it  could  scarcely 
have  produced  a  different  effect  upon  the  spectators.  So  self-sus- 
tained was  Jesus  that  these  wonderful  displays  of  his  power 
seemed  to  him  as  the  ordinary  work  of  his  hands.  "VYliat  man 
ever  did  such  things  and  made  no  ado,  exhibited  no  sense  of  his 
importance,  took  no  pains  to  give  the  transaction  all  possible  eclat  ? 
Jesus  told  them  not  to  spread  it.  But  they  did.  The  fame  of 
this  miracle  went  abroad  into  all  that  land. 

As  Jesus  went  from  the  house  of  Jairus,  occasion  presented 

itself  for  the  performance  of  other  strikingly  wonderful  works. 

On  the  road  two  blind  men  followed  him,  and 

Matt.  ii.  ,  ,  .  ' 

solicited  the  exercise  of  his  gi-eat  healing  power 
In  the  history  of  Jesus  he  is  often  confronted  with  bhndness. 
We  shall  not  wonder  at  this  when  we  recollect  how  common  that 
disease  is  in  the  East.  In  Cairo  alone  it  has  been  estimated  that 
there  are  four  thousand  blind  persons,  and  one  traveller  supposes 
that  one  in  every  five  is  partially  or  totally  blind.  This  arises 
from  the  bi-ightness  of  the  sun,  the  intense  reflection  of  the  light, 
the  dust  so  impalpable  or  so  constantly  abroad  in  the  air,  and  the 
custom  of  sleeping  in  the  open  air  at  night,  exposing  the  eyes  to 
noxious  dews  which  produce  iniiammations  that  are  usually  neg- 
lected until  they  end  in  incurable  blindness. 

Two  such  patients,  perhaps  by  the  way -side  begging,  learning 
that  Jesus  was  passing,  followed  him,  led  by  the  crowd,  it  may  be, 
and  cried  after  him,  "  O  Son  of  David,  have  pity  on  us."     "  Son 


A  CHATTER  OF  MIRACLES.  374 

of  David:"  this  was  the  recognized  title  of  the  Messiah.     To 
accept  it  was  to  claim  Messiahship.     The  blind  men  continued 
to  repeat  it.     Jesus  apparently  paid  no  attention     two  bUnd  men  r«- 
to  it  or  to  them,  but  passed  on  and  entered  his  '^''"''^^ 
lodgings.     The  blind  men  somehow  found  their  way  to  his  pres- 
ence.    Jesus  said  to  them,  "Do  you  believe  that  I  am  able  to  do 
this  for  you  ? "     They  answered,  "  Yes,  Lord."     Then  he  touched 
their  eyes  and  said,  "According  to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you." 
Their  sight  was  instantly  restored.     Then  Jesus,  who  made  this 
response  to  their  faith,  charged  them  sternly— he  really  seems  to 
have  threatened  them— that  they  should  not  make  proclamation 
of  their  belief  in  his  Messiahship.     He  could  not  have  charged 
tliem  to  conceal  tlieir  restoration  to  sight.     There  could  be  no 
reason  why  this  should  not  be  known.     But  there  was  a  good 
and  sufficient  reason  for  restraining  the  public  announcement  of 
his  claim  to  the  Messiahship.     The  people  were  already  begin- 
ning to  believe  it.   They  were  in  a  state  of  intense  excitement,  and 
being  always  ready  for  a  revolt  against  the  Roman  government, 
and  their  enthusiasm  for  Jesus  growing  at  each  display  of  his 
power  and  wisdom  and  goodness,  a  single  word  of  incitement 
would  have  been,  like  a  spark  to  a  keg  of  gunpowder,  the  occasion 
of  a  terrific  explosion.     With  extraordinary  wisdom  Jesus  saw 
that  his  time  had  not  yet  arrived. 

Nevertheless,  the  blind  men,  in  the  exuberance  of  their  grati- 
tude, proclaimed  that  the  Messiah  had  healed  them.  The  prac- 
tical effect  of  this  disobedience,  which  can  only  be  charitably 
excused  on  the  ground  of  their  uncontrollable  delight  at  their 
recovery,  had  no  good  effect  on  the  minds  of  the  enemies  of  Jesus. 
Those  men  had  scarcely  left  the  house  when  the  people  brought 
to  Jesus  another  of  those  bewildering  cases  of  fearful  disease,  a 
demoniac.  The  patient  in  this  case  was  one  jcsus  cures  a  dumb 
whose  psychical  disorder  had  the  physical  exhi-  demoniac, 
bition  of  dumbness.  His  diseased  soul  locked  up  his  tongue. 
His  insanity  took  on  the  form  of  speechlessness,  through  pro- 
foundest  melancholy  or  most  obdurate  stubbornness.  As  soon  as 
the  evil  of  his  soul  was  cured  his  speech  returned.  The  multi- 
tude marvelled  still  more,  and  said,  "  It  was  never  so  seen  in 
Israel,"  or,  as  it  may  be  translated,  "  He  has  never  been  so  seen 
in  Israel."  Either  rendering  makes  the  speech  of  the  populace 
an  ascription  to  Jesus  of  glory  greater  than  that  of  any  of  the 


376         SECOND   AND   THIKD   TASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF  ?ESUS. 

prophets.  It  lifted  liim  above  Moses  and  Elijah.  It  declared 
him  to  be,  in  their  opinion,  the  most  splendid  display  of  God's 
glorious  goodness  and  power  ever  made  to  Jeho\ah's  chosen  peo- 
l^le.  It  was  the  most  magnificent  compliment  which  people  living 
under  a  theocracy  could  pay  to  any  man. 

Of  course  the  tendency  of  this  w^as  to  inflame  the  Pharisaic 

j)arty  against  him.     They  made  the  old  objection,  "  He  casteth 

r.1,      A     fi,  K  •      out  demons  by  the  ruler  of  the  demons."     It  is 

Charged  with  being  >/ 

a  confederate  of  the  HOW  no  lougcr  a  wliispcr,  slyl}'^  circulated,  but  an 
open  accusation,  made  to  bi'cak  his  influence  over 
the  popular  mind.  Infernal  passions  manifestly  swayed  these 
Pharisees,  so  that  naturally  it  'was  not  difhcult  i'or  them  to  believe 
that  any  one  so  strong  as  Jesus  had  his  strengtli  from  bad  spirits. 
There  has  always  been  in  human  nature  an  unfortunate  pro- 
pensity to  imagine  the  chief  evil  spii-it  of  the  universe  to  be 
mightier  than  he  is.  Men  are  prone  to  deify  the  devil.  Even 
many  Christians  have  to  pause  and  think  before  they  disabuse 
their  minds  of  the  pi-ejudice  that  Satan  is  just  less  than  Almighty 
God.  Creative  power  is  often  assigned  him,  and  the  power  of 
inspiring  great  thoughts  and  stimulating  human  genius.  When 
printing  was  invented,  the  honor  was  assigned  to  "  the  devil  and 
Dr.  Faustus."  It  is  a  po])ular  opinion  in  parts  of  Germany  to 
this  day,  that  tlie  famous  cathedral  of  Cologne  owes  its  magnifi- 
cence to  the  co-operation  of  the  devil :  it  is  too  splendid  a  struc- 
ture to  have  been  erected  without  his  aid !  On  the  road  over  the 
St.  Gothard  Pass,  in  Switzerland,  is  a  wonderful  bridge  across  the 
river  Reuss,  joining  the  wild  scenery  of  two  mountains  by  a  span 
of  seventy-five  feet.  Of  course  it  is  the  "  Devil's  Bridge !  "  The 
Pharisees  would  have  gladly  obtained  power  from  the  ruler  of 
the  demons  if  they  had  only  known  how:  it  was  quite  eas}',  then, 
for  them  to  fancy  that  Jesus  had  discovered  the  secret.  That  the 
Father  of  Men  should  confer  so  beneficent  a  power  upon  any  of 
his  sons  was  an  idea  too  broad  for  the  narrow  minds  of  the 
Pharisees.  And  so  they  persecuted  Jesus,  not  because  of  the  sin 
of  being  in  league  with  the  devil,  but  out  of  sheer  envy  that  he 
had  made  better  terms  with  Satan  than  they  and  their  children 
had  been  able  to  do.  In  Matthew  xii.  27,  does  not  Jesus  intimate 
as  much  ? 

Jesus  now  withdrew  himself  and  went  with  his  disciples  to  his 
own  country.    This  avoidance  of  the  spite  of  liis  enemies  seems  to 


A   CnATTEB   OF   MIRACLES.  377 

evince  only  a  prndential  regard  to  the  success  of  his  work,  and 

ill  no  way  to  indicate  cowardice,  as  lie  was  always  ready  to  meet 

them  in  argument ;  and  when  he  shifted  tlie  range 

of  his  operations,  he  never  for  a  day  ceased  to  ^^^^^  '    '^  '^"'" 

nrgc  forward  his  work.     lie  was  not  yet  read}'  to 

give  himself  np.     His  disciples  Avere  not  yet  ready  to  be  left. 

Jesus  was  no  wild  fanatic,  no  fnrious  enthusiast  rushing  on  fate. 

He  had  the  great  faculty  of  being  able  to  wait :  but  he  was  a 

ceaseless  worker.     He  foresaw  his  time  coming.     He  would  not 

hurry  it.     It  was  coming  fast  enough. 

Once  more  he  entered  Nazareth,  a  town  to  be  made  immortal 
by  being  attached  to  his  name.  On  the  Sabbath  he  entered  the 
synagogue  and  began  to  teach.  He  taught  astonishingly.  His 
knowledge,  his  goodness,  his  power,  and,  perhaps  above  all,  his 
authority  came  out  in  his  speech.  The  Nazarenes  could  not  com- 
prehend it.  It  seemed  to  them  only  a  few  months,  and  it  had  not 
been  long  since  he  had  lived  in  their  midst  among  their  humblest 
fellow-citizens.  They  knew  the  dwelling  of  Mary.  They  knew 
her  other  children.  None  of  Mary's  other  children  made  any  pre- 
tension to  either  special  sanctity  or  special  authority.  Nay,  they 
did  not  believe  in  the  pretensions  of  their  brother  Jesus.  He  had 
failed  to  inspire  them  with  confidence.  He  came  to  them  with  a 
crowd  at  his  back,  and  bringing  home  a  reputation  as  a  prophet 
the  like  of  which  had  not  been  known  in  their  day.  He  had  per- 
formed mira(tles,  had  even  raised  the  dead,  not  far  from  Nazareth. 
But  it  seemed  like  yesterday  since  they  had  seen  him  in  his  shop 
with  the  implements  of  the  mechanic,  making  or  mending  plain 
furniture,  or  had  seen  him  carrying  his  tools  to  neighboring  houses 
to  do  repairs.  There  was  nothing  specially  attractive  in  his  ap- 
pearance. When  he  sat  in  the  synagogue  no  halo  hung  ovpr  his 
brow.  But  now  this  plain  man  came  back  and  assumed  great 
authority,  and  really  did  teach  in  a  style  surpassing  anything  they 
had  ever  heard  before. 

And  so  they  talked  among  themselves  and  said,  "Whence  hallj 
this  one  this  wisdom  and  mighty  powei-s  ?  Is  he  not  a  carpenter  'i 
Is  he  not  a  carpenter's  son  ?  Is  not  his  mother 
the  woman  called  Mary  ?  Is  he  not  the  brother^^^.^'^^"^''^'^'*'*^  ^^  ''* 
of  James  and  Joses,  and  Judas  and  Simon  ?  Are 
not  his  sisters  all  here  with  us?  Whence  hath  this  man  all  these 
things?"     They  showed  him  no  violent  opposition,  but  merely 


378         SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

regarded  him  with  contempt.  His  return  for  this  treatment  wat* 
the  simple  announcement  of  a  well-known  fact  in  human  nature: 
"  A  prophet  is  not  without  honor  except  in  his  own  country,  and 
among  his  own  kin,  and  in  liis  own  house."  lie  did  nothing  note- 
worthy in  Nazareth,  except  tliat  he  laid  his  healing  hands  on  a  few 
sick  people.  He  left  Nazareth,  marvelling  at  the  unbelief  of  its 
inhabitants. 


MAP  or   CEXTBAi,  AND  aOUIH  GALILEE. 


CnAPTER  IX. 

THE  THIRD  TOUK  OF  GAilLEE,  AND  KETUKN  TO  CAPEKNAUM. 

Fkom  Nazareth  Jesus  entered  upon  his  tliird  circnit  in  Galilee, 
the  extent  of  which  tour  cannot  he  defined.     Matthew  says  that 
he  "  went  about  all  the  cities  and  villages."  Mark, 
that  "he  went  round  about  the  villages."     All     i" caiiiee.  Matt. u., 

o  X.,  XI.;  Mark  VI.,  iz.« 

concur  that  lie  was  teaching  and  preaching  his  Luke  is.,  x. 
peculiar  doctrines,  and  displaying  his  great  power 
of  healing.  The  multitudes  continued  to  throng  him.  They  had 
had  the  formal  instruction  of  tbe  Established  Church,  but  the 
mass  of  the  people  wore  destitute  of  moral  and  religious  culture. 
They  appeared  to  the  eye  of  Jesus  as  sheep  that  had  no  shepherd, 
torn  to  pieces  by  hierarchic  wolves.  And  yet  the  people  seemed 
desirous  of  spiritual  training.  At  sight  of  this  Jesus  said  to  his 
disciples,  "  The  harvest  indeed  is  great,  but  the  laborers  are  few: 
pray  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he  will  send  forth 
laborers  into  his  harvest."  It  was  the  suggestion  of  the  mission- 
ary idea  and  the  kindling  of  the  missionary  spirit.  It  was  a  hint 
as  to  what  his  intentions  were  for  immediate  missionary  opera- 
tion. 

In  pm-suance  of  this  design  he  called  his  twelve  chosen  disci- 
ples together,  and  commissioned  and  instructed  them  for  this 
new  institution  of  propagandism.  He  intended 
to  disseminate  his  doctrines  more  rapidly  and  ^^^^'>^'^  ^°^^ 
more  widely.  These  men  had  been  with  him  long 
enough  to  be  weaned  from  other  pursuits,  to  be  attached  to  his 
person  and  his  plans,  and  to  have  acquired  such  facility  in  co- 
operation that  they  could  work  together.  Jesus  instituted  seven 
itinerant  centres  of  influence.  Not  stopping  in  his  own  work,  he 
sent  the  twelve  in  pairs.  Their  work  may  be  better  gathered 
from  their  commission  in  the  words  of  Jesus  than  from  any  para- 
phrase.   He  addressed  them  thus : — 


3S0         SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

"  Go  not  into  the  "svay  of  the  Gentiles,  and  enter  not  into  a  city  of  the 
Samaritans.  But  go  ratlier  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.  And 
going,  preach,  saying.  The  kingdom  of  the  heavens  ia 
at  hand.  Ileal  the  sick,  raise  the  dead,  cleanse  the  lep- 
ers, cast  out  demons :  freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give.  Provide  neither 
gold,  nor  silver,  nor  copper  in  your  girdles,  nor  a  wallet  for  your  journey,  noi 
two  coats,  nor  shoes,  nor  a  staff.  And  into  whatever  city  or  village  ye  may  enter, 
inquire  who  in  it  is  worthy,  and  tliere  abide  tiU.  ye  depart:  go  not  from  house 
i*to  house :  and  into  whatsoever  city  ye  enter,  and  they  receive  you,  eat  such 
tilings  as  are  set  before  you ;  for  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  food.  But  as  ye 
enter  into  the  house,  salute  it,  saying,  'Peace  be  to  tliis  house.'  And  if  indeed 
the  house  be  worthy,  your  peace  shall  come  upon  it :  but  if  it  be  not  worthy, 
your  peace  shall  return  to  you.  And  whoever  will  not  receive  you,  nor  hear 
your  words,  on  going  out  of  that  house,  or  city,  or  village,  shake  off  the  dust 
from  your  feet  for  a  testimony  against  them :  notwithstanding,  be  ye  sure  of 
this,  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  them.  Verily  I  say  to  you, 
it  will  be  more  tolerable  for  the  land  of  Sodom  and  the  land  of  Gomorrah, 
in  the  day  of  judgment,  than  for  that  city. 

"Behold,  I  send  you  forth  as  sheep  in  the  midst  of  wolves.  Begin  ye 
therefore  to  become  wise  as  the  serpent,  and  simple  as  the  doves.  But  beware 
of  men :  for  tli^y  will  deliver  yoi;  up  to  councils,  and  will  scourge  you  in  the 
synagogues :  and  ye  shall  be  broug'nt  before  governors  and  kings  for  my  sake, 
for  a  testimony  to  them  and  to  the  Gentiles.  And  wlien  they  deliver  you  up, 
be  not  over-anxious  how  or  what  ye  sliall  speak  :  for  it  shall  Ije  given  to  you 
in  that  hour  what  ye  shall  speak.  For  ye  are  not  the  speakers,  but  the  Spirit 
of  your  Father  sp'jaking  in  you.  And  a  brother  shall  deliver  up  a  brother  to 
death,  and  a  father  a  child ;  and  cliildren  shall  rise  up  against  parents,  and 
shall  put  them  to  death.  And  ye  sliall  be  hated  by  all  on  account  of  my 
name ;  but  the  one  liaving  endured  to  the  end  shall  be  saved.  But  when  they 
persecute  you  in  this  city,  flee  into  another:  for  verily  I  say  to  you.  Ye  shall 
not  finish  the  cities  of  Israel  until  the  Son  of  Man  come. 

"A  disciple  is  not  above  his  teacher,  nor  the  servant  above  his  lord.  SuflS- 
cient  for  the  disciple  that  he  be  as  his  teacher,  and  the  servant  as  his  lord.  If 
they  have  called  the  master  of  the  house  Beelzebul,  how  much  more  those  of 
the  household  ?  Fear  them  not,  therefore,  for  there  is  nothing  covered  that 
shall  not  be  revealed,  and  hidden  that  shall  not  be  kuo^vn.  What  I  say  to  you 
in  the  darkness,  speak  in  the  light :  and  what  ye  hear  in  the  ear,  preach  upon 
the  housetops.  And  fear  not  those  who  kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill 
the  soul :  but  rather  fear  the  one  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  Gehen- 
na.    Are  not  two  sparrows  sold  for  an  assarion  ?  *  and  not  one  of  them  shall 

*  This  indicates  a  coin  of  small  value, 
perhaps  more  than  an  American  cent  and 
less  than  an  English  penny.  Here  is  a 
picture  of  a  bronze  specimen  of  this  coin. 
On  one  side  is  an  anchor,  and  the  Greek 
MITE  OP  HEKOD.  Icttcrs  fox  IleTocl Bttcl  (Herod  King),  and 

on  the  obverse  two  cornucopiiB  and  a  pomegranate. 


THE  THIRD  TOUR  OF  GALILEE.  3S1 

fall  on  the  ground  without  your  Father.  But  even  the  hairs  of  your  head  are 
all  numbered.  Fear  ye  not  then ;  ye  are  of  more  value  than  many  sparrows. 
Eveiy  one,  therefore,  who  will  confess  me  l^efore  men,  I  also  ^\^ll  confess  hira 
before  my  Father  in  heaven. 

"  Think  not  that  I  came  to  cast  peace  on  the  earth :  I  came  not  to  cast  peace, 
but  a  sword.  For  I  came  to  set  a  man  against  his  f atlier,  and  a  daughter 
against  her  mother,  and  a  daughter-in-law  against  her  mother-in-law.  And 
the  enemies  of  a  man  are  those  of  his  own  household.  He  who  loveth  fatlier 
or  mother  above  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me :  and  he  wlio  loveth  son  or  daughter 
above  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me.  And  he  who  taketli  not  his  cross,  and  fol- 
loweth  after  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me.  He  who  lindetli  his  life  shall  lose  it : 
and  he  who  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake  shall  find  it.  He  who  rccciveth  you 
rcceiveth  me,  and  he  who  receiveth  me  receiveth  him  who  sent  me.  He  who 
receiveth  a  prophet  in  the  name  of  a  prophet,  shall  receive  the  reward  of  a 
prophet;  and  he  who  receiveth  a  righteous  man  in  tlie  name  of  a  righteous 
man,  shall  receive  the  reward  of  a  righteous  man.  And  whoever  may  give  to 
diink  to  one  of  these  little  ones  only  a  cup  of  cold  water  in  the  name  of  a 
dL<Jciple,  verily  I  say  to  you,  he  shall  not  lose  his  reward." 

Jesus  gives  directions  to  ])is  disciples  as  to  the  route  they  "wero 
to  take,  as  well  as  a  col^mission  for  the  work  they  were  to  per- 
form. They  were  not  to  ffo  amono;  the  Tloman 
settlements  nor  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Samaria. 
"Eathertothe  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,"  explains  the 
direction  as  one  not  founded  on  bigotry  or  Jewish  intolerance,  but 
as  a  temporary  economic  arrangement.  All  men  were  afterward' 
to  have  his  gospel,  but  this  was  a  "trial  trip,"  a  missionary  exer- 
cise for  the  Apostles  among  their  own  people,  almost  under  his 
own  eyes. 

He  imparted  to  them,  of  liis  peculiar  power,  ability  to  heal  tho 
sick,  to  cleanse  lepers,  to  eject  demons,  and  to  raise  the  dead. 
Whether  they  found  on  this  excursion  any  occa- 

...  .  ''  Their  powers. 

sion  to  exercise  this  great  power  in  tlie  raising  of 
the  dead,  w^e  are  not  informed.     But  all  these  things  were  merely 
subservient  to  the  "preaching  of  tlie  kingdom."     That  was  to  bo 
their  great  work,  the  chief  absorbing  labor  of  their  lives. 

The  next  direction  is  that  they  are  to  make  no  provision  f(^r 
their  personal  comfort,  in  the  way  of  money  and  clothes.  They 
were  to  preach  the   gospel  witliout  pay.     They 

11  '         1      r         t  ^  .n,  T\ic\i  provision. 

nad  received  freely,  they  were  to  give  freely. 
The  gospel  was  not  to  be  sold.     Tliey  were  to  go  forth  free  of 
care  and  do  their  great  work.     Their  Lord  assured  them  tliat  they 
Bhould  not  fail  of  support.     The   people  would   receive  them. 


382         SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVEK   IN   THE   LITE   OF   JESUS. 

They  were  not  to  be  encumbered  with  baggage.  Their  wanta 
were  to  be  simple,  and  those  wants  were  to  be  supplied.  It  was 
a  general  principle  he  seems  to  have  laid  down  for  the  governance 
of  all  future  missionary  operations.  A  man  going  forth  with  the 
truth  will  find  tliose  who  are  ready  to  minister  to  his  wants. 

And  then  he  sets  forth  the  method  in  which  he  desired  his  gos- 
pel propagated.     It  was  not  by  founding  churclies,  not  by  erect- 
ina-  (Treat  and  powerful  ecclesiastical  apparatus. 

The  home-altar.  °    °  ^  .  i     i  ^  t 

lie  seems  never  to  have  intended  to  found  a 
church  like  this,  like  anything  indeed  now  represented  by  our 
modern  "  denominations."  His  "  church  "  was  to  be  of  all  those 
who  trusted  in  liim,  believed  him,  followed  liira,  loved  him.  Its 
work  was  the  dissemination  of  certain  principles.  It  is  observa- 
ble that  he  cliose  the  heartli-stone  as  tlie  altar  of  the  temple  of 
the  new  faith.  His  apostles  were  to  enter  houses,  not  cry  aloud 
in  the  streets,  nor  harangue  the  crowds.  Tliey  were  to  carry  the 
seeds  of  the  newly  quickened  religion  to  the  homes  and  the  hearts 
of  men.  Tliey  were  to  sit  down  among  the  parents  and  children 
and  servants,  and  tell  them  what  Jesus  was  teaching,  explain  to 
them  what  the  "  kingdom  "  was,  and  was  to  be,  and  how  it  was  to 
interpenetrate  all  life  from  bottom  to  ^o]>.  They  were  to  cure  and 
cleanse  men  spiritually,  and  in  confirmation  of  their  mission  cure 
and  cleanse  them  physically.  The  religion  of  Jesus  is  not  a  tem- 
ple religion.  It  does  not  consist  in  periodical  visits  to  the  altar- 
spot,  ceremonial  offering  of  specified  sacrifices,  nor  anything  else 
churchly  and  ritual.  It  was  to  be  the  religion  for  the  home.  It 
was  to  draw  all  men  near  to  the  Father  of  all  men.  It  was  to 
make  the  earthly  home  a  type  of  the  heavenly,  a  terrestrial  school 
of  preparation  for  the  celestial  "life  to  come."  It  was  to  be  a 
religion  of  principle.  Some  families  would  receive  them,  others 
would  reject.  They  are  told  how  to  conduct  themselves  in  either 
event. 

But  he  warns  them  that  it  is  not  to  be  always  easy  work.  They 
were  not  always  to  be  immediate  and  radiant  victors.  The  oppo- 
,  .  sition  they  should  meet  would  be  powerful  and  for- 

midable. The  Jews  would  oppose  them.  Some- 
times, instead  of  carrying  captive  the  congregation  in  the  syna- 
gogue, the  poor  Apostle  would  be  enduring  a  scourging.  The 
Gentile  governors  and  kings  would  set  them  at  naught.  What 
seemed  so  true  to  them  would  seem  so  false  to  others;  what  seemed 


THE   TITLED   TOUR   OF   GALILEE.  383 

BO  beautiful  to  tliem  would  be  so  ugly  and  hateful  to  others. 
They  should  be  called  to  answer  suddenly  at  the  highest  pagan 
tribunals.  But  they  were  not  to  be  anxious.  The  right  word 
would  come  at  the  right  hour.  They  are  to  keep  themselves  in 
the  love  of  the  truth  and  be  not  specially  careful  for  their  oratory. 
He  particular!}^  tears  away  all  self-conceit  from  them  by  sa\ing 
"  Ye  are  not  the  speakers,  but  the  Spirit  of  your  Father."  This 
lifts  them  above  all  selfish  anxiety.  It  is  not  their  work,  but 
another's.  If  they  be  persecuted  in  one  city  they  must  flee  to 
another.  They  have  no  further  work  in  the  one,  artd  they  have 
something  to  do  in  another.  Providence  sometimes  leads  and 
sometimes  drives. 

But  he  gives  them  this  consolation — that  they  shall  not  have 
finished  visiting  the  cities  of  Israel  "  vmtil  the  Son  of  Man  come." 
It  is  not  quite  easy  to  determine  satisfactorily 

•■■  •'  "^  A  consolation. 

what  this  phrase  means.  It  may  mean  that  he 
should  join  them  in  person  before  long,  and  thus  be  present  to 
aid  and  direct  them.  To  this  it  is  to  be  objected  that  the  portion 
of  tlws  solemn  charge  which  begins  with  "  Behold,  I  send  you 
forth  as  sheep,"  really  seems  not  to  have  had  application  to  them 
in  their  temporary  missionary  excursions,  but  to  their  much  longer 
apostolic  career  after  the  death  of  Jesus.  Certainly  the  events 
which  he  foretold  did  not  take  place  until  then.  The  interpreta- 
tion suggested  by  Stier  is  that  it  applies  to  the  apostolic  labors 
in  Judaia,  which  were  to  be  closed  by  the  coming  of  the  Son  of 
Man  in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and,  by  extension,  that  it 
applies  to  the  operations  of  his  messengers  in  the  towns  of  the 
spiritual  Israel.  But  all  this  seems  mystical.  These  men  were 
going  on  a  practical  mission,  which  Jesus  tells  them  was  so  full  of 
peril  that  their  lives  should  be  in  constant  jeopardy.  It  was  no 
time  to  talk  romantic  theology  to  them,  Jesus  meant  something 
practical  which  they  could  understand.  Just  what  it  was  I  do 
not  know,  but  its  general  significance  seems  to  be  that,  no  matter 
how  industriously  they  worked,  and  however  rapid  their  move- 
ments, they  could  not  visit  all  the  towns  before  their  mission 
should  be  accomplished.  And  this  was  probably  the  sense, 
whether  their  temporary  tour  be  considered  or  their  tra\el3  and 
laboi-s  after  the  death  of  their  Teacher. 

He  still  further  confirms  and  strengthens  them  by  reminding 
them  of  his  own  case.     Thev  rcadilv  acknowledged  him  as  theii 


384         SECOND   AND   THIKD   PASSOVER   IN   THE    LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

Master  and  Lord ;  but  he  had  all  kinds  of  opprobrium   heaped 

upon  him.     He  had  not  had  a  serene  and  brilliant  public  life 

His  was  not  the  work  of  o-radually  winnino-  men 

Hi3  own  case.  .  •(■•ii  •! 

to  the  truth ;  it  was  a  terrmc  battle  with  error 
and  evil.  The  disciple  is  not  above  his  master,  the  servant  is  nol 
above  his  lord.  They  were  to  push  the  battle  forward.  He  had 
spoken  to  them  privately;  they  were  to  declare  his  doctrines 
openly.  What  they  had  heard  in  the  closet  they  must  proclaim 
upon  the  house-top.  But  there  was  to  be  no  timidity  and  pusil- 
lanimity. A  special  providence  would  be  vouchsafed  them.  To 
sparrows,  one  of  which  is  worth  scarcely  a  penny,  God's  guar- 
dianship extends,  so  that  one  of  them  does  not  fall  without  his 
notice.  The  arrow  of  the  archer  cannot  reach  him  unless  God 
so  wills.  That  same  heavenly  Father  counts  every  hair  of  every 
head.  How  much  more  precious  is  tlie  head  than  the  hair,  the 
man  than  the  sparrow!  And  a  man  set  to  the  promulgation  of 
great  truths,  how  precious  is  he  !  He  shall  not  l)e  destroyed  care- 
lessly. On  the  other  hand,  he  warns  tliem  by  tlieir  fear  of  God 
as  well  as  by  their  coniidtMice  in  his  love.  The  pei-secutor  lives 
his  day;  the  martyr  lias  eternity.  Men  may  destroy  the  body. 
They  reach  their  limit  there.  God  can  destroy  both  soul  and 
body  in  eternity.  He  seems  to  teach  that  the  linal  punishment 
of  the  incorrigibly  wicked  shall  be  the  final  destruction  of  both 
soul  and  body. 

He  gives  his  Apostles  to  understand  that  the  propagation  of  his 
gospel  would  be  a  process  of  discrimination,  and  an  occasion,  not 

The  gospel  to  be  a  ^  causc,  of  widc-sprcad  and  bitter  antagonisms, 
discrimination.  jjg  amiounces  liis  iuteiition  of  claiming  and  striv- 

ing to  win  the  best  love  of  every  man.  Every  earthly  affection 
in  the  disciple  is  to  become  subordinate  to  his  devotion  to  his 
Master.  Father,  mother,  son,  daughtei-, — every  other  relationship 
and  love  must  sit  down  at  his  feet.  He  intends  to  make  himself 
king  by  obtaining  monarchic  sway  over  the  hearts  of  men.  Life 
itself  is  to  be  laid  on  the  altar  of  this  love.  If  a  man  shrink 
from  the  service  of  Jesus  in  order  to  preserve  his  life,  he  Mill 
surely  lose  it.  He  who  yields  himself,  in  the  wise  abandonment 
of  a  reasonable  devotion,  to  Jesus,  shall  find  all  the  good  and 
sweet  there  is  in  life.  Jesus  will  know,  remember,  and  reward 
every  least  act  of  help  to  his  kingdom  or  to  those  who  are  engaged 
in  upbuilding  it — even  to  the  giving  of  a  cup  of  cold  water  to  a 


THE   THIRD   TOUR   OF    GALTLKF:.  385 

disciple.  lie  intends  to  invest  all  his  followers  with  a  portion  of 
his  own  dignity.  Whosoever  receives  a  minister  of  the  gospel  is 
to  be  regarded  as  one  who  has  received  Jesus  into  his  liouse,  as 
Jesus  is  to  be  king  of  hearts ! 

It  must  have  been  appalling  to  the  Apostles  wdien  Jesus  spoke 
of  "  taking  up  the  cross  "  and  following  him.  lie  had  not  been 
crncified ;  there  was  no  prospect  that  he  would 

,  111-  1  .       .  .  -  A  frightful  figure. 

be :  he  had  given  them  no  intimation  or  any 
suspicion  on  his  part  that  his  career  would  have  so  disastrous  a 
termination.  But  the  cross  as  an  instrument  of  ignominious  tor- 
ture was  well  known  to  them  ;  and  they  most  probably  interpreted 
this  phrase  figurativel}'',  as  it  was  intended,  to  mean  great  pain 
and  shame  to  be  brought  upon  them  by  becoming  preachers  of 
the  gospel. 

The  whole  address  is  a  great  step  forward.     It  commissions 
Apostles  to  open  the  way  before  him.     His  hour  was  coming.     lie 
was  advancing  his  claims.     lie  was  prudently  but 
unhesitatingly  going  forward  on  the  line  of  his 
aission.     He  mio;ht  have  retreated  hitherto ;  now  he  must  2:0  for- 
ward  to  any  fate  that  might  lie  in  the  path  he  had  chosen. 

The  disciples  went  on  their  way.  Jesus  continued  to  work. 
They  were  all  engaged  in  preaching  repentance  as  preparatory  to 
the  receiving  of  the  Messiah.  We  are  not  now  able  to  learn  how 
large  was  the  missionary  circuit  of  the  Apostles,  but  it  is  very  ap- 
parent that  it  excited  a  great  popular  interest  in  the  person  and 
work  of  Jesus. 

At  the  instigation  of  Herodias,  Herod  had,  as  we  have  seen, 
seized  and  imprisoned  John  the  Baptist,  because  the  bold  preacher 
had  rebuked  him  for  living  in  adultery  w'itli  Ile- 

j.  ,  1  •       •    1.        •      1  ii  •£        r  -^>^  •^•  John  the  Baptist  cx- 

rodias,  who  was  his  sister-in-law,  the  wire  01  rhihp.  ecuted.  Matt.  xiv.  1- 
He  may  also  liave  feared  lest  the  ffrowins:  in-  i^;    Mark  vi.  21-29; 

n  "   r    T   1  1  1  -11  Luke  ix.  7-9. 

iluence  or  J  ohn  upon  the  populace  miglit  become 
so  great  as  to  give  him  political  power,  if  he  chose  to  exert  it. 
For  entire  safety  he  had  confined  the  Baptist  in  the  castle  of 
Machserus.  Herodias  never  forgave  John  his  denunciation  of 
this  adulterous  connection,  but  continued  to  plot  against  his  life, 
and  at  last  succeeded  Herod's  birthday  arrived.  He  made  a 
supper  for  his  lords,  high  captains,  and  chief-estates.  At  a 
warm  stacjc  of  the  revel  the  daughter  of  Herodias  entered  and 
danced  before  the  assembly,  danced  so  seductively  that  Herod,  in 
25 


386 


SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVEE  IN  THE   LIFE   OF  JESUS. 


Herod  hears  of  Jesus. 


his  liot  admiration,  promised  to  give  her  whatever  she  should  awk, 
to  the  half  of  his  kingdom.  To  convince  her,  he  backed  up  this 
foolish  promise  by  an  oath.  She  conferred  with  her  vindictive 
mother,  who  instructed  her  to  demand  the  head  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist. To  this  demand  Herod  was  extremely  reluctant  to  comply. 
Nevertheless,  as  the  historian  says,  "for  his  oath's  sake,  and  for 
their  sakes  who  sat  at  meat,  he  would  not  reject  her."  An  execu- 
tioner went  forthwith  and  bi'ought  the  horrible  gift  in  a  charger, 
which  the  hardened  daughter  carried  to  her  callous,  mother. 
John's  disciples  heard  that  he  had  been  executed,  and  went  and 
buried  his  headless  corpse. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  the  fame  of  Jesus  readied  the  court 
of  Herod.  That  potentate  was  superstitious  as  well  as  lustful 
and  cruel.  When  he  heard  the  marvellous  things 
which  Jesus  was  doing  he  was  perplexed,  and 
said  to  his  friends  that  it  was  John  risen  from  the  dead.  They 
endeavored  to  allay  his  terror  by  saying  that  it  was  Elias,  or  the 
spirit  of  some  other  of  the  older  proi3liets  reappearing  in  Jesus. 
But  Herod's  alarms  were  not  so  easily  dissipated.  He  retained 
and  affirmed  the  conviction  that  his  victim  had  I'isen  from  the 
dead.  He  determined,  if  possible,  to  see  Jesus,  who  was  mani- 
festly becoming  as  important,  in  a  political  point  of  view,  as 
Herod  had  supposed  John  to  be.»  "When  Jesus  heard  that  Herod 
had  begun  to  manifest  an  interest  in  his  movements,  and  saw 
that  the  people  were  reaching  a  pitch  of  excitement  which  might 
easily  transport  them  into  violence,  he  judged  it  best  to  withdraw 
himself  from  a  position  in  which  he  was  liable  to  have  his  great 
work  interrupted  by  the  arousing  of  a  tyi*ant's  terrors  by  popular 
demonstration  in  his  behalf. 

In  the  mean  time  the  disciples  had  returned  and  reported  the 
results  of  their  missionary  tour.  Perhaps  the  news  of  the  death 
of  John  hastened  their  return.*  Mark  mentions 
another  reason:  the  Apostles  iiad  returned  from 
their  tour,  by  the  labors  and  circumstances  of  which  they  were 
excited,  and  they  needed  refreshment  for  coming  conflicts.     Jesus 


Ectum  of  the  twelve. 


*  It  does  not  appear  how  long  they 
Were  absent  on  this  preaching  tour. 
Wieseler  and  Tiachendorf  make  it  only  a 
flay ;  Ellicott,  two  days ;  Greswell,  that 
hey  left  in  February  and  returned  in 


March,  one  or  two  months ;  and  Krafft 
extends  it  to  several  months.  We  can 
hardly  suppose  that  it  was  lees  than 
several  weeks. 


THE   THIKD   TOUR   OF   GALILEE. 


387 


withdrew  them  from  their  public  ministry,  and  went  with  them 
into  a  desert  place.  If  he  had  not  done  so,  now  that  he  was 
becoming  so  popular,  and  the  people  so  much  excited  by  his  min- 
istry, and  the  slaughter  of  John  having  undoubtedly  produced  a 
very  profound  impression,  it  is  probable  that  a  sedition  would 
have  occurred,  and  Ilerod  would  have  charged  it  to  his  ministry. 
And  this  sedition  was  all  the  more  probable  as  the  people  did  not 
recognize  him  as  a  divine  person,  but  only  as  a  very  great  prophet. 
There  was  every  prudential  reason  for  retiring,  lie  took  a  boat 
with  his  disciples  and  went  over  to  a  portion  of  uninhabited  shore, 
probably  near  the  town  of  Bethsaida,  in  Perea.  He  was  not  flying 
from  Ilerod  so  much  as  from  the  people.  But  he  could  not  be 
hid.  The  excited  populace,  seeing  the  movement  and  conjectur- 
ing the  destination,  ran  around  the  head  of  the  lake  and  reached 
the  spot  before  the  landing  of  Jesus,  who,  when  he  came  out,  saw 
that  privacy  was  impracticable.  lie  looked  on  that  great  multi- 
tude, anxious  and  panting  from  the  exertion  they  had  made  to 
gain  the  spot.*  He  had  compassion  upon  them.  Their  spiritual 
pastors  had  abandoned  them.  They  were  as  sheep  without  a  shep- 
herd. The  tender-hearted  Jesus  could  not  forbear.  So,  eoino;  to 
an  elevation,  he  sat  down,  and  for  hours  gave  them  instruction  in 
the  things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God. 

And  when  the  day  was  far  spent  his  disciples  reminded  him 
that  it  was  a  desert  place  and  that  the  people  had  long  been  with- 
out food,  and  urged  him  to  send  them  away  to  find  food  and 


*  The  distance  was  from  six  to  eight 
miles,  and  could  be  passed  over  as 
quickly  by  those  who  hastened  on  foot 
as  by  those  who  crossed  the  lake  in  a 
boat.  Bethsaida  probably  lay  on  both 
Bides  the  Jordan,  just  where  it  entered 
into  the  lake.  On  the  east  is  the  level 
plain  of  Buthiah,  in  the  shape  of  a  tri- 
angle, made  by  the  eastern  mountains, 
the  lake  shore,  and  the  river  side.  Dr. 
Thomson  concludes,  and  I  think  shows, 
that  the  site  of  the  feeding  of  the  five 
thousand  was  in  the  south-eastern  angle 
of  this  jjlain,  where  the  hills  come  close 
to  the  shore.  He  says  (vol.  ii.  p.  29), 
"  From  the  four  narratives  of  this  stu- 
pendous miracle,  we  gather,  1st,  That 
the  place  belonged  to  Bethsaida;  2d 


That  it  was  a  desert  place  ;  3d,  That  it 
was  near  the  shore  of  the  lake,  for  they 
came  to  it  by  boats ;  4th,  That  there  was 
a  mountain  close  at  hand  ;  5th,  That  it 
was  a  smooth  grassy  spot,  capable  of 
seating  many  thousand  people.  Now 
all  these  requisites  are  found  in  this 
exact  locality,  and  nowhere  else,  so  far 
as  I  can  discover.  This  Butaiha  be- 
longed to  Bethsaida.  At  this  extreme 
south-east  comer  of  it  the  mountain 
shuts  do\vn  upon  the  lake,  bleak  and  bar- 
ren. It  was,  doubtless,  desert  then  as 
now,  for  it  is  not  capable  of  cultivation. 
In  this  little  cove  the  ships  (boats)  were 
anchored.  On  this  beautiful  sward,  at 
the  base  of  the  rocky  hiU,  the  people 
were  seated." 


388 


SECOND   AXD   THIRD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESTIS. 


lodging  in  the  surrounding  country.     To  this  he  replied,  "  Tliey 
need  not  depart ;  give  ye  them  to  eat."     Previous  to  this,  probably 
Mb-acuions  feeding  of  earlj  iu  tlio  aftcmoon,  Jesus  had  questioned  Philip 
five  thousand.  j^g  ^q  ]^q^  i\yQj  ghould  manage  to  feed  so  great  a 

congregation  of  people.  There  may  have  been  two  reasons  for 
])utting  this  question  to  Philip,  namely,  that  he  was  a  man  very 
slow  of  spiritual  apprehension,  and  was  a  citizen  of  the  neighbor- 
ing town  of  Bethsaida.  John  says  that  Jesus  tlius  questioned 
Philip  to  prove  him,  Philip's  reply  shows  his  spiritual  obtuse- 
ness.  Jesus  was  putting  forth  his  claim  to  Messiahship  more  and 
more  distinctly.  But  Philip  could  not  discover  it.  lie  replied, 
"  Two  hundred  denarii  wortli  of  loaves  is  not  sufficient  for  them, 
that  everyone  should  receive  a  little."  This  intimation  of  the 
impossibility  of  making  so  heavy  a  purchase  shows  the  scantiness 
of  the  exchequer  of  tlie  circle  of  Jesus.  "Thirty  dollars  would 
not  feed  them  !  and  where  have  we  tliat  sum  ? "  Jesus  seems  to 
have  left  the  perplexing  question  with  Philip  until  late  in  the 
afternoon,  when  liis  disciples  suggested  the  difficulty  to  him,  to 
which  he  replied  as  above,  and  added,  "How  many  loaves  have 
you  ? "  Andrew  answered  that  they  had  found  in  the  multitude 
a  lad  who  had  live  bai-ley  loaves  and  two  small  lislies.  lie  ordered 
them  to  be  brought  to  him,  and  then  commanded  the  multitude  to 
be  seated  on  the  green  grass,  in  plots  or  squares,  so  that  there  were 
alleys  betM^een,  and  the  whole  slope  looked  like  a  garden  whose 
parterres  were  filled  with  human  beings.  He  thou  locjked  up  to 
heaven  and  blessed  and  brake  the  loaves,  and  handed  them  to  the 
disciples  to  set  before  the  multitude.  There  were  about  five  thou- 
sand men,  beside  women  and  children.  The  orderly  arrangement 
secured  anq)le  opportunity  to  each  to  eat  as  much  as  he  would,  as 
long  as  the  food  lasted.  They  did  all  eat  and  were  filled.  AVlien 
they  could  eat  no  more  Jesus  directed  the  fragments  to  be  gath- 
ered, that  nothing  be  lost,  and  the  disciples  gathered  twelve  bas 
kets*  full  of  the  fragments  and  of  the  fishes  that  remained  over 
after  all  had  eaten. 


*  This  is  the  translation  in  the  com- 
mon version,  and  is  correct,  that  bemg 
the  ordinary  meaning  of  the  word.  But 
does  it  not  mean  that  the  twelve  Apos- 
tles filled  each  his  wallet  with  the  frag- 
ments ?  Whence  did  they  have  so  many 
empty   baskets  f      But    the  very  word 


which  is  here  translated  "baskets" 
does  mean  "wallet,"  and  was  applied 
to  the  travelling-bag  which  every  Jew 
carried.  To  this  Juvenal  alludes,  using 
the  veiy  word  employed  in  this  passage, 
"  Judjeis,  quorum  cophitivs  faenumqua 
supellex."     (iii.  14.) 


THE  TniRD  TOUR  OF  GALILEE.  389 

How  tliis  was  performed  we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  The 
historians  recite  the  facts  and  offer  no  theory.  There  was  no 
6upi)ly  called  forth  from  the  mnltitude,  and  the 

^  ^    "^  .  '  No  theory. 

disciples  had  none  in  reserve.  The  astonishment 
and  enthusiasm  of  all  parties  show  this.  It  could  have  been  no 
feat  of  legerdemain.  It  has  had  no  parallel,  and  no  attempt  has 
been  made,  so  far  as  is  known  to  us,  to  imitate  it.  It  was  no  has- 
tening of  the  process  of  nature,  for  it  was  baked  bread  that  was 
multiplied.  If  a  handful  of  uninjured  wheat  had  been  made  to 
grow  in  an  hour  into  the  bulk  of  a  harvest,  the  process  would  have 
been  measurably  intelligible,  and  might  have  been  described  as 
an  astoundingly  rapid  pushing  forward  of  natural  processes.  But 
here  were  five  baked  loaves,  and  two  small  fishes  already  cooked. 
More  than  five  thousand  persons,  after  a  long  fast,  ate  of  these  and 
nothing  else,  ate  to  repletion,  and  then  the  fragments  were  hugely 
more  than  the  original  bulk.  It  was  an  astounding  fact,  a  stu- 
pendous act,  and  was  so  regarded  by  those  who  were  of  that  lai'ge 
party.  AVhether  the  food  grew  in  the  hands  of  Jesus,  or  in  the 
liands  of  the  disciples,  or  in  the  hands  or  in  the  mouths  of  the 
eaters,  there  seems  no  possibility  of  knowing.  The  historians,  who 
were  eye-witnesses,  do  not  adventure  an  oj)inion,  Nor  can  we. 
It  is  a  fact  in  the  history'  of  Jesus,  and  as  such  we  must  simply 
record  it  and  honestly  study  it. 

IIow  this  wonderful  performance  was  regarded  by  the  multi- 
tude is  manifest  from  the  fact  that  their  false  Messianic  views 
were  so  highly  excited  thereby  that  they  were  Matt.  xiv. ;  Mark  vi. ; 
ready  to  rise  in  rebellion  against  the  Roman  J^i^i^vi. 
power,  and  crown  Jesus  as  their  king,  and  insist  that  he  should 
lead  them  forth  to  a  victorious  revolt.  Perceiving  that  they  ^vould 
make  him  king  by  f(n-ce,  and  thus  push  him  into  a  false  j^osition, 
Jesus  showed  wonderful  force  of  character  and  sagacity  by  first 
sending  away  his  disciples,  that  they  might  not  catch  this  political 
fever  and  complicate  the  difficulties  of  the  situation  by  joining 
the  people  in  their  mad  attempt.  In  the  absence  of  his  innnedi- 
diate  friends  and  followers  it  would  be  more  easy  to  manage  the 
mob,  for  such  the  multitude  seems  to  have  become.  And  he  did 
succeed  in  dispersing  them. 

At  this  point  occurs  a  difference  in  the  directions  given  by  Jesus 
to  the  disciples  as  recorded  by  two  of  the  historians.  John  say  a 
the  disciples  went  ovci'   the  sea  toward  Capernaum,  and  Mark 


390         SECOND   AOT)   THIKD   PASSOVER   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

says  that  Jesus  constrained  them  to  get  into  the  sliip  and  to  gc 

to  the  other  side  before   hhn   unto   Bethsaida.      Dr.  Thomson, 

whose  intimate  personal  knowledofe  of  the  Holy 

A  difficulty  explained.  ,  ~  *' 

Land  makes  him  the  very  highest  authority,  says 

"  Looking  back  from  this  point  at  tlie  south-eastern  extremity  of  the  Bu- 
taiha,  I  see  no  difficulty  in  these  statements.  As  the  evening  was  coming  on, 
Jesus  commanded  the  disciples  to  return  home  to  Capernaum,  while  he  sent 
the  people  away.  They  were  reluctant  to  go  and  leave  him  alone  in  that  des- 
ert place ;  probably  remonstrated  against  his  exposing  himself  to  the  coming 
storm  and  the  cold  night  air,  and  reminded  liim  that  he  would  have  many 
miles  to  walk  round  the  head  of  the  lake,  and  must  cross  the  Jordan  at  Beth- 
saida before  he  could  reach  home.  To  quiet  their  minds,  lie  may  have  told 
them  to  go  on  before  toward  Bethsaida,  while  he  dismissed  tlie  crowd,  prom- 
ising to  join  them  in  the  night,  which  he  intended  to  do,  and  actually  did, 
though  in  a  manner  very  different  from  what  they  expected.  Still,  they  were 
reluctant  to  leave  him,  and  had  to  be  constrained  to  set  sail.  In  tliis  state  of 
anxiety  they  endeavored  to  keep  near  the  shore  between  this  and  Bethsaida, 
hoping,  no  doubt,  to  take  in  their  beloved  Master  at  some  point  along  the 
coast.  But  a  violent  wind  beat  off  the  boat,  so  that  they  were  not  able  to 
make  Bethsaida,  nor  even  Capernaum,  but  were  driven  past  both.'' 

"When  the  disciples  had  started,  and  the  multitude  had  been  dis- 
persed, Jesus  went  into  a  mountain  apart  to  pray,  and  so  remained 
until  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night :  that  is,  be- 

Storm  on  the  lake.  i       •  i   n       i     ■        i  •  x 

tween  three  and  six  o  clock  m  the  morning,  in 
the  mean  time  there  came  upon  the  lake  one  of  those  furious  storms 
which  sometimes  sweep  down  through  the  valleys  and  plough 
the  lake  furiously.  Dr.  Thomson's  description  (ii.  32)  is  a  vivid 
help  to  our  imaginations  in  endeavoring  to  realize  the  scene : 

"  My  experience  in  this  region  enables  me  to  spnpathize  with  the  disciples 
in  their  long  night's  contest  with  the  wind.  I  spent  a  night  in  that  Wady 
Shukaiyif,  some  three  miles  up  it,  to  the  left  of  us.  The  sun  had  scarcely  set 
when  the  wind  began  to  rush  down  toward  the  lake,  and  it  continued  all  night 
long  witli  constantly  increasing  violence,  so  that  when  we  reached  the  shore 
next  morning  the  face  of  the  lake  was  a  huge  boiling  caldi'on.  The  wind 
liowled  down  every  wady  from  the  north-east  and  east  with  such  fury  tliat  no 
efforts  of  rowers  could  have  brought  a  boat  to  shore  at  any  point  along  that 
coast.  In  a  wind  like  that,  the  disciples  must  have  been  driven  quite  across  to 
Gennesaret,  as  we  know  they  were.  To  understand  the  causes  of  these  sudden 
and  violent  tempests,  we  must  remember  that  the  lake  lies  low — six  hundred 
feet  lower  than  the  ocean;  that  the  vast  and  naked  plateaus  of  the  Jaulan  rise 
to  a  gi-eat  height,  spreading  Ijackward  to  the  wilds  of  the  Hauran,  and  upward 
to  snowy  Hermon ;  and  the  water-courses  have  cut  out  profound  ravines  and 
wild  gorges,  converging  to  the  head  of  this  lake,  and  that  these  act  likff 


THE  THIRD  TOUR  OF  GALILEE.  391 

gigajitic  funnels  to  draw  down  the  cold  winds  from  the  mountains.  On  the 
occasion  refeiTcd  to  we  subsequently  pitched  our  tents  at  the  sliore,  and  re- 
mained for  three  days  and  nights  exposed  to  this  tremendous  wind.  We  had 
to  double-pin  all  our  tent-ropes,  and  frequently  were  obliged  to  hang  with  out 
whole  weights  upon  them  to  keep  the  quiveiing  tabernacle  from  being  carried 
tip  bodily  into  the  air.  No  wonder  the  disciples  toiled  and  rowed  hard  all 
that  niglit;  and  how  natural  their  amazement  and  terror  at  the  sight  of  Jesua 
walking  on  the  waves!  The  wliole  lake,  as  we  had  it,  was  lashed  into  fury; 
the  waves  repeatedly  i-oUed  up  to  our  tent-door,  tumbling  over  the  ropes  with 
such  violence  as  to  carry  away  the  tent-pins." 

Ill  such  a  storm  as  this  the  disciples  toiled  about  eight  hours, 
making  a  little  over  three  .miles,  and  therefore  only  about  half 
their  voyage.  It  was  still  dark,  and  the  heavy  jesus  waiting  on  the 
tempest  lay  on  them.  Suddenly  they  saw  what  ^'*'^^'■• 
they  supposed  was  a  ghost — the  appearance  of  a  man  walking  the 
waves  as  though  he  would  pass  them — and  they  cried  out  with 
fear.  Jesus  spoke  to  them  and  said,  "  Cheer  up,  it  is  I ;  be  not 
afraid ! "  It  tvas  he.  lie  had  come  down  from  the  mountain 
and  gone  over  the  sea,  and  was  walking  near  their  vessel.  When 
the  excitable  Peter  heard  his  voice  he  said,  "  Lord,  if  it  be  thou, 
command  me  to  come  to  thee  upon  the  waters."  Jesus  did  not 
command,  but  he  permitted  the  attempt.  Peter  tried  it.  Going 
toward  Jesus,  the  prodigious  storm  so  unnerved  him  and  shook  his 
faith  that  Peter  began  to  sink,  and  cried  for  help  to  Jesus,  who 
stretched  out  his  hand  and  seized  him,  and  lifted  him  up  with  the 
kind  rebuke, ''  O  thou  of  little  faith ;  wherefore  didst  thou  doubt?" 
In  their  act  of  entering  the  ship  the  wind  suddenly  ceased  and 
straightway  the  vessel  was  at  the  .landing.  Tlien  the  disciples, 
the  crew,  and  the  passengei's  fell  at  his  feet  and  worshipped  him, 
and  said,  "  Of  a  truth  thou  art  the  Son  of  God." 

Here  is  a  plain  statement  of  a  miracle.  In  a  howling  storm 
Jesus  walked  the  waters  of  a  lalce  that  had  been  lashed  by  the 
scourges  of   a  powerful   hurricane   through  the 

1      1  •     1  T  .  T  '^^    1   .  Theories. 

whole  niglit.  it  was  not  a  pliantasm  or  him. 
There  was  no  optical  delusion.  Peter  touched  his  hand.  He 
went  on  board  the  vessel.  He  remained  with  a  number  of  men, 
who  had  ample  opportunity  to  examine  his  person.  How  he  did 
it  is  not  the  part  of  a  historian  to  say.  There  are  latent  forces  iu 
our  humanity  which  now  and  then  flash  forth.  There  are  ordi- 
nary phenomena  wliich  lie  in  the  line  of  this  narrative,  one  of 
which,  namely,  that  a  man  is  lighter  when  awake  than  when 


392         SECOND   AND   THIED   PASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE    OF   JESUS. 

asleep,  was  noticed  as  early  as  the  times  of  Pliny.  Trench'a 
tlieoiy  for  tliis  is  that  the  human  consciousness  as  an  inner  centre 
works  an  opposing  force  to  the  centripetal  force  of  gravity,  how- 
ever unable  now  to  overbear  it.  But  here  is  something  stupen- 
dous. In  a  great  storm  a  man  walks  about  on  the  waters,  for  the 
original  word  indicates  something  of  a  quiet  promenade.  AiKjther 
man  attempts  to  walk  towards  him,  and  succeeds  so  long  as  he 
trusts  him,  but  sinks  as  soon  as  his  faith  begins  to  fail.  Jesus 
teaches  that,  so  far  as  Peter  was  concerned,  the  walking  was  due 
to  his  faith  alone ;  that  there  was  in  him  a  capability  to  achieve 
this  dominion  over  nature,  but  that  he  had  failed  because  his 
faith  had  failed.  So  far  as  Jesus  was  conceited,  there  was  no 
force  exerted  on  liim  from  without,  nor  was  tlicre  any  suspension 
of  the  physical  law  of  gravity :  it  was  manifestly  the  power  of 
his  own  will  dominating  what  seem  to  us  to  be  natural  laws. 

If  there  had  been  any  very  philosophic  man  among  his  fol- 
lowers he  must  ha\e  seen,  even  at  the  disadvantage  of  too  great 
Profrreesiveness  of      ueamess,  wliat  sccms  sufficiently  plain  to  even 
•'**"^  superficial  study  of  Jesus  at  this  remove  from 

his  presence,  namely,  that  there  M^as  a  progressiveness  in  his  whole 
inner  and  outer  history — a  growth  of  the  inner  man— to  which 
there  was  a  corresponding  development  of  the  outer  life.  Through 
thirty  years  his  spiritual  force  seems  to  hav^e  been  accunmlating 
in  private.  We  can  hardly  imagine  that  he  was  totally  devoid  of 
all  consciousness  of  this  progress  of  his  soul ;  nay,  the  whole  his- 
tory shows  that  he  knew  himself,  and  that  one  of  the  sQvy  gi-eatest 
difficulties  of  liis  position  was  to  make  others  comprehend  his 
psychical  condition.  At  the  ripening  moment  he  entei'ed  upon 
liis  public  career,  through  all  of  which  there  wci-e  repeated  out- 
llasliings  of  the  gr(.)wing  inner  glory.  These  three  years  show 
how  he  became  more  and  moi-e  luminous.  At  this  point  of  his 
history  he  opposes  the  forces  of  his  inner  man  to  famine,  to  a 
mob,  to  a  storm  at  sea.  lie  stretches  the  assertion  of  his  kingly 
rule  further  and  further  into  the  world  of  matter  and  the  world 
of  mind.  The  development  of  his  spiritual  history  is  rhythmic. 
These  phenomena  are  described  by  men  who  did  not  perceive,  and 
could  not  comprehend,  the  profound  logical  and  poetical  noume- 
non  which  produced  them.  If  these  things  did  not  occur,  then 
we  have  a  more  troublesome  perplexity  to  deal  with,  namely,  the 
miracle  of  the  existence  of  a  narrative  so  superhumanly  true  to 


THE   TiriRD    TOUR   OF   GALILEE.  393 

philosophy  and  the  lu'i^hest  poetry — siipcrhuiiiaiily,  that  is  to  say, 
if  the  historians  were  not  i-ehitiiii^  facts.  It  would  be  easier  for 
any  man  to  walk  the  Atlantic  through  a  raging  storm,  from  New 
York  to  Liverpool,  than  to  produce  a  book  which  should  set  forth 
a  character  and  a  history  so  wonderful  as  this  of  Jesus,  -30 
symmetrical,  so  accordant  with  our  intuitions  of  truth,  and  yet 
not  modelled  after  this  of  Jesus,  whose  historians  produced  it 
without  type,  suggestion,  or  original,  if  just  such, a  man  did  not 
live  and  perform  just  the  things  Avhicli  they  represent. 

There  is  no  wonder,  then,  that  the  mariners  and  passengers,  as 
well  as  the  disciples,  now,  if  never  before,  acknowledged  him  as 
the  Son  of  God ;  that  is,  granted  what  he  had  claimed,  the  posi- 
tion of  Messiah,  although  they  held  their  own  gross  views  of 
what  the  Messiah's  functions  were.  They  now  believed  that  he 
was  the  One  Anointed  to  deliver  them  from  the  bondage  of  the 
EomaTis.  It  would  seem  as  if  there  now  came  upon  them  the 
conviction  which  had  been  forced  upon  the  multitude  by  the 
feeding  of  thousands  with  a  few  loaves. 

The  party  landed  on  the  plain  of  Gennesaret.  As  soon  as  the 
inhabitants  found  that  he  had  arrived  they  sent  messengers  through 
the  whole  country  and  had  tlie  sick  brought  in  lit- 

..  AT  1  1111  1  Intense  excitcD\ent. 

ters  to  hnn.  As  he  passed  around  the  lake  to  his 
home  in  Capernaum  there  was  an  intense  excitement  everywhere. 
In  all  the  towns  and  villages  they  brought  their  sick  and  laid  them 
before  him  on  his  passage  through  their  streets,  and  invalids 
begged  the  privilege  of  touching  if  only  the  hem  of  his  garment. 
All  were  healed.  It  was  a  wonderful  procession  of  beneficence. 
In  the  mean  time  some  of  the  most  fanatical  of  tlie  people  who 
had  been  fed  on  the  previous  day  seemed  to  have  lingered  in  the 
hope  of  seeing  him  again.  They  knew  nothing  of  the  extrar»r- 
dinary  night-scene  on  the  lake.  They  supposed  that  he  may  liave 
retired  for  private  devotion,  but  would  make  his  appearance 
during  the  day.  But  not  finding  him,  and  knowing  that  there  had 
been  but  one  vessel  on  the  lake  yesterday,  and  that  in  the  fearful 
Btorm  the  disciples  could  not  have  returned  and  taken  him,  tliey 
fell  back  on  the  only  natural  conjecture,  namely,  that  he  had 
walked  around  the  edge  of  the  lake  by  Bethsaida  to  Capernaunu 
When,  therefore,  vessels  from  Tiberias  passed  near,  they  hailed 
them  and  took  shipping  for  Capernaum,  seeking  Jesus  and  more 
bread. 


394         SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVEK   IN   THE   LIFE   OF   JESUS. 

That  these  people  were  not  the  best  of  the  multitude  who  had 
been  fed  in  the  wilderness,  a2:)pears  from  their  persecuting  Jesus 
with  their  presence  when  he  would  fain  have  been 
rid  of  them,  because  they  did  not  follow  him  for 
religious  instruction,  but  for  material  considerations.  They  hoped 
that  he  was  to  be  their  Bread-king,  the  Messiah,  to  reign  audi  feed 
his  people.  Their  hearts  and  consciences  had  all  gone  to  stomach. 
They  lived  in  a  dream,  in  which  many  a  lazy  soul  to  this  day  laps 
itself,  that  there  is  "a  good  time  coming"  when  men  shall  have 
plenty  to  eat  and  nothing  to  do.  They  were  the  Millerites  or 
Adventists  of  old.  We  must  remember  tliis,  to  make  the  address 
of  Jesus  at  all  comprehensible.  He  speaks  what  they  could  not 
understand,  while  he  utters  profound  truths  which  all  receptive 
spirits  will  find  instructive. 

The  company  of  bread-seekers  pushed  into  the  synagogue  where 

Jesus  was  teaching,  and  sought  to  relieve  their  curiosity  by  the 

abrupt   inquiry,    "Rabbi,   when    did    you    come 

The  bread-seekers.  i  j.        ./  /  •'  ./ 

hither?"  Jesus  deigned  no  reply  to  this  imperti- 
nence. He  regarded  himself  as  the  embodiment  of  Truth,  and 
Truth  never  reveals  itself  to  crude  curiosity  and  pruriency.  He 
answers  reprovingly,  and  then  makes  an  utterance  very  deep,  but 
not  wholly  incomprehensible  even  to  them.  "Verily,  verily,  I  say 
to  you.  Ye  seek  me  not  because  ye  saw  signs,  but  because  ye  did  eat 
of  the  loaves  and  were  filled.  Exert  yourselves,  not  for  food 
which  -perishes,  but  for  that  which  remains  to  the  enduring  life 
which  the  Son  of  Man  gives  to  you,  for  him  has  God  the  Father 
sealed." 

They  seemed  to  understand  something  of  this,  so  far  at  least  as 
that  he  meant  to  say  that  if  they  got  material  bread  from  him  it 
would  be  a  very  incidental  thing ;  that  he  was  a  moral  teacher,  and 
that  they  must  seek  him  for  what  their  souls  would  gain  of  spiri- 
tual sustenance,  which  he  boldly  announces  that  he  is  able  to 
give  them;  that  he  is  the  one  whom  God  the  Father  has  stamped 
as  genuine,  and  that  he  could  give  them  that  which  nourishes  the 
life  which  endures.  Therefore  they  said,  "What  shall  we  do  that 
we  may  work  the  works  of  God  ? "  Jesus  answered  them,  "  This 
ii  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  him  whom  He  hath  sent." 

Their  reply  was,  "  What  sign  doest  thou,  that  we  may  see  and 
believe  thee  ?  what  dost  thou  work  ?  Our  fathers  did  eat  manna 
in  the  wilderness,  as  it  is  written,  '  He  gave  them  bread  from  hea- 


THE  THIKD   TOUK  OF  GALILEE.  395 

ven  to  eat.'  "  These  gross  people,  having  been  fed  miraculously 
had  forgotten  the  feeding  and  undervalued  the  miracle,  it  would 
seem,   because   it  was   a  mere  multiplication  of 

.  .  They  demand  a  sign. 

bread,  whereas  in  the  desert,  durmg  then*  wander- 
ings, their  fathers  had  a  daily  shower  of  bread  from  heaven.     This 
repl}^  shows  how  material  and  sensuous  were  all  their  ideas. 

Jesus  answered :  "  Moses  did  not  give  you  the  bi-ead,  but  my 
Father  gives  you  the  true  bread  from  heaven.  For  tlie  bread  of 
God  is  that  which  cometli  down  from  heaven  and  giveth  life  to 
the  world."  It  was  not  Moses  who  gave  the  manna,  but  it  was 
God.  And  that  manna  was  but  temporary,  for  if  it  remained 
over  it  decayed  and  was  useless.  But  God  sends  Jesus,  in  whom 
the  world  is  to  have  life.  He  evidently  believed  and  manifestly 
tauglit  tliat  the  life  of  the  world  was  derived  from  himself,  and 
tvholly  dependent  on  himself.     It  was  the  highest  possible  claim. 

There  seemed  to  be  some  upspringing  of  faith  in  the  hearts  of 
his  hearers.  They  said  unto  him,  "  Sir,  evermore  give  us  this 
bread."     Jesns,   knowina;   that  the   faith   which 

•         1  11  Somefelth. 

depended  upon  mn-aclcs  was  a  stream  made  by 
showers,  and  not  flowing  from  a  fountain,  deepened  his  discoui*so 
and  became  more  offensive  to  them.  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life : 
he  tliat  comes  to  me  shall  never  hunger,  and  he  that  believes  on 
me  shall  never  thirst.  But  I  said  unto  you  that  ye  have  even  seen 
and  failed  to  believe.  The  whole  that  the  Father  gives  me  will 
come  to  me,  and  him  that  comes  to  me  I  will  not  cast  out.  For 
I  came  down  from  heaven  not  to  do  mine  own  will,  but  the  will 
of  Him  who  sent  me,  which  is,  that  of  the  whole  which  He  has 
given  me  I  should  not  lose  from,  but  should  raise  it  up  in  the 
final  day.  For  this  is  the  will  of  the  Father,  that  every  one  who 
sees  the  Son  and  believes  on  him  may  have  lasting  life,  and 
that  I  should  raise  him  up  in  the  final  day." 

This  profound  speech  seems  to  imply  that  as  bread  is  the  nutri- 
ment of  the  outward  and  physical  life,  so  Jesus  is  the  nutriment 
of  the  spiritual  life ;  that  as  the  body  which  does  not  receive 
food  into  itself,  and  assimilate  that  food  with  itself,  will  perish, 
so  the  soul  which  fails  to  receive  and  assimilate  Jesus,  which  must 
mean  the  spirit  and  teachings  of  Jesus,  will  also  perish ;  that 
there  is  no  lasting  life  for  those  who  do  not  derive  it  from  Jesus. 

The  assertion  that  he  came  down  from  heaven,  by  which  ho 
claimed  a  relation  to  the  spiritual  world  quite  distinct  from  and 


396  SECOKD   AXD   TirmD   PASSOVER   m   THE   LITE   OF   JESUS. 

• 

superior  to  that  of  otlier  men,  was  an  offence  to  the  Pharisaic 
leaders,  who  started  the  murmur  among  the  people  :  "  Is  not  this 

Jesus  again  offends  Jesus,  the  SOU  of  Joseph,  wlioso  father  also  we 
the  pharLsees.  liavo  kuowu  ?     IIow  then  savs  he,  '  I  came  down 

from  heaven  ? '  "  They  had  been  familiar  with  Joseph  and  with 
Jesus  as  plain  mechanics  working  in  a  humble  shop,  or  going 
about  doing  the  usual  work  of  carpenters.  That  such  a  man 
should  claim  knowledge  of  a  previous  existence  in  heaven,  and  a 
voluntary  coming  from  heaven  to  earth,  all  which  Jesus  certainly 
did  claim,  was  to  them  a  stumbling-block. 

The  reply  of  Jesus  was,  "  Murmur  not  among  yourselves.     'No 

man  can  come  to  me  except  the  Father  who  has  sent  me  draw 

him  ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  in  the  last  day.     It 

His  reply  to  them.       .  .  .  ,  /*ii  inm-i 

is  written  m  the  prophets,  '  And  they  shall  all  be 
taught  of  God.'  *  Every  one  who  has  heard  and  has  learned  of 
the  Father  comes  unto  me.  Not  that  any  one  hath  seen  the 
Father,  except  he  who  is  from  the  Father:  he  has  seen  God. 
Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  He  that  believes  has  lasting  life. 
1  am  the  bread  of  life.  Your  fathers  did  eat  the  manna  in  the 
wilderness  and  have  died.  This  is  the  bread  that  comes  down 
from  heaven,  that  any  one  may  eat  of  it  and  not  die.  I  am  the 
living  bread  which  came  down  fi'om  heaven ;  if  any  one  eat  of 
my  bread  he  shall  live  forever.  The  bread  which  I  shall  give  for 
the  life  of  the  world  is  my  flesh."  Here  Jesus  explicitly  teaches 
that  God  co-operates  with  him  in  his  mission,  so  that  every  one 
who  has  any  right  thoughts  and  feelings  from  God  has  the  moral 
preparation  necessary  to  receive  Jesus.  Not  that  any  one  has  seen 
God  except  Jesus  himself,  but  he  implicitly  says  that  he  has  seen 
God.  God  gave  perishable  bread  in  the  desert  for  the  temporary 
Bustentation  of  the  temporary  lives  of  their  fathers,  but  now  God 
gives  living  bread  from  heaven,  even  Jesus. 

This  language  is  evidently  highly  symbolical  of  a  deeply  pro- 
found conviction  of  Jesus.  lie  connected  the  welfare  of  man- 
kind with  himself,  and  M'ith  himself  after  death.  Flesh  cannot 
be  eaten  until  the  animal  is  dead ;  but  then  that  flesh,  having  lost 
its  life,  is  on  the  way  to  decay:  but  Jesus  says  his  flesh  is  alive 
when  eaten.  The  words  in  the  original  are  so  arranged  as  to  ex- 
press this  weightily.     Then  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  his  con- 

*  In  3uch  passages  as  the  remarkable  i  pare  Isa.  liv.  13,  and  Jerem.  xxxi.  33, 
one  in  Joel  il  2G,  29,  with  which  com-  |  34. 


THE   THIED   TOTIR   OF   GALILEE.  397 

viction  that  he  should  die ;  that  after  deatli  he  should  be  alive 
ajrain :  and  that  then  faith  in  him  should  be  the  life  of  men,  and 
that  only  by  faith  in  him  could  men  have  lasting  life,  and  that 
souls  that  did  not  receive  him  should  perish,  just  as  bodies  perish 
that  do  not  receive  material  food  into  themselves. 

Then  the  Jews  strove  among  themselves  and  said,  "  How  can 
this  man  give  us  his  flesh  to  eat?"  Perhaps  some  had  glimpses 
of  a  profound  spiritual  meaning.  Jesus  confirms  Their  puzzie 
their  idea  of  "eating"  by  a  positive  averment. 
"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son 
of  Man,  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  not  lasting  life  in  you.  He 
who  eats  my  flesh  and  drinks  my  blood  has  lasting  life,  and  I 
will  raise  him  up  at  the  final  day.  For  my  flesh  is  truly  food,  and 
my  blood  is  truly  drink.  lie  who  eats  my  flesh  and  drinks  my 
blood  dwells  in  me  and  I  in  him.  As  the  living  Father  has  sent 
me,  and  I  live  on  account  of  the  Father,  so  he  who  eats  me,  ho 
also  shall  live  on  account  of  me.  Such  is  the  bread  wdiich  camo 
down  from  heaven :  not  as  the  fathers  did  eat,  and  Iiave  died :  he 
who  eats  this  bread  shall  live  forever." 

This  is  very  spiritual  or  very  gross,  and  to  each  hearer  it  must 
have  seemed,  as  now  to  each  reader  it  docs  seem,  either  one  or  the 
other,  according  to  his  moral  state  of  receptivity.'  To  Jesus,  from 
all  we  now  know  of  his  character,  it  could  have  been  only  an  ex- 
pression in  human  language  of  his  most  delicate  perceptions  of 
most  spiritual  and  sublime  and  important  truths.  Xo  one  could 
truthfully  utter  these  words  without  believing  that  the  existence 
of  all  souls  depended  upon  himself,  and  that  his  life  was  depend- 
ent upon  the  continued  existence  of  God  and  upon  nothing  else, 
so  that  he  is  vii-tually  the  God  of  humanity.  The  soul  that  does 
not  somehow  paitake  of  him  is  as  sui-ely  going  to  destruction  as 
the  bodv  that  does  not  somehow  ])ai-take  of  food  and  drink  is  go- 
ing to  destruction.  He  makes  tliis  statcniont  so  strong  that  while 
the  Jews  are  discussing  the  jtosdbilitf/ ho  cuts  them  short  with  an 
empliatic  statement  of  the  necesdtij.  That  which  is  eaten  is  taken 
into  the  absorbing  and  circulating  organs  of  the  body  and  assimi- 
lated. That  seems  to  be  the  reigning  idea  throughout  this  si^eech, 
not  the  grossness  of  mastication,  but  the  fineness  of  assimilation. 

All  this  discourse  took  place  in  the  synagogue  in  Capernaum. 
It  was  not  only  offensive  to  the  Jews,  but  also  to  many  of  the 
hangers-on  of  his  disciples,  those  who  followed  him  from  generaj 


398         SECOND   AND   THIRD   PASSOVER   EST   THE   LITE   OF   JESUS. 

motives  or  for  sinister  pui-poses.  They  said,  "  This  is  a  hard  say- 
ing; who  can  listen  to  it?"  Jesus  knew  how  they  felt,  perhaps 
heard  what  they  said.  He  replied,  " Docs  this  offend  yon  ?  Wliat 
if  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  ascend  to  wlicrc  he  was  before  ? 
It  is  the  spirit  that  gives  life;  the  Hcsli  profits  nothing:  the 
words  that  I  have  spoken  to  yon  are  spirit  and  life.  But  there 
are  some  of  you  who  do  not  believe."  It  seemed  to  them  some- 
thing like  impiety  which  he  was  uttering  in  saying  that  he  came 
down  from  heaven.  He  startles  tliem  with  the  intimation  that  it 
is  possible  they  may  yet  have  ocular  proof  of  In's  ascending.  He 
declares  again  his  pre-existence.  In  speaking  to  his  disciples  he 
gives  a  spiritual  turn  to  the  words  he  had  uttered,  and  broad- 
ens the  spiritual  significance  of  that  speech  by  declaring  that  his 
physical  man,  his  body,  could  not  be  profitable,  but  that  it  is  the 
spirit  which  gives  life,  the  spirit  animates  the  body,  and  spirit- 
ual recoo-nitions  alone  are  valuable. 

John  declares  that  Jesus  had  insight  into  the  spiritual  con- 
dition of  the  men  about  him,  and  knew  M'ho  did  and  who  did  not 

Jesus  Bifts his  fouow-  bclievc  liis  words,  and  who  it  was  that  should 
ers.  betray  him.     He  saw  that  he  weaned  from  him 

the  utter  materialists  and  traditionalists  and  secularists.  Many  of 
his  followers  turned  away  from  him  forever.  Jesus  said  to  his 
twelve  chosen  friends,  whom  he  had  selected  to  propagate  his 
principles,  "  Do  you  also  wish  to  go  away  ? "  Simon  Peter,  gen- 
erally spokesman,  answered,  "Sir,  to  whom  shall  we  go?  You 
have  the  words  of  lasting  life,  and  Ave  belie\e  and  have  found  out 
that  you  are  the  Holy  One  of  God."  There  was  a  great  faith 
based  on  a  great  spiritual  intelligence.  lie  saw  that  ivoi'ds  were 
more  powerful  than  acts.  Deeds  die.  AVords  live.  The  feeding 
of  five  thousand  people  was  a  small  thing  as  compared  with  the 
utterance  of  a  great  truth  on  which  the  soul  could  feed  and  grow. 
Jesus  said,  "Have  not  I  chosen  you  twelve?  and  one  of  you  is  a 
traitor."  'John  says,  after  the  fact,  that  Jesns  spoke  of  Judus 
Iscariot,  son  of  Simon  of  Kerioth.  Jesus  may  have  told  John 
that  he  did  mean  this  Judas,  or  John  may  have  simply  afterward 
recollected  when  Jesus  was  betrayed  that  this  speech  had  been 
made  and  must  have  referred  to  Judas. 

This  is  the  closing  passage  in  the  history  of  the  second  year  of 
the  ministry  of  Jesus.     He  had  aroused  the  Pharisees,  had  sifted 

his  followers,  and  had  given  training  to  his  tried  Apostles. 


PART    V. 

FROM  THE  THIRD  PASSOYER  TO  THE  ENSUING 
FEAST  OF  TABERNACLES. 

PROM  APRIL  TO  OCTOBER,  A.D.  29— ABOUT  SIX  MONTHS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

UNSETTLED. 


It  does  not  appear  that  Jesus  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to  the  Pass- 
over of  this  year,  but  it  is  supposed  that  his  disciples  did.     There 
must  have  been  multitudes  at  the  great  national 
celebration  who  had  seen  or  heard  of  the  f  eedino;    .    ^^"^  remains 

„  _  "in  Capernaum. 

of  the  five  thousand,  and  who  knew  the  intense 
desire  of  the  people  to  make  Jesus  king.  Such  things  would  be 
much  talked  of  and  most  eagerly  listened  to.  The  intense  inter- 
est excited  by  these  reports  probably  hastened  the  determination 
of  the  hierarchic  party  to  destroy  Jesus.  Jesus  knew  it,  and  ceased 
to  travel  in  Judisa  proper,  confining  himself  to  Galilee. 

Soon  after  the  Passover  a  deputation  from  the  Pharisees  and 
Scribes,  being  charged  to  ascertain  some  ground  of  accusation 
against  Jesus,  were  dogging  his  steps  and  watch-  , ,  ^^  .„  , 
ing  his  movements;  and  spies  of  that  character  vii.  The  d'eputa- 
never  fail  to  find  in  the  most  spotless  life  some-  tion  from  th^ 
thing  to  which  they  can  take  exception.  Phaiisees. 

In  addition  to  the  Scriptures,  which  contained  the  moral  law  in 
writing,  the  Pharisees  endeavored  to  bind  upon  the  consciences 
of  the  people  certain  unwritten  traditions  of  the 
elders,  oral  precepts,  which  they  attributed  to  the 
assistants  of  Moses.     After  the  time  of  Jesus  these  were  collected 


4:00   THE  THIKD  PASSOVER  TO  THE  FEAST  OF  TABERNACLES. 

into  a  book,  consisting  of  two  parts :  the  Mishiia,  tlie  text  of  the 
supposed  original  precepts  of  the  elders,  and  the  Gemara,  the 
comments  on  the  text  by  the  chief  rabbies — tlie  whole  being 
called  The  Talmud. 

Among  the  requirements  of  these  traditions  were  many  which 
obliged  the  Jews  to  wash  often,  and  to  wash  many  things,  and  to 
wash  in  peculiar  ways.  Mark  has  a  note  to  that  effect,  inserted 
parenthetically  in  his  history  :  "  For  the  Pharisees  and  all  Jews, 
except  they  wash  their  hands  often,  eat  not,  holding  the  tradition 
of  the  elders,  and  on  coming  from  the  market,  if  they  sprinkle 
not,  they  eat  not.  And  many  other  things  there  are  which  they 
have  received  to  hold,  as  baptisms  of  cups  and  of  pots  and  of 
vessels  of  brass."  On  coming  from  any  public  assembly  it  was  in 
accordance  with  this  ceremonial  law  tliat  the  whole  body  be 
washed,  because  it  could  not  be  known  what  defilement  may  have 
been  contracted  by  contact  with  the  common  people.  When  this 
deputation  of  spies  saw  that  Jesus  and  his  disciples  paid  no  regard 
to  these  requirements  they  catechized  him,  saying,  "  Why  do  your 
disciples  not  walk  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  elders,  but  eat 
bread  with  unwashed  hands  ? "  The  plain  intimation  is,  that  the 
Master  was  held  responsible  for  at  least  the  known  and  unrebuked 
acts  of  his  disciples.- 

The  stern  reply  of  Jesus  was,  "  Well  has  Isaiah  prophesied  of 

you  hypocrites  when  he  said  (representing  Jehovah  as  speaking), 

'  This  people  honor  me  with  their  lips,  but  their 

Jesus  rebukes    j^^^^.^   -^  ^.^j.  f^.^^^^  ^^^^      -j^   ^.^^j^^    ^^  ^j^^      worship 

tlie  Pharisees.  . 

me,  teaching  for  doctrines  the  commandments  of 

men.'  For  you,  leaving  the  commandment  of  God,  hold  the  tra- 
dition of  men.  Well  do  you  reject  the  connnandment  of  God 
that  ye  may  keep  your  own  tradition.  For  Moses  said,  '  Honor 
thy  father  and  thy  mother,  and  he  who  resisteth  father  or  mother 
let  him  end  by  death.'  But  you  say  that  if  a  man  shall  say  to  his 
father  or  mother,  '  Corhan  (which  means  a  gift),  by  whatever  thou 
mightest  be  profited  by  me,'  ye  suffer  him  no  longer  to  do  anything 
fur  his  father  or  his  mother,  making  the  word  of  God  of  none 
effect  through  your  tradition,  which  ye  have  delivered.  And 
many  such  like  thhigs  ye  do." 

This  was  a  severe  rebuke,  and  struck  at  the  sorest  spot  of  Pha- 
risaism. The  hold  of  the  hierarchic  clique  upon  the  people  lay 
in  continuing  in  them  a  superstitious  regard  for  the  "  traditions." 


CXSETTLED.  402 

So  long  as  the  people  wei-e  traditionists  and  ritualists,  and  the 
Pharisees  held  in  their  hands  the  interpretation  of  the  tradition 
and  the  arrangement  of  the  ritual,  thej  could  lord  it  over  the  con- 
sciences of  the  populace.     And  we  see  in  this  rehuke  of  Jesus 
tliat  churchism  is  the  same  in  all  ages  of  the  world.     The  spies 
from  Jerusalem  indirectly  rebuked  Jesus,  not  because  he  did  not 
regard  personal  cleanliness,  but  because  he  did  not  conform  to  the 
minute  directions  of  tlie  ceremonial  laws  which  had  been  built  up 
by  the  doctors  of  the  law.     In  this  they  were  hypocrites.     They 
had  made  canons  which  were  contrary  to  God's  express  command- 
ments.    They  had  been  described  by  Isaiah,  and  a  telling  passage 
was  quoted  against  them.     Jesus  cites  a  case  in  which  the  terrible 
injury  of  churchism  is  seen.    According  to  the  law  of  God,  a  man 
was  to  honor  his  parents.     But  these  "  churchmen  "  taught  that  if 
a  man  said  "  Corban  "  over  any  property,  it  was  thenceforth  de- 
voted to  "the  church,"  and  no  matter  how  much  the  parents  might 
be  in  need,  this  property  was  interdicted  and  ahenated  to  "the 
church."     Jesus  regarded  this  as  simply  horrible.     Notliing  taken 
from  a  needy  father  or  mother  could  be  made  acceptable  to  God 
by  being  devoted  to  wliat  are  called  sacred  purposes. 

Then  calling  to  the  crowd  that  was  near,  Jesus  said,  "Hear  and 
understand:  There  is  nothing  from  without  the  man  which  enter- 
ing into  him  can  defile  him  ;  but  the  things  which 
come  out  of  him,  those  are  wliat  defile  the  man."  ^^''^  ^^^^^^  ° 
The  comparison  of  this  address  to  the  multitude 
with  the  speech  to  the  Pharisees  shows  to  us,  that  Jesus  would  not 
be  understood  as  undervaluing  purity  in  any  sense,  as  not  abol- 
ishing any  law  which  God  had  given,  but  that  purity  was  not  to 
be  attained  and  maintained  by  outward  washings,  and  by  observ- 
ance of  what  meats  a  man  should  eat,  but  rather  by  keeping  the 
soul,  the  source  of  life,  all  clean.  But  this  is  expressed  in  a°par- 
able.  ^ 

His  disciples  told  him  that  he  had  ofPended  the  Pharisees  by  his 
speech  to  them.  He  answered,  "  Eveiy  plant  which  my  heavenly 
Father  hath  not  planted  shall  be  rooted  up.  Let  them  alone; 
they  are  blind  leaders.  And  if  a  blind  man  lead  a  blind  man' 
both  shall  fall  into  the  ditch."  W]udi  reply  seems  to  mean  that 
whatever  might  come  to  him  from  so  doing,  he  should  not  hesitate 
to  root  up  such  noxious  weeds  as  these  false  teachers,  but  seems 
also  to  imply  that  no  special  violence  would  be  requisite.     Do  you 


402   THE  THIRD  PASSOVER  TO  THE  FEAST  OF  TABERNACLES. 

see  a  blind  man  leading  a  blind  man  ?  There  is  a  pit  in  their 
path.  AVliy  should  one  push  them  forward  ?  They  are  going  to 
destruction  of  themselves.  So  of  these  false  teachers,  and,  alas! 
of  their  followers. 

But  when  they  reached  the  house,  Peter,  who  still  had  tradi- 
tionary ideas,  and  regarded  the  manner  of  eating  as  not  an  indif- 
ferent subject,  asked  his  Master  to  explain  to  the 
hissIT^''^^''^'  disciples  this  parable  about  the  food.  And  he 
said,  "Arc  you  yet  also  without  understanding':!" 
They  had  been  so  near  him,  had  so  long  heard  his  expressions  of 
thought  that  they  should  have  been  able  at  once  to  know  what  he 
meant,  and  not  compel  him  to  go  into  a  detailed  explanation, 
which,  however,  he  does  not  withhold.  "  Do  you  not  undei-stand 
that  whatsoever  enters  the  mouth  goes  into  the  stomach,  and  is 
evacuated  into  the  draught?  But  the  things  coming  out  of  the 
mouth  come  from  the  heart,  and  they  profane  the  man.  For  out 
of  the  heart  come  forth  evil  purposes,  murders,  adulteries,  forni- 
cations, thefts,  false  testimonies,  blasphemies:  these  are  the  things 
that  profane  a  man,  but  to  eat  with  unwashed  hands  does  not." 
This  is  consistent  with  all  his  teachings,  that  a  man's  pui'ity  must 
be  that  of  the  character  interfused  through  the  whole  life. 

It  was  quite  apparent  now  that  the  Jewish  ecclesiastical  au- 

tliorities  meditated  extreme  measures.     The  labors  of  Jesus  and 

Ills  Apostles  had  been  exhaustive.     There  was  a 

Matt.  XV.;  Mark    fgjjj.f^^^  ordeal  in  advance  of  them:  Jesus  mani- 

vii.    In  Phojiiicia.      „       ,  ,  i      i  ■  ^    .^      ^i 

festly  saw  that,  whether  it  was  apparent   to  the 

others  or  not.  His  Held  of  operations  was  daily  more  and  nioi-c 
circumscribed  by  his  enemies.  He  could  not  "  walk  "  in  Judiea 
nor  in  Galilee  without  being  beset  by  his  ecclesiastical  foes. 
Capernaum  could  no  longer  be  a  retreat  to  him.  It  would  seem 
that  in  view  of  these  things  Jesus  meditated  a  season  of  retire- 
ment, and  so  withdrew  his  discijJes  up  towards  the  confines  of 
Phoinicia,  designated  in  Matthew  and  Mark  by  the  names  of  the 
two  principal  cities,  Tyre  and  Sidon. 

It  has  been  a  question  whether  Jesus  ever  crossed  the  boundary 
of  his  native  country  during  his  public  ministry.  It  is  not  neces- 
sarily implied  in  the  words  of  Matthew  and  Mark,  "  into  the 
coasts,"  "into  the  borders  of  Tyre  and  Sidon."  The  word  may 
be  as  well  translated  "  towards,"  or  "  unto,"  as  "  into."  That 
he  had  declared  his  ministry  to  be  confined  to  the  Jewish  people 


■UNSETTLED.  403 

does  not  toncli  the  question,  because  he  was  seeking  a  place  where ' 
he  nnght  for  a  season  have  recuperative  repose,  which  he  could 
better  find  in  a  heathen  country  in  which  he  did  not  intend  to 
preach.  But  now  the  question  has  been  settled  by  the  recently 
discovered  Codex  Sinaiticus,  the  text  of  which,  in  Mark  vii.  31 
is,  "  And  again  going  from  the  coasts  of  Tyre  he  went  tliroiigh 
Sidon  to  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  through  the  midst  of  the  coasts  of 
Decapolis," 

Of  a  woman  of  this  country  one  of  the  most  touching  of  all 
the  stories  in  the  New  Testament  history  is  narrated,  Jesna 
sought  retirement.  He  went  into  a  house  and 
took  measures  to  prevent  persons  from  seekino-  '^^^  Syro-Phoe- 
him.  But  he  could  not  be  hid.  Some  report  o'f  '''''''''  "^'''""'''^ 
his  power  had  crossed  the  frontier  and  reached  the  ears  of  a  wo- 
man in  those  coasts.  She  now  heard  that  Jesus,  a  descendant  of 
that  great  Jewish  king  who  was  the  wonderful  Solomon's  father, 
a  worker  of  many  cures,  the  most  beneficent  of  prophets,  was  in 
the  neighborhood.  Her  daughter  was  strangely  and  fearfully 
ifiiicted,  and  her  countrymen,  in  common  with  the  Jews,  believed 
in  demoniacal  possession.  She  had  nothing  but  this  o-reat  afflic- 
tion to  commend  her  to  the  attention  of  Jesus.  Everything  was 
against  her.  Her  nationality  was  an  offshoot  of  that  base  Canaan- 
itish  stock  that  God  had  aforetime  doomed  to  utter  destruction, 
but  which  had  been  spared  by  the  weakness  of  the  ancestors  of 
the  people  to  -whom  Jesus  belonged.  She  was  a  Syro-Pha^nician. 
Then,  in  her  creed,  she  was  a  pagan— a  Greek.  So  she  had  in 
her  veins  the  blood  of  three  hated  races— Gi-eek,  Syrian,  and 
Phoenician :  and  her  religion  was  against  her  in  her  appeal  to  the 
Jewish  prophet. 

But  her  grief  and  love  for  her  daughter  transcended  all  such 
considerations.  She  sought  Jesus  and  found  him,  and  fell  at  his 
feet,  and  besought  him,  saying :  "  O  sir,  David's 
Son,  pity  me  !  for  my  daughter  is  grievously  de-  ^"^  ^^^^"^  ^^^^' 
monized  ! "  For  the  first  time  in  his  career  Jesus  seemed  un- 
touched by  the  plea  of  suffering.  He  paid  no  attention  to  the 
suppliant  at  his  feet.  He  answered  her  not  a  word.  But  she 
followed  him,  prosecuting  her  pleadings.  At  length  tlie  disciples 
put  in  a  word  in  her  behalf.  "  Dismiss  her :  for  she  cries  after 
lis."  That  this  word  was  in  her  favor  is  manifest  from  the  reply 
of  Jesus,  but  it  seems  to  have  come  rather  from   a  desire  to 


404   THE  THIRD  PASSOVER  TO  THE  FEAST  OF  TABERNACLES. 

be  rid  of  lier  importunity  than  from  any  special  regard  for  tho 
poor  petitioner.  The  reply  was  another  discouragement  to  the 
agonized  mother :  "  I  was  not  sent  except  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel."  This  reminded  them  of  the  limit  of  their  own 
commission,  and  perhaps  recalled  to  them  the  fact  that  Jesus  had 
made  no  cures  of  any  heathen.  It  did  not  positively  say  that  he 
would  not  grant  their  request  and  hearken  to  her  prayer,  but  that 
if  he  did  so  it  would  transcend  the  limits  of  his  mission  and 
theirs.  To  the  woman  it  must  have  sounded  like  a  fresh  repulse. 
She  had,  however,  made  her  daughter's  case  her  own,  with  such 
motherly  sympathy  that  when  she  opened  her  petitions  to  Jesus 
it  was  in  the  pathetic  appeal,  "  Pity  me  !  "  as  if  she  were  the 
sufferer.  Such  love  is  unconquerable.  She  could  not  go  back  to 
her  daughter  with  no  relief.  The  picture  of  the  paroxysms  of  the 
wretched  patient  goaded  her  maternal  heart  to  utmost  effort. 

Again  she  worshipped  him.  Again  she  cried :  "  O  sir,  help 
me  ! "  As  if  she  had  said :  "  I  cannot  go  wholly  milielped  :  if  my 
daughter  cannot  be  utterly  cured,  do  something  for  me !  I  leave 
it  to  your  wisdom  and  goodness  to  decide  what."  Jesus  again  re- 
pulsed her  by  a  speech  embodying  a  picture  from  domestic  life. 
His  first  word  to  her  was :  "  It  is  not  a  fair  thing  to  take  the 
bread  of  the  children  and  throw  it  away  (waste  it)  on  the  little 
dogs." 

All  the  history  of  Jesus  shows  the  fineness  of  his  organization. 

It  is  a  remembrance  of  this  which  must  help  us  here.     With 

wOiat  tone  and  look  did  Jesus  utter  this  speech  ? 

Jesus  tries  her    rp^  fancy  that  he  meant  tliat  this  anxious  mother 

at  his  feet  was  a  dog,  would  be  a  wretclied  f orget- 

fulness  of  the  whole  spirit  of  Jesus  thus  far  manifested  in  his 

words  and  works,  especially  in  his  treatment  of  women.     He  did 

not  mean  that.     The  woman  knew,  and  the  disciples  knew,  that 

the  Jews  were  accustomed  to  apply  the  unhandsome  epithet  of 

"  dog  "  to  all  heathens.     He  never  could  have  called  any  woman 

a  "  whelp."     None  but  the  grossest  of  all  gross  men  ever  apply 

this  word  to  any  woman,  and  then  they  conceive  her  to  be  the 

basest  of  all  base  women.     There  is  nothing  here  to  justify  this 

interpretation.      He  was  simply  reminding  them  of    what  the 

Pharisees  and  Scribes  would  say  if  he  should  help  this  w(;man, 

and  also  presenting  to  them  in  concrete  words  the  abstract  but 

vigorous  prejudices  of  their  own  hearts  against  all  peoples  whc 


UNSETTLED.  405 

were  not  of  their  nation,  as  if  he  had  said  :  "  Ton  know  that  the 
Jews  are  Jehovah's  peculiar  children,  and  that  this  ■v\'()inan  is  a 
dog  of  a  Canaanite ;  would  you  liave  your  Master  outrage  all 
decenc}'  and  orthodoxy  by  helping  her?  "  The  coldest  of  most 
unpoetic  historians  might  fancy  that  a  faint  smile  of  })ity  for  their 
narrowness  passed  over  his  now  benignant  features  as  he  uttered 
these  gently  satirical  words. 

There  was  something  in  that  look  whicli  stimulated  the  poor 
pleader's  fainting  hope.  In  the  light  of  the  smile  which  fell  on 
her  eyes,  her  heart — a  woman's  and  a  mother's — seemed  to  detect 
a  warmth  from  tlie  inmost  soul  of  Jesus  which  escaped  the  eyes 
of  the  disciples,  and  which  could  not  possibly  be  transferred  to  a 
written  nan-ative.  Quick-witted,  persistent,  faithful,  she  caught 
at  the  very  word  "  little-doo;s."  In  the  original  it  is  onlv  one 
word.  He  did  not  employ  the  harshest  name  for  those  worth- 
less, vicious,  vagabond  canine  prowlers  through  oriental  villages. 
It  is  the  only  passage,  so  far  as  I  can  recollect,  in  the  Bible  his- 
tories, in  which  occurs  any  allusion  to  dogs  which  is  not  much 
against  that  animal.  The  word  here  is  a  diminutive,  softening 
the  meaning,  not  intensifying  the  contemptuousness.  And  it  Is  a 
home  scene.  The  little  'dogs  are  in  the  house;  they  are  men- 
tioned in  close  connnection  with  "  the  children."  It  was  a  hint 
to  her  faith.  She  caught  it,  and  replied  with  admirable  spirit  and 
celerity.  She  did  not  deny  what  Jesus  affirmed,  but  gave  it  a 
most  sudden  turn  in  her  own  favor.  She  did  not  degrade  her- 
self. She  did  not  allow  herself  to  be  worthless  as  a  dog.  It  was 
the  love  for  her  dauo;hter  which  c-ave  her  strength  to  hold  herself 
up  while  her  self-respect  was  thus  apparently  tortured  by  another 
and  held  down  by  herself.  She  loved  another  better  than  she 
loved  herself.  She  said :  "  True,  sir ;  but  even  the  dogs  eat  of 
the  crumbs  falling  from  the  table  of  their  masters."  She  assented 
to  the  truth  of  the  general  proposition  of  Jesus,  but  argued  that 
so  far  from  being  a  reason  for  her  rejection  it  contained  a  reason 
for  her  acceptance.  She  does  not  make  a  demand  for  even  tho 
crumbs,  but  she  pleads  that  she  may  not  be  driven  from  even 
them. 

Simon  Peter  must  have  resembled  Martin  Luther  in  many  of 
his  characteristics.  When  Luther  read  this  passage  he  burst  out 
so  that  you  can  almost  hear  the  clapping  of  his  hands  in  hia 
written  syllables :  "  Was  not  that  a  master-stroke  ?     She  snares 


4:06       THE   THIRD   rASSOVER   TO   THE   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES. 


Jesus     appreci- 
ates holy  wit. 


Jesus  in  his  own  words  ! "  "Witli  what  clelii^ht  the  fo. lowers  of 
Jesus  must  have  regarded  tlie  swift  beauty  of  this  most  finely 
delicate  repartee.  How  could  Peter  contain  him- 
self ?  riow  he  must  have  glanced  from  the  face 
of  the  Pagan  at  her  prayer  to  the  sad  face  of  the 
\vearied  but  good  Jesus,  who  was  gazing  down  into  her  eyes,  to 
Ree  the  effect  of  his  speech.  And  when  the  reply  came,  the  most 
spiritual  don  mot  on  record,  if  the  exuberant  Peter  did  not  flow 
over  with  gesticulations  of  delight,  Jesus  broke  into  applause  at 
the  wit  of  the  speech  and  the  humility  and  faith  of  the  utterer. 
"  O  woman  !  great  your  faith !  Be  it  unto  you  even  as  you  de- 
sire !  "  The  prophet  that  at  first  refused  to  listen  to  her,  and  then 
repelled  her,  and  then  seemed  to  insult  her,  now  that  her  faith 
has  triumphed,  gives  her  all.  "  Your  utmost  wish  in  its  very  form 
is  granted."  She  rose,  withdrew,  and  found  on  her  return  that 
her  daughter  had  recovered  while  she  lay  pleading  at  the  sad  and 
holy  Prophet's  wearied  and  dusty  feet. 

There  was  no  more  rest  for  Jesus,  He  could  not  be  quiet  in 
Judsea,  nor  in  Galilee,  nor  in  a  heathen  country.  He  was  not 
disposed  to  hasten  any  crisis ;  but  if  he  must 
work  it  must  be  in  his  own  coimtry.  He  resolved 
to  return.  From  Tyre  he  went  northward  "  through 
Sidon,"  *  probably  going  by  a  circuit  through  the 
mountainous  countrj'  which  lies  between  Tyre  and  Lebanon,  where 
he  might  have  opportunity  for  solemn  retirement  and  deep  dis- 
course with  his  disciples.  But  Ave  have  no  itinerary  of  this  jour- 
ney. He  may  have  crossed  from  the  Phoenician  boundaries  di- 
rectly to  Hennon,  and  down  by  the  east  bank  of  the  Jordan  towards 
the  lake,  and  thus  have  gone  through  the  midst  of  Decapolis. 
N^or  do  we  know  exactly  what  part  of  Decapolis  was  thus  visited. 
This  name,  which  means  "  Ten  Cities,"  and  describes  a  region, 
was  east  of  the  Jordan,  excej^t  a  little  territory  near  the  western 
bank,  at  the  southern  end  of  the  lake,  and  called  Scythopolis. 
Upon  the  conquest  of  Syiia  by  the  Romans  (b.c.  65)  these  ten 
cities  were  rebuilt,  colonized,  and  allowed  certain  peculiar  munici- 
pal privileges,  making  an  assemblage  of  little  principalities  some- 
A\'hat  after  the  manner  of  the  Hanse  Towns  of  Germany.     Various 


The  Decapolis. 
Blatt.  XV. ;  Mark 
srii. ,  viii. 


*  Aio  SiSdjios  is  the  text  in  the  Codex 
Sinuit.^  and  is  now  the  accepted  readmg, 
beiiig  well  authenticated,  Tischendorf, 


Alford,   Tragelles,    Meyer,   Lachmann, 
and  others  following  it. 


■IDON.      8A1DK. 


uNSE'rrr.ED. 


407 


lists  of  names  are  given.  Perhaps  tlie  larger  number  of  antliori- 
ties  agree  un  tlie  following:  namely,  Damascus,  no\v  the  oldest 
city  in  the  world  ;  Scythopolis,  whose  site  is  well  known  ;  Gadara; 
Pella ;  Fliiladelphia,  which  was  the  ancient  Rabbotli  Annnon ; 


Gerasa,  " whose  ruins  are  the  most  magnificent  in  Palestine;" 
Canatha  or  Kenetli ;    Paphana  ;    Hippos ;    and  Dion.  *     These 
cities  were  inhabited  mainly  by  a  pagan  population,  and   in  the 
days  of  Jesus  the  whole  region  was  populous  and  prosperous. 
It  was  not  long  before  the  people  began  to  bring  their  sick  to 


*  '•  Cellarius  thinks  that  Caesarea, 
Philippi,  and  Gergasa  should  be  substi- 
tuted for  Damascus  and  Raphana  in 
this  list,  which  is  taken  from  Pliny  {Nat. 
Hist.,  V.  IG).  It  is  true  that  Pliny  is 
the  only  wTiter  who  extends  Decapolis 


so  far  north  as  to  include  Damascus, 
which  city  would  seem  to  be  excluded 
by  Josephus  (who,  however,  does  not 
furnish  a  list),  since  he  calls  Scythopo- 
lis 'the  largest  of  them.'  ''—McClintoc/e 
&  Strong's  CycJ<>padia. 


408       THE   raiED   PASSOVER   TO   TUE   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES. 

the  great  Healer.     Matthew  describes  the  rapid  and  frequent 

ciires  by  such  words  as  these  :  "  And  great  multitudes  came  untc 

him,  having  with  them  lame,  blind,  maimed,  dumb, 

.  '      „  „  and  many  others,  and  cast  them  down  at  his  feet : 

Btu  aimerer.  j  '  ^  ? 

and  he  healed  them."  Mark  singles  out  a  case 
which  he  describes  in  his  peculiarly  graphic  style.  Among  the 
invalids  was  one  who  was  deaf  and  a  stammerer,  and  they  brought 
liim  that  Jesus  might  lay  hands  on  him.  But  iu  this  particular 
case  he  did  not  choose  to  exert  his  healing  power  in  that  way.  He 
took  the  patient  privately  from  the  multitude,  and  put  his  fingers 
into  the  man's  ears,  and  having  spitten,  he  touched  his  tongue,  and 
sighed,  as  in  prayer,  and  said,  "Ephphatha,"  an  Aramaic  word, 
which  Mark  translates  "Be  opened."  And  his  ears  were  opened, 
and  the  string  of  his  tongue  was  loosed,  and  he  spake  plainly. 
Jesus  charged  him  and  his  friends  that  they  should  not  publish 
this  transaction.  But  they  disobeyed  him,  and  in  proportion  to 
the  earnestness  of  his  charge  was  the  zeal  with  which  they  made 
the  cure  known. 

Each  reader  of  this  passage  must  have  his  own  opinion  of  the 
motives  of  the  great  Worker.  This  much  we  have  already  learned, 
that  Jesus  had  no  selfish  motives,  was  not  fanatic  nor  timid,  was 
neither  a  magician  nor  a  charlatan.  Whatever  else  be  denied, 
the  purely  sincere  deepness  of  his  nature  must  have  become  ap- 
parent, lie  had  no  tricks  and  no  evasions.  We  must  always 
recollect  the  circumstances  under  Avhich  an  act  was  performed, 
and  the  character  of  the  actor.  Jesus  was  now  in  a  region  in- 
habited principally  by  pagans,  among  whom,  however,  were  manj? 
Jews.  And  then  the  ruling  passion  with  Jesus  was  an  intense 
desire  to  do  good  to  their  souls  through  the  bodies  of  men.  Isow, 
unless  we  could  have  the  spiritual  penetration  oi  this  great 
Teacher,  and  see  each  j^articular  case  as  it  rose,  we  could  not 
fairly  criticize  the  valuations  which  he  made  in  the  style  of  his 
mighty  deeds  ;  iu  that  sometimes  he  merely  spoke,  sometimes  he 
touched,  sometimes  he  sent  the  patient  off  to  wash  in  a  certain 
pool,  sometimes  he  healed  in  the  heart  of  the  crowd,  sometimes, 
as  in  this  case,  took  the  sufferer  into  privacy.  Although  we  can- 
not perceive  the  reason  in  the  patient,  Ave  may,  as  in  this  case, 
perceive  some  reason  in  the  circumstances.  It  would  have 
been  contrary  to  his  plans  and  the  spirit  of  his  life  to  excite  a 
furor  in  this  pagan  population ;  it  would  ha\e  been  every  way 


TINSETTLED.  409 

injurious  to  Jew  and  Gentile,  to  allow  to  be  created  for  himself 
the  reputation  of  magician.  lie  took  the  man  into  privacy,  lie 
prayed,  he  tonched  him,  he  commanded  ;  it  was  done  on  an  instant. 
The  Jews  said,  "  lie  hath  done  all  things  well ;  "  the  pagans  glo 
rified  the  God  of  Israel. 

For  three  days  Jesus  was  with  this  mixed  multitude,  healing  and 
teaching,  the  crowd  probably  constantly  growing 
as  the  report  of  the  miracles  spread. 

At  the  close  of  the  third  day  Jesus  called  his  disciples  and 

said,  '•  I  have  compassion  on  the  midtitude,  because  already  they 

have  continued  with  me  three  da3^s  and  have  noth- 

,  ,  ,    T  -IT.        i.  1    n  Feeding  of  four 

ing  to   eat :   and  i  am   unwilling  to  send  them    ^j^o^sj^^ 

away  fasting  lest  they  fall  in  the  way."  They 
could  not  readily  cross  the  lake,  nor  ^'isit  the  towns,  but  would 
be  compelled  to  return  to  their  mountain  homes  by  way  of  the 
passes  through  which  they  had  followed  Jesus.  The  disciples 
seemed  to  have  forgotten  his  great  miracle  in  feeding  the  five 
thousand,  or  they  may  have  thought  that  he  would  not  repeat 
so  signal  a  creative  act,  or  they  may  have  chosen  to  let  him 
indicate  how  the  wants  of  all  these  people  should  be  relieved. 
Their  reply  was,  "  AVhence  should  we  have  so  many  loaves  in  the 
desert  as  to  fill  so  great  a  multitude  ? "  Jesus  said,  "  How  many 
have  you  ? "  They  answered,  "  Seven,  and  a  few  little  JlshesJ^ 
Jesus  commanded  the  multitude  to  be  seated,  and  takins:  the 
food  he  gave  thanks,  and  divided  it,  and  gave  it  to  his  disciples, 
and  the  disciples  to  the  multitude.  They  all  ate  and  were  satis- 
fied. And  they  took  up  of  the  fragments  seven  baskets  full. 
And  the  number  of  eaters  was  about  four  thousand  men,  besides 
children  and  women. 

The  narrative  here  is  very  similar  to  that  of  the  ]:»revious  won- 
derful feeding  of  five  thousand  people.  Perliaps,  in  some  par- 
ticulars, they  grew  alike  before  they  were  written ;  but  there 
are  points  of  difference.  The  assembly  here  was  largely  heathen, 
the  need  was  more  pressing,  the  number  of  eaters  was  smaller, 
the  number  of  loaves  was  larger,  and  the  number  of  baskets  of 
broken  meat  gathered  after  the  meal  was  smaller  than  in  the 
former  instance.  It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  the  word  trans- 
lated "basket"  is  not  the  same  as  in  the  former  instance.  There, 
as  the  note  on  p.  388  shows,  it  meant  the  wallet  which  a  Jew 
ordinarily  carried  on  his  journeys.     Here  it  means  a  fish  basket 


410        THE   THIKD   TASSOVEE   TO    THE   FEAST   OF   TABERNACI.ES. 

That  these  two  words  mean  different  things  is  apparent  from  the 
fact  that  they  are  not  confounded  in  the  two  narratives,  and  fi'om 
the  other  fact,  that  when  Jesus  afterward  called  the  memory  of  his 
aisciples  to  the  two  instances  he  discriminates  in  the  use  of  the 
words,  keeping  the  former  to  the  first  and  the  latter  to  the  second 
instance. 

One  cannot  help  pausing  to  say  that,  if  these  narratives  had 
been  fabrications,  the  author  would  have  put  this  for  the  first  and 
the  other  for  the  second  miracle  ;  for  obviously  it  is  a  more  splen- 
did thing  to  feed  five  thousand  on  five  loaves,  and  take  up  twelve 
baskets  of  fragments,  than  to  feed/ci^r  thousand  on  seven  loaves, 
and  save  only  seven  baskets  of  fragments.  Certainly  it  is  not  the 
manner  of  romancers  and  impostors  to  relate  the  greater  exploits 
first,  and  then  parade  tlie  smaller  deeds  of  their  heroes.  If  a 
writer  of  fiction  had  had  this  case  in  hand  he  would  certainly  have 
represented  at  least  ten  thousand  eaters,  and  have  reduced  the 
number  of  loaves  to  two,  if  not  to  one.  We  may  not  comprehend 
all  the  physical  and  spiritual  phenomena  in  this  history,  but  it 
certainly  sounds  as  if  reported  by  an  honest  eye-witness. 

Jesus  dismissed  the  multitude  and  took  ship,  perhaps  a  ship 

which  the  disciples  kept  in  readiness  for  his  accommodation,  and 

went  to  the  western  side  of  the  lake,  to  the  coasts 

Dalmanutha.  of  Magadan  or  Magdala  as  Matthew  reports,  to 
Matt.  XV.,  xvi.;  X)almanutha  as  the  more  exact  Mark  records. 
Mark  viii. ;  Luke  ^^^^  probability  is  that  Dalmanutlia  was  a  village 
near  Magdala,  the  latter  being  generally  identified 
with  El  Mejdel,  a  poor  hamlet  near  the  lake  on  the  south  side  of 
the  plain  of  Gennesaret. 

AVhether  he  remained  here  a  short  time  and  encountered  the 
Pharisaic  party,  or  returned  to  Capernaum  and  there  had  this  de- 
cisive interview  with  them,  has  been  a  question. 
A  new  trial.  ^  \^^^.\^^^q  to  believe  that  this  fresh  trial  took  place 
m  Capernaum.  It  was  obviously  premeditated  and  planned. 
Dalmanutha  was  so  obscure  a  place  that  we  cannot  think  they 
would  have  expected  him  there.  Wherever  they  did  meet,  it  was 
where  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  lay  in  wait  for  him,  and  this 
would  most  naturally  be  at  his  home  in  Capernaum.  This  is  not  a 
matter  of  great  importance.  It  was  on  the  western  shore  of  the 
lake.  It  was  in  Galilee.  It  is  noticed  that  now  for  the  first  time 
the  Sadducees,  the  "  rationalists  "  and  infidels  of  their  day,  had 


UNSETTLED.  411 

united  themselves  with  the  Pluirisecs,  the  rnritaiis  of  that  day,  tc 
put  Jesus  to  a  new  triaL  Here  was  a  great  combination  of  pow- 
erful influences.  The  Sadducees  were  tlie  coni-t  ])arty.  Herod 
was  a  Sadducee.  They  were  the  refined  and  "liberah"  The 
})r<jgress  of  Jesus  thus  far,  if  it  had  attracted  their  attention,  had 
simply  provoked  their  contempt.  But  he  had  begun  to  be  anta- 
gonistic to  them.  He  was  rising  from  the  position  of  a  mere  "  or- 
thodox" Jewish  sectary,  and  they  were  ready  to  attack  him  with 
all  the  illiberality  for  wdiicli  professed  "liberals"  have  always 
been  noted. 

Now  on  the  return  of  Jesus  to  his  home,  a  return  Avhich  seema 
to  have  the  appearance  of  giving  his  own  people  a  fresh  oppor- 
tunity to  accept  him  and  his  doctrine,  these  par- 

"  ,  ,  .  ,       .,      .  A  sign  demandea. 

ties,  whose  hostility  was  deepening  and  widening, 

came  to  him  demanding  "  a  sign  from  heaven."  The  Jewish  peo- 
ple had  studied  their  prophets  with  a  perpetual  tendency  to  mate- 
rialism. In  their  minds  such  passages  as  Daniel  vii.  13  had  always 
a  sensuous  interpretation.  They  pressed  Jesus  for  a  sign  in  the 
heavens,  which  could  be  seen  of  all  men.  They  seemed  disposed 
to  drive  him  to  some  act  or  word  wliich  should  be  an  acknowledg- 
ment that  he  was  a  false  Messiah  :  certainly  the  Sadducees  held 
that  opinion ;  but  if  a  true  Messiah,  which  the  Pharisees  may 
secretly  have  wished,  then  he  must  be  forced  into  a  position  which 
should  make  him  the  powerful  head  of  a  rebellion  which  Avas  to 
break  the  Itoman  yoke  and  render  the  Jews  the  rulers  of  the 
world.  Thus,  for  most  opposite  reasons,  the  Sadducees  and  the 
Pharisees  conspired. 

His  reply  was,  "  "Wlien  you  see  a  cloud  rise  out  of  the  west, 
immediately  ye  say  'A  shower  is  coming,'  and  so  it  is :  and  when 

the  south  wind  is  blowing  you  say,  '  There  will 

11.,         1  •.  .1    .  -x^        ^  ■  Reply  of  Jesus. 

be  heat,  and  it  cometh  to  pass.     1  ou  liypocrites, 

you  can  discern  the  face  of  the  earth  and  of  the  sky,  and  how 

is  it  that  you  do  not  discern  this  time  ?     Yes,  and  why  even  of 

yourselves  do  you  not  judge. what  is  right?     For  when  you  are 

going  with  your  adversary  to  a  magistrate,  give  diligence  while  on 

the  way  to  be  delivered  from  him,  lest  he  drag  you  to  the  judge, 

and  the  judge  deliver  you  to  the  officer,  and  the  officer  cast  you 

into  prison.     I  tell  you  you  shall  not  come  out  thence  until  you 

have  paid  the  last  mite."    And  then  he  groaned  in  spirit  and  said, 

"A  wicked  and  adulterous  generation  seeks  a  sign.     Ko  sign  shall 


412   THE  THIRD  PASSOVEK  TO  THE  FEAST  OF  TABEKNiCLES. 

be  given  it  but  the  sign  of  Jonah."  Saying  this  he  left  them,  and 
the  words  and  tone  of  the  liistory  indicate  that  lie  abandoned 
these  men  forevei*  to  the  hardness  of  their  hearts.  They  had 
finall}'  rejected  him.  They  might  liave  had  most  beautiful  uses 
out  of  his  life,  but  they  would  not. 

The  parabolic  language  of  Jesus  seems  plain  to  us.  They  were 
weather  prophets.  IVlien  the  wind  came  from  the  sea  on  the 
west,  tliey  predicted  rain  ;  when  it  came  from 
weatherprophete!  *^^®  burning  deserts  on  the  south,  they  predicted 
heat.  The  laws  in  the  pliysical  world  acted  with 
such  regularity  that  a  certain  state  of  phenomena  being  given, 
another  condition  of  affairs  would  inevitably  take  place.  They 
ought  to  have  known  the  signs  of  spiritual  as  well  as  those  of  phy- 
sical meteorology.  His  life  was, in  the  nation,  what  west  wind  or 
south  wind  was  in  the  land.  They  ought  to  have  been  wise 
enough  to  fore-read  coming  events  by  \vhat  was  obvious  before 
their  eyes.  One  is  not  more  difficult  to  understand  than  the 
other ;  and  if  men  become  learned  in  one  department  and  re- 
main ignorant  in  the  other,  it  is  most  manifestly  because  they  do 
not  choose  to  study  the  latter.  If  in  their  ignorance  they  pre- 
tend to  knowledge,  they  are  hypocrites. 

And  lie  brings  the  interest  of  what  he  calls  "  this  time ''  close 

home  to  them.     He  represents  himself  as  plaintiff  in  a  case  in 

which  his  nation  was  defendant,  and  himself  as 

Plaintiff  and  de-  (^ij-a^crino;  them  to  the  iudgment-seat  of  the  riglit- 
fendant.  «&     &  J      &  o 

f  ul  ruler.     It  was  a  matter  of  the  gravest  moment 

to  them  that  they  should  make  peace  with  him.  It  was  no  time 
to  be  indulging  in  study  of  ordinary  phenomena.  The  nation 
was  being  pulled  forward  to  its  crisis,  to  its  judgment,  and  he 
warned  them  that  unless  they  made  ]3eace  with  him  they  should 
soon  suffer  the  extreme  fate  of  luitions  by  being  utterly  destroyed. 
They  had  become  spiritual  adulterers,  which  means,  in  Jewish 
phraseology,  contaminated  with  heathenism.  To  such  heathens 
there  would  be  vouchsafed  only  the  sign  of  the  prophet  Jonah. 
Let  them  ponder  that.  He  gave  them  no  explanation,  he  sug- 
gested no  application  of  the  reference  to  the  case  in  hand.  He 
left  them,  and  crossed  the  lake. 

In  the  excitement  of  this  interview  and  the  haste  of  the  de- 
parture the  disciples  forgot  to  carry  provisions  witli  them.  The 
tlioughts  of   Jesus  also  were  upon  other  things.      He  saw  how 


UNSETTLED.  413 

jx»fually  even  yet  liis  disciples  entered  into  his  grand  life  of  self 

abnegation.     They  were  yet  very  secnlar;  they  were  yet 'some 

how    hoping    for    sensuous    Messianic   displays. 

Their  thoughts  and  desires  lingered  with  the  ilesh-    ^J^^  ^^.''''^''  °^ 

„    ,      -n  1-  TT         •  1  ^-"^  Pnansees. 

pots  of  the  Lgypt  they  were  leaving,     lie  said  to 

them,  very  solemnly:     "See  and  beware  of  the  leaven  of  the 

Pharisees  and  of  the  Sadducees  and  of  Herod."     That  is,  keep 

yourselves  from  hypocrisy,  and  skepticism,  and  secularism.    The} 

are  contagious.     They  spread  in  the  heart  and  in  a  community 

like  leaven. 

How  blind  they  still  were  is  apparent  from  their  commenta 
among  themselves.  They  said:  "It  is  because  we  took  not  loaves." 
Jesus  perceived,  it  and  said  :  "  Why  do  you  reason  among  your- 
selves, O  Little-Faiths !  b(3cause  you  have  not  loaves  ?  Do  you 
not  yet  perceive  ?  Do  you  not  yet  understand  ?  Have  you  your 
heart  liardened  ?  Having  eyes,  do  you  not  see  ?  and,  having 
ears,  do  you  not  hear?  When  I  broke  the  five  loaves  among 
five  thousand,  how  many  baskets  full  of  fragments  took  ye 
up  ? "  They  answered :  "  Twelve."  "And  when  the  seven  loaves 
among  the  four  thousand,  how  many  baskets  full  ?  "  They  said  : 
"  Se\en."  And  Jesus  said :  " How  is  it  that  you  do  not  under- 
stand that  I  did  not  speak  concerning  bread,  when  I  warned 
yuu  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and  of  the  Sadducees?" 
At  last  their  dense  stupidity  was  penetrated,  and  they  perceived 
that  he  had  not  warned  them  to  brealv  from  all  communication 
with  these  sects,  but  to  guard  against  their  wicked  doctrines. 

They  were  now  at  Bethsaida-Julias,  in  Perea.      IMatthew  re- 
cords (xi.  21)  that  Jesus  said  that  he  had  wrought  many  mighty 
works  in  this  Bethsaida;  but  the  only  one  dis- 
tinguished and  recorded  is  the  cure  of  a  blind       Bethsaida,     on 

mail.     Mark  tells  the  story.      He  is  tlie  historian    ^,  ^  °°     '^^^^  ^. 

,    ,  the    lake.     Mark 

who  seems  specially  attracted  by  what  has  the    ^m. 

characteristic  of  progressiveness,  and  the  cure  of 
the  blind  man  was  of  that  kind.  He  did  not  seem  to  know  much 
of  Jesus,  or  to  take  any  special  interest  in  him,  or  to  have  any  no- 
ticeable degree  of  faith  in  him,  or  to  have  any  ardent  desire  for 
a  cure.  In  this  case  it  was  the  friends  who  seemed  to  have  a 
great  zeal  in  his  behalf.  They  brouglit  him  to  Jesus,  and  be- 
sought that  he  might  be  cured.  Jesus  took  the  blind  man  by  the 
hand  and  led  him  out  of  the  village.     What  conversation  they 


414       THE   TIITED   PASSOVER   TO    THE   FEAST    OF   TABERNACLES. 

had  is  not  recorded.  In  all  the  cases  of  his  miracles  we  have 
studied  there  seems  to  have  been  an  adaptation  of  the  cure  to  the 
spiritual  benefit  of  the  sufferer,  and  some  connection  between  hi? 
state  of  mind  and  the  method  of  his  cure.  The  intent  was  to 
develop  the  faith  of  the  subject.  In  this  case  Jesus  put  spittle 
on  the  eyes  of  the  man,  and  then  laid  his  hands  on  him  and  asked 
him  if  he  saw  anything.  The  man,  with  a  tone  of  joy,  and  in 
the  delightful  confusion  of  a  sudden  and  unexpected  relief,  ex- 
claimed :  "  I  see  the  men  ;  for  I  see  them  as  trees,  walking." 
Tlien  Jesus  laid  his  hands  upon  his  eyes,  and  he  saw  clearly  :  he 
was  thoroughly  restored  and  saw  all  things  plainly.  The  man 
seems  to  have  lived  in  the  country.  Jesus  sent  him  to  his  house, 
telling:  him  not  to  return  to  the  village. 


COPPER  SHEEEI,, 


CHAPTEK   II. 


THE   GREAT   CONFESSION. 


Then  Jesiis  and  his  disciples  went  np  towards  the  region  of 
C'resarea  Philippi.  This  important  city  was  originally  called 
Paneas,  from  a  cave  and  a  temple  dedicated  to  -^^^^  Cajsaxea 
Pan.  Philip  the  tetrarch  enlarged  and  beauti-  phUippi.  Matt, 
fied  the  town,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  Csesarea,  xvi. ;  Mark  viu. ; 
in  honor  of  the  emperor  Tiberius.  His  own  ^^^^  ^^■■'  ^^•' 
name  was  afterwards  added,  to  distinguish  this 
from  the  Csesarea  which  was  the  Koman  metropolis  of  Palestine, 
and  was  situated  about  half-way  between  Joppa  and  Dora,  on  the 
main  road  leading  from  Tyre  to  Eg^^Dt.  Csesarea  Philippi,  the 
northernmost  limit  of  the  travels  of  Jesus,  was  a  picturesque  and 
important  place,  and  seems  to  have  had  a  number  of  villages  de- 
pendent upon  it.  It  was  most  famous  as  being  the  spot  in  which 
the  principal  source  of  the  Jordan  is  found.  Jesus  gave  the  re- 
gion fresh  historic  interest. 

Somewhere  in  this  region  he  had  retired  for  private  devotion 
when  his  disciples  found  him.     It  was  another  crisis  in  his  life. 

The  hierarchic   party  had  greatly  decreased  his 

—.  ,  .  .         1  .  Anotner  cnsis. 

popularity.  They  were  workmg  agamst  hnn  per- 
sistently and  successfully.  How  far  they  had  succeeded  in  af- 
fecting the  dispositions  of  his  disciples  was  to  be  tested.  If  they 
had  become  so  intimidated  as  not  to  be  willing  and  ready  to  fol- 
low him  into  any  extremity,  then  his  work  was  a  failure.  He 
should  be  compelled  to  abandon  his  designs  totally,  or  reorganize 
his  plans  and  begin  afresh.  He  had  been  forced  from  Galilee. 
He  was  in  the  tetrarchy  of  Philip.  The  lines  were  drawn  more 
closely  about  him.  Some  movement  must  soon  be  made.  He 
made  it  now. 

Turning  to  his  disciples,  he  put  the  direct  question  :  "'NVliom 
do  men  say  that  I  am  ?  "  This  was  to  draw  from  them  a  statement 
of  their  knowledge   of   current  and  popular  opinions  of   lum. 


41 6       THE   THIRD   PASSOVER   TO   THE   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES. 

They  were  quite  frank,  and  replied :    "  Some  say  that  you  are 
John  the  Baptist  risen  from  the  dead ;  others,  Elijah ;  others,  Jeru- 

.  ,    ,        ,.        miah:  others,  one  of  the  prophets."      Li^htfoot 
A  test  question.  '  '  -,    \-         ^       i     ^      i 

shows  that  the  Jews  beheved  that  the  pro- 
phets were  to  rise  again  at  the  coming  of  the  Christ.  "  The 
nearer  still  the  kin  (/don  of  heaven  came,  but  so  much  the  more 
did  they  dream  of  the  resurrection  of  the  prophets."  It  is  re- 
markable that  no  section  of  the  people  regarded  Jesus  as  a  divine 
personage— as  the  Messiah,  the  Christ — in  any  high  spiritual 
sense  ;  for  had  it  been  so  the  disciples  would  not  have  failed  to 
report  it.  According  to  their  account  Jesus  did  not  stand  so  high 
with  the  people  as  at  the  beginning  of  his  ministry. 

The  reply  of  the  disciples  is  really  a  curious  and  interesting 
study.  Herod  was  terrified,  and  really  believed  that  John  had 
come  back  from  the  dead  to  imperil  him.  The  Court  party  gave 
currency  to  this  belief,  because  John  had  emphatically  declared 
that  he  was  not  the  Messiah,  and  it  Avas  to  the  interest  of  the 
kino-'s  friends  to  maintain  that  view,  namely,  that  this  man  Jesus 
was  not  to  have  Messianic  honors  paid  him,  nor  in  any  sense  be 
regarded  as  Messiah.  Messiah  was  still  to  come.  They  were  in- 
terested in  keeping  him  in  the  future. 

There  were  others  who  noticed  the  extraordinary  severity  of 
his  castigations,  and  they  said  he  was  Elijah,  so  like  was  he  to  that 
terrible  prophet. 

Others  noticed  how  he  w^as  withdrawing  himself,  and  becoming 
more  and  more  sad.  Perhaps  at  this  period  of  his  ministry  there 
did  naturally  come  melancholy  cadences  into  his  speeches.  lie 
was  a  man  of  sorrows.  lie  was  acquainted  with  griefs.  He  was 
being  rejected  by  his  own  people,  whom  he  loved,  and  whom  he 
wished  to  bless.  He  was  being  driven  into  exile.  Such  melan- 
choly readily  suggested  the  prophet  of  the  Lamentations. 

To  others  he  seemed  only  as  some  of  the  ancient  prophets,  not 
individually  distinguishable  ;  so  low  was  the  estimate  of  most  of 
the  people. 

He  had  not  then  struck  root  into  his  nation  generally :  how 

might  it  be  with  his  own  family  of  disciples  ?     He  determined  to 

test  it.     It  was  a  moment  of  profoundest  interest 

Not  struck  root.   ^^  ^^.^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^^^    ^.j^^  question  and  reply  were 

to  constitute  a  bond  of  perpetual  union  between  them,  or  were  to 
be  the  signal  of  the  dissolution  of  this  important  little  community. 


CJtSABEA    PHIMPPI. 


THE    GREAT    CONFESSION.  417 

II  )w  important  they  were  to  the  world  they  could  not  possibly 
have  known.     No  very  important  man  does  know  his  own  value. 

"  But  whom  say  ye  that  I  am  ?  " 

"  You  are  the  Messiah,  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  livinij;  God," 
was  tlie  profoundly  solemn  answer  of  Peter.  It  was  a  profession 
of  faith;  it  was  a  confession  of  everything;  it  was 
an  act  of  worship.  He  acknowledged  Jesus  as  ^^**^^'^  ^"'^'^ 
the  Messiah,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  claim- 
ants to  that  high  and  holy  t)fhce  ;  he  confessed  him  as  a  divine 
person ;  not  a  son  of  God,  but  the  Son  of  the  living  God,  in  a 
sense  in  which  it  could  be  applied  to  no  other  man.  lie  does  not 
report  the  general  opinion  of  the  body  of  disciples,*  but  per- 
forms an  act  of  personal  worship,  usiug  such  forms  and  words  as 
men  who  are  Christians  have  since  employed  in  prayer.  Xo  such 
admission  had  ever  before  been  made.  It  end)odied  a  Messianic 
idea  loftier  and  broader  than  any  other  Jewish  mind  and  heart 
had  held.  They  believed  that  the  Messiah,  the  Christ,  should  be 
one  of  the  sons  of  uien,  like  any  other  great  man,  and  should  be 
chosen  and  anointed,  by  reason  of  the  greatness  and  splendors  of 
his  virtues,  to  be  tlxe  deliverer  of  his  people.  l>ut  Peter  ac- 
knowledged his  Messiah  as  directly  begotten  of  God.  In  his  sol- 
emn phrase  he  did  not  use  the  word  "living"  to  distinguish 
God,  the  true  God,  from  dead  idols,  but  to  intensify  the  idea  that 
was  in  the  word  "  Son."  It  was  not  the  question  who  God  was, 
but  the  question  who  Jesus  was,  that  Peter  was  answering. 

Jesus  accepted  the  homage.  Let  us  remind  ourselves  that  we 
are  making  historical  studies  and  not  dogmatic  theological  asser- 
tions. The  question  now  is,  not  ^vhether  Jesus 
was  rio-ht  or  wrong,  but  what  he  thou-dit  and  said  ,  '^^'''^''  receives 
and  did.  It  is  most  obvious  that  at  this  period  of 
his  career  he  believed  liimself  to  be  the  Son  of  God  in  a  sense 
separate  and  distinct  from  any  other  with  which  the  phrase  could 
be  ap}»lied  to  other  men.  He  was  the  Messiah,  the  Christ,  the 
Sent,  the  Anointed.     Ilis  people  wei-c   looking   for  a  temporal 

*  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  Peter  re-  j  pies,  nor  "I  think  that  you  are,"  etc., 


ports  the  opinions  of  others,  but  when 
Jesus  asked  the  opinion  of  the  disci- 
ples Peter  fails  to  give  it.  We  do  not 
know  from  him  what  it  was.  For  him- 
self he  answers,  not  saying  "We 
think,"    ou  behalf    of   his  fellow-disci- 

27 


on  his  own  behalf,  but  addressing-  him 
with  the  worshipping  assertion,  "You 
are  the  Chri.st."  The  state  of  mind  in 
which  this  was  uttered  is  to  be  consid- 
ered. 


418        THE   TniKD   PASSOVER   TO    THE    FEAST   OF   T.VBERNACLES. 

ieliverer ;  he  was  the  only  dehverer  they  should  have,  and  he 
vvas  a  spiritual  deliverer.  With  such  sentiments  he  made  his 
solemn  reply  to  Peter:  "Blessed  art  tliou,  Simon  Bar-jona,  for 
flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  in 
the  heavens.  And  I  also  say  to  thee,  Thou  art  Peter,  and  on  thia 
rock  I  will  build  my  congregation,  and  the  gates  of  Death  [Hades] 
shall  not  prevail  against  it.  1  will  give  thee  the  keys  of  tlie  king- 
dom of  the  heavens,  and  what  thou  shalt  bind  upon  earth  shall  be 
bound  in  the  heavens,  and  what  thou  shalt  loose  on  earth  shall  be 
loosed  in  the  heavens." 

Jesus  had  been  in  some  measure  and  by  certain  terms  acknowl- 
edged as  Messiah  in  early  parts  of  his  history,  but  no  confession 

had  yet  recognized  him  as  at  once  divine  and 
HisMessiahship  j^^^^^n.    Such  he  held  himself  to  be.    And,  more- 
a  revelation.  ,     i    i  t    i  •  r  ^  -  ^  i 

over,  he  held  that  that  view  or  his  nature  could  not 

be  reached  by  any  process  of  human  reasoning  or  any  leap  of  human 
imagination.  It  was  a  direct  revelation  from  heaven.  The  lit- 
eral words  of  Jesus  are :  "  Flesh  and  blood  have  not  apocalypsed 
it  to  thee,  but  my  Father."  From  such  a  mystery  no  human  hand 
could  have  raised  the  veil  and  made  the  apocalypse, — no  hand  but 
God's.  It  is  manifest  that  Jesus  believed  his  own  character  and 
person  such  a  miracle  that  no  intellectual  analysis  of  his  words 
and  acts  could  enable  any  man  to  reach  the  apprehension  of  them. 
lie  was  a  blessed  man  to  whom  the  Eternal  Father  vouchsafed 
Buch  a  revelation.  It  must  have  been  the  deepest  conviction  that 
drew  such  utterances  from  Jesus.  He  was  joyous  in  his  solemnity. 
He  calls  Simon  by  his  other  name,  Kepliau,  Cephas,  Peter,  Pock. 
"  Kephau  "  was  probably  the  word  he  used,  speaking  in  the  Ara- 
maic tongue,  and  this  word  Grecized  was  Ke^a9,  and  translated 
into  Greek  was  Uerpo'i,  of  which  our  English  is  "  Rock."  He 
ascends  from  Bar-jona  to  Peter. 

This  whole  speech  of  Jesus  to  Peter,  which  must  be  acknowl- 
edged as  one  of  the  most  impoi-tant — if  not  the  most  important — 
of  all  his  sayings,  has  been  a  source  of  great  per- 
Address  of  Jesus     i^j-j^        ^j^^,  trouble  with  many  commentators  is 

to  Peter  r  %/  •/ 

their  hardened  ecclesiasticism.  Wlien  Churchism 
hangs  like  a  veil  over  the  faces  of  men,  they  do  not  see  the  face 
of  Jesus,  and  they  hear  his  words  as  men  hear  the  mumbling  of  a 
priest  through  the  baize  curtain  at  the  church-door.  A  succeed- 
ing commentator  may  be  afraid  to  differ  from  his  predecessor£,lest 


THE    GREAT   CONFESSION.  419 

!ie  be  charged  with  heresy,  or  at  least  irregularity.  Many  of  the 
Protestant  writers  are  as  papal  as  the  Roman  writers.  Roman 
Catholicism  is  the  concentration  of  papacy  on  one  pope ;  secta- 
rian Protestantism  is  the  division  of  the  papacy  among  many  popes. 
Many  men  seem  afraid  to  know  what  Jesus  really  meant.  They 
hear  him  through  the  ear-trumpet  of  "  the  church;"  they  see  him 
through  the  stained  glass  of  "  the  church."  To  reconcile  these 
sayings  of  Jesus  Avith  truth,  and  the  known  facts  of  history,  will 
be  a  perpetual  tax  on  tlie  ingenuity  of  those  who  at  the  same  time 
hold  to  Churchism.  If  a  man  can  only  dare  to  look  the  truth  full 
in  the  face,  and  accept  the  truth  and  its  logical  connections,  he  will 
have  less  difficulty  with  the  questions  of  the  Rock  and  the  Keys. 

Let  us  venture  to  utter  the  truth,  even  at  the  peril  of  being  cast 
out  of  the  synagogue. 

Jesus  never  intended  to  establish  "  a  church,"  in  the  modern 
sense  of  the  term,  namely,  a  close  corporation,  inside  which  should 
be  all  that  are  to  be  saved,  while  all  outside  should 
be  damned.     lie  never  intended  to  institute  any  ^  ^'^  ' 

body  in  which  should  exist  the  distinction  of  clergy  and  laity, 
which  should,  as  a  whole,  dictate  to  its  members  and  to  the  world 
what  their  faith  should  be.  lie  abrogated  priesthood  as  a  corpo- 
ration by  making  every  man  a  priest.  The  churches  now  on 
earth  are  mere  human  economical  arrangements,  with  no  spiritual 
authority  to  declare  that  any  man  is  a  saint  or  a  sinner.  As  com- 
munities and  associations  for  propagating  the  principles  of  Jesus 
they  may  be  useful ;  as  hierarchies  they  are  hurtful.  They  may 
turn  a  man  out  of  their  body,  but  that  in  no  way  affects  his  rela- 
tions to  Jesus  or  to  God.  Jesus  was  full  of  Anti-Churchism. 
He  seemed  to  have  a  mission  to  destroy  Churchism,  which  was  so 
incrusting  human  hearts  that  they  could  not  grow  into  beauty  and 
ripen  into  maturity  in  the  sunlight  of  God's  love  and  smile.  He 
was  a  Secedcr,  a  Dissenter,  a  Come-outer,  an  Independent,  any- 
thing you  please  to  call  him  but  Churchman.  If  he  were  living 
in  our  midst  now  he  would  endure  to  be  called  "glutton,"  "wine- 
bibber,"  "friend  of  publicans  and  sinners,"  and  make  no  more 
resentment  than  he  did  when  he  was  on  earth ;  but  he  would  not 
allow  himself  for  a  moment  to  be  shrunk  into  the  contemptible 
insignificance  of  a  mere  "  churchman."  Living  or  dying,  to  the 
multitudes,  to  his  disciples,  in  parable  or  plain  speech,  he  never 
used  the  woixi  "  church,"  so  far  as  the  records  show. 


420        THE   THIRD   PASSOVER    TO    THE   FEAST    OF    TABER?TACLES. 

Twice  in  Matthew — and  it  never  occurs  in  the  other  three  evan- 
gelists— a  word  in  the  original  is  translated  "  church."  *     If  it 
were  granted,  which  it  is  not,  that  the  word  means 

,    .      f  ..  ^  what  is  now  ordinarily  understood  by  church,  it 

'  church.  J  ^    .1  •< 

would  be  a  most  lemarkable  thing  that  this 
Teacher,  who  was  a  great  talker  in  eveiy  sense,  shonld  have  only 
twice  alluded  to  the  subject  of  church.  33ut  when  we  come  to 
examine  these  two  passages  we  find  no  "  church  "  in  them.  One 
of  them  is  this,  which  records  the  confession  of  Peter.  "On  this 
rock  will  I  build  iny  chtircJi,^^  are  the  words  of  the  common  Eng- 
lish version.  The  Greek  word  translated  " church "  is  eKKXjaia, 
eoclesia,  which  does  not  mean  an  organization  of  any  kind,  but 
simply  a  congregation.  An  assembly  brought  together  by  the 
common  crier  in  Athens  was  called  ecclesia.  In  all  the  English 
versions  before  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth  (except  Wicklif's) 
the  word  was  translated  "congregation."  The  word  "church" 
was  substituted  in  the  Bishops'  Bible  for  the  word  "  congrega- 
tion," and  by  express  order  of  King  James  was  so  substituted  in 
the  authorized  version  of  1611,  in  ever}'  place  where  it  occurs  in 
the  Xew  Testament.  In  the  German  versions  the  Koman  Catho- 
lic translators  and  commentators  employ  the  term  kirche,  church, 
while  the  Protestants  use  gemeinde,,  congregation.  The  German 
Bible  published  in  1557,  by  Com-ad  Badius,  has  "congregation." 

As  Jesus  performed  no  "  ecclesiastical "  act,  as  he  made  no  or- 
ganization of  any  kind,  as  he  gave  no  directions  to  his  disciples  to 
make  any  kind  of  close  cc^i-poration,  as  he  nowhere  speaks  any- 
thing which  involves  the  idea  of  churchness,  in  any  measure  or 
sense,  and  as  he  broke  in  witli  many  ruptures  upon  the  ecclpsias- 
ticism  which  existed  among  his  own  countrymen,  teaching  that 
character  was  everything  and  mere  position  an  incidental,  we  have 
a  right  to  believe  that  ho  was  no  churchman. 

Wliat,  then,  did  he  mean?     Simply  this.     His  congregation, 

that  is,  all  who  heard  liis  call  and  came  to  it,  should  be  built  upon 

the  foundation  of  the  hearty  belief  that  he  was  a 

His    con^ega-    (^ij^.|jjg  personao-e,  tlie  Son  of  the  living  God,  and 

tion.  1  o    ^  c7  ' 

sent  and  set  apart  to  be  the  Deliverer.     Whether 

he  had  any  right  to  make  such  a  claim  is  a  question  for  tlie  de- 

]>artmcnt  of  theology.     All  that  we  concern  ourselves  to  know  ia 

this — what  did  he  mean  ?     He  certainly  meant  that  much,  and 

*  The  other  passage  is  in  Matt,  xviii.  17,  and  will  be  considered  in  its  place. 


THE    GKIiAT   COXFESSION.  421 

chat  is  more  than  churchism.  lie  meant  that  whoever  took  Jesna 
for  his  deliverer,  that  soul  was  of  his  congregation,  whether  bap- 
tized or  not,  whether  enrolled  in  any  society  or  church,  oi  not 
All  other  things  had  fluxions,  but  this  belief  in  hiin  was  to  l^e  the 
one  invariable  element  of  life  ;  it  was  to  be  the  firmest  foundation 
on  which  character  could  be  built. 

lie  e\idently  believed  also,  and  taught,  that  in  all  ages  thei-e 
would  be  men  who,  like  Peter,  would  plant  and  stake  their  all 
upon  a  hearty  belief  in  Jesus  as  the  divine  Deliverer  of  human 
souls,  so  that,  whether  there  should  l)e  visible  churches  or  not,  his 
congregation  should  exist  forever.  The  "  gates  of  the  grave,"  the 
under- world,  death, — for  the  word  translated  "  hell  "  in  the  com- 
mon version  means  this,  and  not  a  place  of  punishment, — "  the 
gates  of  death  shall  not  prevail  against  it ;" — which  simply  means 
that  men  may  be  born  and  may  die,  but  there  would  always  be 
those  who  believed  in  him  as  divine,  and  trusted  in  him  as  their 
Saviour:  and  tliese  should  constitute  his  "  couirreiration." 

Quite  natm-ally  cau  the  words  which  follow  be  interpreted,  if 
one's  mind  be  turned  away  from  the  fixed  idea  of  churchism. 
All  the  controversy  on  the  meaning  of  the  powers 
of  the  keys  has  arisen  from  supposing  that  Jesus  "^^^  powers  of 
was  talking  "church,"  to  which  subject  he  was  ^  ^^^' 
making  no  allusion  in  any  way  whatever.  The  "  kingdom  of  the 
heavens"  does  not  mean  a  "church"  or  the  " church."  The  very 
breadth  of  the  expression  ought  to  have  led  men  to  see  that  it 
means  something  much  larger.  The  "kingdom  of  the  heavens" 
can  no  more  be  contained  in  the  church  than  the  whole  physical 
heavens  can  be  folded  up  and  laid  away  in  a  stone  cathedral.  He 
that  is  only  a  churchman  shall  have  only  the  keys  of  the  church. 
Whatsoever  he  binds  shall  be  bound  in  the  church,  whatsoever  he 
looses  shall  be  loosened  in  the  church.  But  that  is  his  limit.  He 
cannot  go  outside  this  human  organization  called  the  church. 
But  whosoever  receives  Jesus  as  divine,  and  trusts  him  as  his 
Saviour,  shall  have  the  keys  of  all  heavens,  the  range  of  the 
univei-se,  and  all  home-rights  in  the  Father's  house  of  many  man- 
sions. 

How  much  gi-ander  and  more  reasonable  is  this  teaching  of 
Jesus  than  the  dogmas  of  some  scholastic  theologians !  Take  any 
of  their  theories,  and  how  little  and  immaterial  they  are !  They 
narrow  heaven,  and  belittle  God,  and  degrade  Jesus.     They  pledge 


422   THE  THIRD  PASSOVEK  TO  THE  FEAST  OF  TABEKNACLES. 

tlie  Infinite  One  to  sanction  any  decisions  of  a  very  frail  man, 
whom  Jesus,  in  almost  the  next  breath  after  this  commendation, 
was  compelled  to  rebuke  and  call  Satan,  or  else  they  yield  into 
the  hands  of  a  corporate  body  of  men,  comprising  wise  and  fool- 
ish, learned  and  ignorant,  strong  and  weak,  good  and  wicked,  the 
monopoly  of  deciding  all  moral  questions  and  all  human  desti- 
nies. If  that  is  what  Jesus  meant  in  this  interview,  he  therein 
contradicted  all  that  he  had  taught  elsewhere,  which  was  that 
character  is  everything  and  office  nothing  as  concerns  a  man's  per- 
sonal salvation.  It  drops  him  immeasurably.  If  that  was  his 
meaning,  he  is  no  more  than  a  priest  and  a  Levite.  He  ceases  to 
be  the  cosmopolitan  soul,  the  multitudinous  man,  the  loftiest  Son 
of  Man,  and  the  only-begotten  Sou  of  God. 

If  there  be  any  consistency  in  his  doctrines,  Jesus  intended  to 
apply  to  all  men  who  made  Peter's  confession  this  proposition 
which  he  uttered  concerning  Peter.  It  would  be 
most  uncritical  to  take  this  solitary  passage  and 
interpret  it  into  a  signification  which  contradicts  all  his  other 
teachings.  To  say  that  the  power  of  the  keys  signifies  "  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  Apostles  either  to  admit  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  or  to  exclude  from  it,"  is  to  say  that  Almighty  God  abdi- 
cated in  favor  of  an  impetuous  though  generous  man,  who  was 
always  blundering,  if  Peter's  primacy  is  to  be  maintained  ;  or  that 
the  sceptre  of  the  "  King  eternal  "  was  transferred  to  a  body  of 
men  whom  their  teacher,  to  the  very  last,  chid  for  their  stupidity 
and  want  of  faith.  Contrast  with  this  the  real  meaning  of  Jesus. 
Wlioever  accepts  him  as  the  Divine  Deliverer,  and  lives  sincerely 
in  that  faith,  shall  be  perpetually  binding  on  himself  certain  things 
or  casting  fi-om  himself  certain  things,  but  all  his  decisions  he  shall 
afterwards  find  were  sanctioned  by  the  heavenly  Father.  The 
power  of  the  keys  is  given  to  every  believer,  and  it  is  a  power  to 
be  exercised  over  himself  alone  and  not  over  another.  Sincere 
faith  in  Jesus  is  the  only  safe  guide  through  earth  and  heaven, 
and  it  is  a  perfectly  safe  guide.  No  forms  nor  ceremonies  give 
entrance  into  this  kingdom,  nothing  but  the  heart's  unwavering 
belief  that  he  is  "the  Anointed  Deliverer,  the  Son  of  the  living 
God."  One  may  enter  "  the  church,"  man's  organization,  by  bap- 
tism and  other  rites,  with  oral  or  written  profession  of  creeds,  but 
one  can  enter  the  "  kingdom  of  the  heavens "  only  as  he  takes 
Jesus  fur  his  guide.     He  may  be  in  both  the  church  and  the  king- 


THE   GKEAT   CONFESSION.  423 

dom ;  but  being  in  one  is  no  evidence  whatever  that  he  is  in  the 
other.  Men  shall  come  from  the  east  and  the  west  and  sit  down 
in  "  the  kingdom,"  while  "  churchmen  "  may  be  cast  into  outer 
darkness. 

It  was  an  immense  assertion,  "VVliether  he  had  any  right  tc 
make  it  or  not,  Jesus  certainly  did  put  forward  the  claim  to  be 
the  only  medium  of  entrance  into  the  freedom  and  enjoyment  of 
the  kingdom  of  the  heavens. 

It  seems  to  have  satisfied  Jesus  that  he  had  secured  not  simply 
a  foothold  in  human  affection,  but  a  real  root  in  humanity.  lie 
charged  his  disciples  not  to  go  out  and  announce  him  as  the 
Messiah.  It  was  sufficient  that  they  believed  in  him.  The  mul- 
titudes were  looking  for  a  sensuous  millennium,  and  a  secular 
Messiah  to  reign  therein.  It  was  too  late  to  revolutionize  them. 
He  had  not  succeeded.  His  disciples  would  not  succeed.  The 
time  for  the  i)erception  of  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  a  spiritual 
Messialiship  had  not  arrived.  It  would  come,  lie  was  content 
to  await  its  coming,  so  that  only  the  "seed  of  the  kingdom"  were 
meanwhile  kept  in  the  earth. 

In  the  history  of  Jesus  appears  what  we  do  not  detect  in  other 
men.  He  had  a  control  over  history.  He  allowed  nothing  to  he 
antedated  in  fact,  while  he  anticipated  everything 


Jesus   controls 
history. 


in  thought.  The  shadow  of  the  cross  on  his  path 
lay  as  distinct  as  that  which  Gustave  Dore,  in  his 
terriljle  pictures,  throws  everywhere  on  the  M-ay  of  the  "Wan- 
dering Jew."  He  saw  it.  He  talked  of  his  death,  before  it  oc- 
curred, with  as  much  definiteness  as  he  did  of  that  of  John  tlie 
Baptist  after  it  had  occurred.  His  disciples  could  not  see  the 
outline  of  the  shadow  on  tlie  path  until  Jesus  pointed  it  out  to 
them,  Now  he  begins  to  tell  them  "  plainly,"  says  tlie  rccoi-d  in 
Mark  viii.,  that  he  must  go  up  to  Jerusalem,  He  had  absented 
himself  from  the  late  Passover;  now  he  "musi  go  to  Jerusalem." 
He  should  suffer  many  things.  The  consjjiracy  formed  aii:;n'nst 
him  by  the  elders  and  chief  priests  and  scribes  should  culminate 
in  bis  death.   He  should  certainly  be  killed. 

But, — on  the  third  day  he  should  rise  again !  He  plainly  pre- 
dicted that. 

The  prediction  of  the  resurrection  seems  to  have  made  no  im- 
pression upon  them,  VVliether  it  was  because  he  talked  so  much 
in  parables  with  them  that  their  exegesis  was  often  sorely  puz- 


4:24        THE    THIRD    PASSOVER   TO    THE    FEAST    OF   TABERNACLES. 

zled,  SO  that  they  know  uot  when  to  interpret  his  words  literally 
and  wlien  figuratively,* — or  whether  the  startling  and  astound- 
ing announcement  that  he  was  to  be  killed  came 
e  pre  ic  s         ^^^  suddenly  after  his  ioy  at   the  recoocnition  of 
resuiTection.  i  .    -»j-       •   i    i  •  i      r  n 

his  Messnihship,- — the  tact  comes  out  afterward.- 

that  they  totally  forgot  the  prediction  of  the  resurrection.  The 
sratemcnt  that  he,  the  newly  acknowledged  Messiah,  was  to  l»'e 
killed,  was  more  than  Peter  could  bear.  lie  seized  him  by  hand, 
or  dress,  or  perhaps  in  embrace,  and  exclaimed,"  "  God  save  thee,t 
lord  ;  not  to  thee  shall  this  be  !  "  He  actually  undertook  to  rebuke 
him,  as  Matthew  and  Mark  agree  in  recording. 

Jesus  turned  his  back  on  Peter,  saying,  "  Go  behind  me,  Satan: 
thou  art  my  stumbling-stone ;  for  thou  i-egardest  not  the  things  of 
R  buk  P  t  Grod,  but  the  things  of  men."  A  moment  ago  the 
Pock  on  wliich  the  church  was  to  be  built !  if  we 
accept  the  interpretation  of  churchism  :  then  it  is  fair  to  hold 
churchism  to  what  Jesus  says  now,  and  this  same  Peter  is  the  veiT 
devil  and  a  stumbling-stone  !  But  the  words  no  more  applj-  to 
Peter  here  than  there,  in  the  sense  of  a  closely  restricted  personal 
application.  They  contain  a  general  truth.  He  who  cannot 
accept  the  self-abnegation  of  Jesus,  and  endure  the  humiliation 
of  a  violent  and  ignominious  death,  but  is  so  carnal  and  secular 
as  to  desire  a  reign  of  visible  temporal  glor}^  is  a  stumbling-block 
to  the  work  of  Jesus  in  the  world.  When  they  met  face  to  face, 
as  Jesus  and  Peter  did,  it  was  a  pei-sonal  rebuke. 

Satan  is  the  Hebrew  name  for  the  chief  of  evil  spirits,  in  whose 
existence  as  a  personality  Jesus  certainly  believed.  The  general 
meaning  of  the  word  is  Tempter^  or,  more  correctly.  Adversary^ 
one  who  sets  himself  in  opposition  to  goodness  and  duty  and 
j'ight.  It  may  have  been  used  in  this  general  sense  to  Peter,  but 
certainly  very  pointedl}',  and  with  a  distinct  recognition  of  the 
personal  existence  of  Satan. 


*  The  reader  may  consult  John  iv. 
33;  Matthew  xvi.  7;  and  John  xi.  12, 
for  passages  in  which  Jesus  manifestly 
epoke  figuratively,  and  which  his  dis- 
ciples interpreted  literally.  At  other 
times  he  spoke  literally  and  they  under- 
Sftood  him  figuratively :  see  Matthew 
XV.  15,  17;  John  xi.  11,  17;  and  John 
vi.  70 


f  The  phrase  in  the  Greek  is  an  ab- 
breviation, and  literally  is,  "  Propitious 
to  thee,"  or  "  Gracious  to  thee,"  mean- 
ing that  the  goodness  of  God  should 
save  the  person  from  the  evil  spoken ;  a 
sudden  ejaculatory  prayer  for  the  safety 
of  the  person  addressed.  The  very  form 
shows  the  great  excitement  of  Peter. 


THE   GREAT   CONFESSION.  425 

This  resistance  of  Peter  to  the  aniiomicement  by  Jesus  of  his 
comino;  death  is  proof  tliat,  iiotwithstandiiiir  his  noble  and  loft^^ 
ackno\vled^ii:inent  of  the  spiritual  Messiahsliij)  of  Jesus,  thei-e  still 
clung  worldly  notions  to  tlie  mind  of  Peter,  and  to  the  disciples 
and  followers  generally.  He  therefore  called  his  disciples  and 
the  people  near  to  himself,  and  delivei-ed  a  discourse  to  them,  the 
substance  of  which  is  preserved  by  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke, 
and  which  was  as  follows : — 

"If  any  one  wishes  to  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  liis 
cross  and  follow  me.     For  whosoever  may  wisli  to  save  liis  life  shall  lose  it- 
and  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for  my  sake  and  the  gos- 
pel's, shall  find  it.     For  what  shall  a  man  be  profited  if  lie   Addresses  his  (liscipies. 
should  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  life,  or  l)e 
cast  away  ?  or  what  shall  a  man  give  in  excliange  for  his  life  ?     "Whosoever 
shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I  confess  also  Ijcfore  my  Father  Avhich 
is  in  heaven,  and  before  the  angels  of  God ;  but  whosoever  shall  deny  me  and 
be  ashamed  of  me  and  of  my  words  before  men  in  this  sinful  and  adulterous 
generation,  him  will  I  also  deny  before  my  Father  which  is  in  the  heavens: 
for  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  his  own  glory,  and  in  the  glory  of  his  Father 
with  his  angels;  and  then  he  shall  reward  every  man  according  to  his  works. 
Verily  I  say  unto  you,  That  there  be  some  standing  liere  wliich  shall  not  taste 
of  death  till  they  see  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  liis  kingdom  mth  power." 

Which  seems  to  mean  this :  His  Messiahship  had  been  acknow- 
ledged, but  it  was  to  be  a  bitter  disappointment,  even  to  many 
M-ho  acknowledged  it,  because  he  was  going  to  be 

,.,,,,,.  ,  in,  V        r.  Its  meaning'. 

killed.  It  any  man  thought  of  becoming  Ins  dis- 
ciple, he  must  make  up  his  mind  to  abandon  all  hopes  of  ])ecu- 
niary  advantage  and  personal  ease  and  indulgence.  He  must  go 
further.  He  must  deny  himself,  "\7hat  flesh  and  blood  call  for, 
he  must  often  refuse  even  to  himself.  He  must  submit  to  igno- 
miny and  torture.  Nothing  was  so  disgraceful  and  painful  as 
death  by  crucifixion,  in  which  the  condemned  was  compelled  to 
carry  the  cross,  which  was  to  be  the  instrument  of  his  torture,  to 
the  place  of  execution.  So  his  disciples  must  learn  perfect  sub- 
mission to  extreme  sufferings.  But  there  was  a  compensation 
even  here.  A  man  who  gives  his  life  up  for  the  sake  of  Jesus 
and  those  doctrines  of  philanthropy  which  he  preached,  should 
indeed  lose  luxuries,  comforts,  home  delights,  and  many  a  sensu- 
ous pleasure,  but  after  all  should  find  the  truest  and  sweetest  uses 
of  life :  whereas  the  selfish  hoarder  of  his  vital  powers  should  find 
them  shrinking  within  him.     In  general,  vitality  is  maintained 


426   THE  THIRD  PA880VER  TO  THE  FEAST  OF  TABERNACLES. 

and  strengthened  by  living  largely,  putting  out  the  energies 
widely,  life  being  not  income  but  outgo. 

In  that  case  why  should  a  man  lose  his  life  ?  If  he  kill  himself 
in  the  effort  to  grasp  the  whole  world,  even  if  that  effort  should 
be  imagined  to  prove  successful,  nothing  would  come  of  it.  He 
would  be  gone,  lost,  a  castaway,  out  of  existence ;  then  where 
would  there  be  any  use  of  ])leasures  if  he  did  not  exist  to  enjoy 
them  ?  The  basis  of  eveiything  is  life.  The  universe  is  nothing 
without  life.  A  man  must  therefore  do  all  he  can  to  increase  his 
physical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  vitality.  The  world  will  be  so 
much  world  to  him,  and  the  man  will  be  so  much  man  to  himself 
in  proportion  as  he  has  life.  And  life  is  got  by  giving.  The  more 
a  man  gives  himself  to  his  generation  the  more  he  gets  out  of  it. 

Jesus  taught  that  to  follow  him  was  the  way  to  gain  life  by 
giving  it.  Men  nnist  tlierefore  confess  him  l)y  following  him. 
He  was  going  through  a  dark  i)assage.  lie  would 
^    ,  not  conceal  that  from  them.     Jhit  tlieir  hope  of 

Messianic  glory  was  not  all  a  dream.  It  was  a 
mistake  in  so  far  as  it  was  secular,  but  it  was  a  truth  in  so  far  as 
it  recognized  him  as  the  conquering  Deliverer.  He  was  to  come  in 
glory,  in  his  own  glory  and  God's,  which  he  spoke  of  as  being  iden- 
tical, with  a  holy  familiarity,  in  such  style  as  no  man  before  his  time 
or  since  has  ever  dared  to  employ.  The  rewards  of  mankind  he 
represented  as  being  in  his  hands, — a  prodigious  claim  !  He  knew 
the  works  of  every  man,  and  in  exact  accordance  with  those  works 
he  should  give  each  man  his  reward,  and  there  should  be  no  mistake. 

He  closed  his  address  with  the  statement  that  there  were  those 

present  who  should  not  die  until  they  saw  the  Son  of  Man  coming 

in  his  kingdom  with  power.    I  do  not  know  what 

AQincomprehen-  j^^  ,^^^^,^^^     j)-^  j^j^  disciples?      Did  any  event 

ever  occur  in  their  life-time  which  corresponds 
with  this  statement  ?  If  so,  where  is  it  recorded  ?  I  know  what 
theories  have  been  propounded  in  explanation,  have  read  the 
commentators,  am  familiar  with  the  views  of  theologians,  and 
have  perhaps  a  theory  of  my  own ;  but  the  plain  question,  to  be 
honestly  answered,  would  amount  to  this :  As  each  man  in  that 
company  died,  if  he  had  been  asked  in  his  last  moments  whether 
he  had  seen  any  event  which  was  to  him  a  fulfilment  of  these 
words  of  Jesus,  could  he  have  designated  any  such  event  ?  If  he 
could,  we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  fact. 


CHAPTER   III. 


THE   TRANSFIGURA.TION. 


It  was  about  a  week  after  tlie  confession  made  by  Peter  that 
an  event  of  great  interest,  as  a  fresh  revelation,   occurred  in 
the    history   of   Jesus.      The    narrative,    as   col- 
lected from  all  the  New  Testament  historians,      Probably  Mount 

Hermon.      Matt. 
IS  this :  ^  ^  JJ.YU  .   Mark  ix. ; 

Jesus  took  Peter,  James,  and  John  nito  a  high    Luke  ix. 
mountain  apart.      As   he   prayed  he  was  trans- 
figured before  them.    The  fashion  of  his  countenance  was  altered, 
and  his  face  shone  like  the  sun,  and  his  raiment  became  shining 
and  white  as  the  snow,  white  as  the  light,  whiter 

than  any  earthly  fuller  could  make  them.     Moses       ^.  ®     ^^^^  ^" 

in-  'IT  ration, 

and  Elijah  were  present  and  talknig  with  Jesus, 

who  had  a  glorious  appearance,  and  they  spoke  of  his  death  at 
Jerusalem,  "which  he  should  accomplish."  The  three  disciples 
were  hea\'y  with  sleep,  but  this  vision  kept  them  awake  by  its 
splendor.  As  Moses  and  Elijah  departed,  Peter  said  unto  Jesus, 
"  Sir,  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here !  If  thou  wilt,  I  will  make  here 
three  tents;  one  for  thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elijah." 
He  spoke  at  random,  for  he  was  greatly  scared.  While  he  was 
speaking,  the  awe  of  the  disciples  was  increased  by  the  over- 
spreading of  a  bright  cloud,  out  of  which  came  the  words,  "  This 
is  my  Son,  the  Beloved,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased :  hear  him." 
This  splendor  and  these  words  overpowered  them,  and  they  fell 
on  their  faces  greatly  afraid.  And  when  the  voice  was  past, 
Jesus  came  and  touched  them,  and  said,  "Arise,  and  be  not 
afraid."  And  when  they  lifted  up  their  eyes  they  saw  no 
man  but  Jesus. 

As  they  came  down  from  the  mountain  his  disciples  asked  him 
why  the  Scribes  taught  that  Elijah  must  first  come.  His  answer 
was,  "Elijah  truly  shall  come,  and  restore  all  things:  but  I 
say  unto  you,  That  Elijah  is  come  already,  and  they  knew  him  not, 


428        TUE   TUIKD   PASSOVER   TO   THE   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES. 

but  have  done  to  him  whatever  they  wished.  Thus  also  is  the 
Sou  of  Man  about  to  suffer  by  them."     The  disciples  understood 

him  to  mean  John  the  Baptist  in  this  last  speech. 
Why  Elijah  must  ^^^^  ^^  ^.  descended  from  the  mountain,  Jesus 
first  come.  "^  .         ,  m  n    i 

charged  them,  saying,  "  lell  the  vision  to  no  man 

until  tlie  Son  of  Man  be  risen  from  the  dead."  Luke  and  Mai-]< 
say  that  the  injunction  was  obeyed.  The  disciples  did  nut  tell 
any  tiling  of  the  vision  outside  their  own  circle,  but  inside  they 
held  discussion  of  the  meaning  of  the  perplexing  phrase,  "  risen 
again  from  the  dead." 

It  would  appear  that  the  intimation  of  his  sufferings  and 
death  had  had  a  depressing  effect  upon  the  mind  of  his  dis- 
ciples. Under  this  cloud  they  struggled  and  questioned  their 
own  hearts  for  the  space  of  a  week,  when  the  event  of  the  trans- 
figuration gave  new  form  to  their  thoughts  and  hopes. 

It  is  not  known  precisely  what  mountain  was  the  site  of  this 

transfiguration.     In  the  fourth  century,  from  a  passing  remark 

by  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  tradition  fixed  on  Mount 

1  e  o  ^  e  "jjj^jijQj.  jjj  Galilee,  famous  for  the  beauty  of  its 
Transfiguration.  ^  ^ 

form  and  for  the  wide  view  oi  Central  Palestine 

beheld  from  its  summit.      In  the  sixth  century  three  churclies 

were  built  on  its  top,  suggested  by  Peter's  idea  of  three  booths. 

Subsequently  a  monastery  was  founded.     But  later  criticism  has 

displaced  the  claims  of  Tabor.     It  was  possible  for  Jesus,  by  a 

very  forced  march,  of  which  we  have  no  account,  to  reach  Tabor 

within  the  period  specified.   But  why  should  he  return  to  Galilee, 

where  his   enemies  were  seeking  him  to  destroy  him?     Mark 

(ix.  30)  informs  us   that  he  did  not  go  into  Galilee  until  after 

this  event.     Moreover,  Tabor  was  occupied,  to  its  summits,  by 

settlements,  and  had  been,  probably,  from  the  time  of  Joshua. 

Jesus   was   in   the   highlands  of    Gaulonitis,   in   the   region  of 

CsBsarea  Philippi.     Whoever  in  this  place  looks  up  for  a  "high 

mountain,"  immediately  sees  the  sublime  heights  of  Ilermon,  and 

the  almost  common  consent  of  travellers  and  critics  is  now  given 

to  the  theory  that  the  transfiguration  took  place  somewhere  on 

Hermon. 

Jesus  had  with  him  the  three  representative  and  trusted  dis 

ciples,  Peter  and  James  and  John.     It  was  his  custom  to  go  into 

the  mountains  for  evening  prayer.,  and  sometimes  to  continue  his 

devotions  through  the  entire  night.    He  seems  to  have  done  so  ia 


THE    TRANSFIGURATION.  429 

this  instance.     lie  prayed  while  his  futigued  disciples  slept.     At 

some  period  of  the  night  a  strange  awe  suffused  their  slumbers. 

They  woke  to  see  their  Master  in  a  state  of  glori- 

fication.    His  face  shone  like  the  sun,  and  his  very 

gai-nients  were  glistening,  snowy  white,  and  luminous.     Mark  was 

struck  with  that  fact,  which  must  have  been  narrated  to  him  by 

one  of  the  spectators,  and  his  sim])le  remark  is  that  they  wei'e 

white  "as  no  fuller  on  earth  can  white  them."     This  was  tlio 

first  stage  of  the  marvel.     Then  two  unknown  men  stood  with 

him.      They  entered   into   solemn   discoui-se   with   Jesus.      The 

disciples   learned   from  the   lofty  conversation  that  these  were 

Moses  and  Elias,  the  founder  and  the  defender  of  the  theocracy 

Tliey   spoke   to   Jesus   about    his   death,  wliich  was   shortly  to 

occur. 

It  was  an  awful  time  to  the  disciples.     It  seemed  to  flasli  upon 

Peter's  mind  that  Jesus  was  now  about  to  declare  oi)enly  that 

Messiahship  of  his  which  Petei»  had  so  recently 

confessed :  that  on  this  mount  he  was  about  to  fix       Peter's  conjec- 
ture, 
the  seat  of  his  empire,  with  Moses  and  Elijah 

as  his  prime  ministers.  It  was  the  prevalent  belief  of  the  Jews 
that  Elijah  was  to  precede  and  herald  the  Messiah,  bViiig  back 
the  pot  of  manna  and  Aaron's  rod,  settle  the  contro\ersie3 
between  the  Jewish  schools,  purify  the  people  by  some  lustration, 
and  hand  the  nation  over  to  King  Messiah.  He  seemed  now 
about  to  begin  this  grand  inauguration.  But  then,  on  the  in- 
stant, he  and  Moses  retire.  Peter,  in  his  general  confusion 
and  fright,  blunders  out  a  request  to  Jesus  to  be  permitted  to 
erect  there  such  booths  as  the  Jews  Avere  accustomed  to  pnt 
up  in  a  temporary  style  for  their  Feasts  of  Tabernacles,  so  that 
Moses  and  Elijah  might  remain  with  Jesus  and  carry  forward  the 
great  work. 

Before  Jesus  made  any  response  a  bright  cloud  en<'ircled  them, 
and  the  disciples  were  sore  ama/.cd  and  frightened  as  they  en- 
tered the  cloud.  A  new  marvel  broke  on  them. 
A  voice  sounded  from  the  brightness,  saying, 
"  This  is  my  Son,  the  Beloved,  in  whom  I  am  well  ])lcased : 
hear  him."  The  disciples  fell  on  their  faces,  and  remained  so 
until  Jesus  came  and  touched  them  and  encouraged  them  to 
arise,  when  they  found  that  they  were  alone  with  Jesus. 

Whatever  theory  may  be  adopted  as  to  this  history,  the  effects 


430        THE   TUIED   PASSOVER   TO   THE   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES. 

upon  tlie  minds  of  the  disciples  is  the  important  consideration : 
whether  it  was  a  vision  which  all  three  saw  consentaneously,  in 
all  its  parts,  in  a  dream,  or  whether,  being  awake, 
discf™°°^^^  they  were  in  such  a  physical,  intellectual,  and 
spiritual  state  as,  all  together,  to  have  witnessed 
these  phenomena,  it  is  certain  that  there  were  impressions  made 
upon  them  which  had  great  influence  subsequently  upon  theii 
character  and  conduct.  The  surpassing  glory  of  Jesus,  his  con- 
sistency with  the  law  and  the  prophets,  the  subjection  of  Moses 
and  Elijah  to  Jesus,  his  suffering  of  death  not  vitiating  his  claims 
to  the  Messiahship,  were  certainly  represented  with  great  power 
to  the  minds  of  these  three  representative  and  influential  disci- 
ples, and  by  them  brought  to  bear  npon  the  whole  body  of  the 
neai-est  followers  of  Jesus. 

13ut  still  there  were  two  perplexities  created  by  this  vision  and 
by  the  words  of  their  Master.  One  was  the  "  being  raised  again 
from  the  dead,"  as  applied  to  Jesus.  If  he  were 
the  Messias,  how  could  he  die  ?  How  could  death 
have  power  over  a  being  so  glorious  that  the  effulgence  of  his 
person  rendered  his  very  garments  glistening  ?  They  never  did 
find  a  satisfactory  solution  of  that  problem  through  the  whole 
life-time  of  their  Master.  That  he  was  in  some  mysterious  man- 
ner to  accomplish  at  Jerusalem  something  which  might  be  repre- 
sented as  a  death,  they  had  gathered  from  the  conversation  of 
Moses  and  Elijah ;  but  that  he  should  really  depart  this  life  by 
dying,  being  virtually  murdered,  and  that  his  spirit  should  come 
back  to  that  same  mangled  body  and  lift  it  from  the  grave,  and 
go  about  in  it  as  if  he  had  never  died,  is  a  series  of  thoughts 
which  seems  never  to  have  entered  their  minds. 

Their  second  trouble  was  to  reconcile  the  fact  that  they  had 
seen  Elijah  leave  Jesus,  apparently  not  to  return,  with  the  predic- 
tion of  Malachi  (iv.  5,  6)  that  Elijah  must  fii-st 
plexit°  ^^  ^^^'  ^^^"^'  which,  as  their  religious  instructoi-s  had 
taught  them  to  believe,  meant  that  the  personal 
appearance  of  the  prophet  Elijah  was  to  precede  that  of  the  Mes- 
sias. Here  he  had  shown  himself  to  only  three  of  the  disci- 
ples, and  not  to  the  body  of  the  people ;  and  instead  of  preceding 
Jesus,  had  really  appeared  to.  no  one  until  this  late  period  in  the 
ministiy  of  Jesus.  Their  Master  gave  them  to  understand  that 
John  the  Baptist  had  fulfilled  all  predictions  of  a  forerunner ; 


THE   TKANSFIGURATION.  431 

that  lie  had  preceded  Jesus  with  the  power  of  Elijah,  and  had 
been  slaughtered,  and  that  the  fate  of  the  Baptist  prefigured  the 
sufferings  which  he  himself  was  to  endure.  His  own  approach- 
ing death  by  violence  seemed  as  plain  before  his  eyes  as  that  of 
John,  which  had  already  been  accomplished. 

After  these  wonderful  revelations  Jesus  enjoined  silence  on  the 
three  witnesses.  We  can  readily  conjecture  good  reasons  for  tliis. 
They  had  become  so  affected  by  this  interview  that  they  could 
carry  the  moral  influence  into  the  whole  body  of  the  disciples 
without  the  description  of  phenomena  which  might  give  rise  to 
perplexing  and  inharmonious  discussions.  Everything  was  to  be 
done  which  should  suppress  the  sensuous  Messianic  expectations 
of  his  followers.  The  very  criticism  made  on  this  transaction  by 
such  men  as  Paulus  and  Yenturini  and  Strauss  in  modern  days, 
shows  just  the  spirit  with  W'hicli  the  narrative  of  such  lofty  scenes 
and  experiences  would  have  been  met  by  the  multitude  and  by 
the  learned  men  of  that  time,  who  were  generally  coarse,  skepti- 
cal, and  profane.  "When  no  good  can  possibly  come  of  speaking, 
and  much  evil  may,  it  is  wisdom  to  keep  silence. 

Immediately  upon  the  descent  from  the  mountain  occurred  a 
scene  which  stands  in  contrast  witli  tlie  lofty  splendor  of    the 
Transfiguration.     Jesus  came  to  the  nine  disci- 
ples whom  he  had  left  behind,  and  found  them  in  -r,, ...  T 
^                                                           ,    '                                             sarea     Pmlippi. 

great  trouble  and  perplexity,  and  the  ]u»stile  Mark  ix. ;  Matt. 
Scribes  vexing  them  with  questions,  and  the  ^^i-  >  ^^^  i^ 
multitude  about  them  in  a  tmnult.  But  there 
must  have  been  something  in  the  natural  dignity  of  the  person 
of  Jesus,  and  perhaps  on  this  occasion  some  reminiscence  of  the 
glory  wherewith  he  had  shone  on  the  eyes  of  his  three  disciples 
in  tlie  Mount ;  for  the  people  were  amazed  at  his  appearance,  and 
ran  towards  him  and  saluted  him.  He  asked  them,  "  "NVliy  do 
ye  question  among  yourselves?  "  The  disciples  gave  no  answer, 
nor  the  Scribes.  The  former  were  ashamed  of  their  weakness 
in  the  absence  of  their  Master,  and  the  latter  feared  his  power 
now  that  he  was  present.  The  question,  however,  was  soon  an- 
swered by  a  man  from  the  crowd,  who  came  forward  and  kneeled 
down  before  Jesus,  and  said  :  "  Teacher,  I  have  brouirht  to  thee 
my  son,  mine  only  child,  who  has  a  dumb  spirit ;  and  where  it 
seizes  him  it  tears  him,  and  he  suddenly  cries  out  and  foams,  and 
gnashes  with  his  teeth,  and  pines  away,  and  the  spirit  with  diffi- 


432     THE  THIRD  passover  to  the  feast  of  tabernacles. 

cultj  departs  from  him  ;  for  he  is  a  hmatic  and  sore  vexed.  And 
I  spoke  to  thy  disci])les  that  they  should  cast  him  out ;  and  they 
could  not." 

Here  was   the  whole   case,  with  all   its  difficulties,  revealed. 

Here  was  a  spectacle  of  mental  and  physical  wretchedness,  an 

ei)ile])tic  and  lunatic  youth,  whom  the  disciples 

The  demoniac    j^.^j  ^^^^  ^^^^^^,^^.  ^^  j^^^l .  ^^^^  because  tliey  failed 

when  tliey  tried,  the  party  antagonistic  to  Jesus 
had  stirred  up  the  nniltitude  to  profane  skepticism,  and  perhaps 
to  taunts,  rejecting  the  Master  in  the  perso'is  of  the  disciples,  who, 
under  these  jeers,  on  account  of  their  weakness,  grew  still  more 
impotent.  The  conti-ast  with  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration  was 
violent.  Hafaelle's  great  picture  in  the  Vatican  presents  to  the 
eye  the  idea  of  the  contrast,  but  fails  to  express  it  all.  The 
Mount  Avas  bright  and  warm,  and  full  of  celestial  health  and  har- 
monies, but  ]ici-e  in  the  pUiin  were  physical  disease  and  mental 
disoi-dcr,  and  daikness,  and  clang  of  discordant  voices  and  pas- 
sions. It  smote  fiom  the  sensitiveness  of  Jesus  the  expression : 
"O  faitliless  generation,  iiow  long  sliall  I  be  with  you?  How 
long  shall  I  suflci-  yon  ?"  Wluit  long  pent  up  agony  suspii'ed  in 
that  groan  !  lie  had  Ii\ed  to  teach  them  that  faith  in  God  was 
everything  as  a  basis  of  character  and  as  an  energy  of  life  ;  and 
it  all  seemed  to  come  to  nothing.  He  knew  the  power  and  good- 
ness of  God  so  well  that  want  of  trust  in  II im  on  the  part  of 
others  gave  Jesus  the  greatest  suffering.  He  could  not  endure  it. 
It  was  not  the  sins  into  which  their  passions  betrayed  them  that 
M'as  most  gj-ievous,  but  the  la(;k  of  faith  which  allowed  their  pas 
sions  such  power  over  tlieir  lives. 

"  Bring  him  to  me,"  he  said.     And  as  they  brought  him  the 

boy  had  another  fit,  and  he  fell  and  wallowed  foaming.      And 

Jesus  asked  the  father :  "  How  long  since  this 

Brought  to  Jesus.     ,  i  i.     i  •      o »        a      i  i  i        u -t' 

ha])i)ened  to  Inm  ?        And  lie  answered  :    "  1'  rom 

a  child  : — and  often  it  has  cast  him  into  the  fire  and  into  the  wa- 
ters, that  it  might  destroy  him  ;  but  if  thou  art  able,  have  com- 
passion on  us  and  help  us."  Jesus  replied  :  "  If  thou  art  able  !— 
all  things  are  possible  to  him  Avho  believes."  There  may  be  a 
doubt  as  to  the  ])rccise  shade  of  meaning  which  Jesus  attached  to 
these  words.  The  emphasis  makes  great  difference.  "  Jf  thou 
art  able  !  "  would  be  quoting  the  man's  words  and  rebuking  him 
for  the  implication  of  inability  on  the  part  of  Jesus.     Repeating 


THE    TKAXSFIGUKATION.  433 

the  mail's  words  without  any  emphasizing  would  be  to  say:  "It 
is  not  a  question  of  abihty,  physical  or  intellectual,  but  purely  of 
faith ;  if  I  have  faith  enough  I  can  do  this ;  if  my  disciples  had 
had  faith  eiiougli  they  might  have  done  it."  Both  these  mean- 
ings may  be  in  the  speech  of  Jesus,  but  I  think  that  over  them 
predominates  the  sense  given  by  the  words  when  emphasized  as 
above  :  "  K  thou — the  fatlier  of  the  child — art  able."  No  faith 
on  the  part  of  Jesus  would  have  a's'ailed  if  the  man  remained  un- 
believing: and, — faith  is  strength.  "  If  thou  art  able"  to  believe 
— is  the  reply  to  "  If  thou  art  able "  to  cure.  It  is  only  the 
repetition  of  tlie  teaching  of  Jesus  that  the  greatest  power  of 
humanity  lies  in  its  trust  in  the  Father  God,  that  this  gives  a  man 
control  over  all  the  possibilities  of  the  universe,  and  that  things 
become  possible  to  men  in  proportion  to  their  faith  ;  that  as  a  man 
extends  the  radius  of  his  faith  he  enlarges  the  circle  of  his  possi- 
bilities. Faith  and  Love,  in  the  system  of  Jesus,  are  tlie  two  great 
wings  which  bear  a  man  upward  through  tlie  universe  to  the 
liighest  attainments  and  enjoyments. 

The  father  must  have  felt  that  there  was  some  rebulce  in  the 
reply  of  Jesus.  He  burst  into  tears  and  said:  "  Sir,  I  believe; 
do  thou  help  mine  unbelief."     This  is  at  once  so 

natural,  so  simple,  and  so  profound,  that  every  ®      at  er  a 

,  J'     1     1        1       •  •  .  emotions. 

reader  must  reel  that  he  is  j^erusmg  a  narrative 

of  actual  events.     The  father  believed  that  his  unbelief  was  in 

the  way  of  the  healing  of  his  child  ;  he. believed  that  Jesus  could 

do  something  to  destroy  that  unbelief ;  lie  prayed  him  to  do  it, 

BO  that  at  once  his  infidelity  and  his  child's  malady  might  be 

cui'ed.  -  If  it  was  not  the  'S'oice,  it  was  at  least  the  echo  of  faith. 

It  was  enough. 

By  this  time  the  people  had  begun  to  run  together.     He  made 

no  prayer,  but  said  authoritatively,  "  Dumb  and   deaf   spirit,   I 

charge  thee  come  out  of  him,  and  enter  no  more 

'",,,,.,,.   1  .  11'  ,1  Jesus  heals  the 

into  hnn.       And  shrieking,  and    having  greatly    ^ 

convulsed  him,  it  left ;    and  the    boy   la}'   as  if 

he  were  dead,  so  much  so  that  some  of  the  spectators  prououiuicd 

him  dead.     But  Jesus  took  his  hand  and  raised  liim  ;  and  he 

stood  up. 

When  they  entered  the  house,  bis  disciples  privately  asked  him 

the  cause  of  their  failure.     He  plainly  traced  it  to  their  lack  of 

faith.     They  then  pi-ayed,  "  Lord,  increase  our  faith."     Ilis  reply 

28 


i34     THE  TnmD  passover  to  the  feast  of  tabernacles. 

was,  "  If  you  have  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard,  ye  might  say  to 

this  sycamine  tree,  '  Be  rooted  up  and  planted  in  the  sea,'  and  it 

would  have  obeyed  you  ;  or  to  this  mountain,  '  Ke- 

^  , ,®     ^°^'    move  hence  yonder,'  and  it  should  obey  you.     And 
pies  could  not.  *^  .  .  "^  "^ 

nothing  should  be  impossible  to  you."     He  also 

eaid  to  them,  "  This  kind  can  come  forth  by  nothing  except  by 
prayer."  It  was  a  strong  expression  of  the  value  attached  to  faitli 
by  Jesus.  Stier  seldom  said  a  more  sensible  thing  than  his  com- 
ment on  this  passage.  "  Faith  cannot  make  it  its  concern,  in  a 
literal  sense,  to  be  removing  mountains  of  the  earth.  But  if  it 
could  be,  and  ought  to  be  its  concern,  then  faith  would  be  able 
really  [literally]  to  remove  mountains."  All  the  possibilities  are 
within  the  reach  of  faith.  But  if  a  man  have  not  faith,  even  the 
possibilities  become  impossibilities.  The  removing  of  matei-ial 
mountains  is  a  matter  of  small  moment.  It  would  be  curious  to 
stand  on  a  peak  of  the  Alps,  and  see  a  spur  of  the  mountain  lifted 
by  a  word  and  set  down  quietly  in  a  Swiss  lake  ;  but  it  would  be 
nothing  more.  Nothing  useful,  or  beautiful,  or  profitable  would 
be  in  it.  A  man  who  takes  from  his  fellow-men  a  mountain  of 
doubt,  of  intellectual  and  spiritual  difficulty,  is  greater,  does  a 
grander,  wiser,  better,  lovelier  thing.  Yery  currently  in  the 
school  of  the  Rabbins  was  a  remover  of  such  difficulties  finely 
called  "  An  Uprooter  of  mountains." 


CHAPTER   lY. 


LAST   DAYS   IN   GALILEE. 


7^0  such  a  pitch  had  risen  the  opposition  to  Jesus  that  he  no 

longer  dart-d  to  show  himself  openly  along  the  high-roads,  lest 

his  life  and  his  ministry  should  be  brought  to  a 

sudden  termination  by  violence.     He  could  not  go      Throiigh  North- 

down  to  the  lake.     So,  crossinc;  the  Jordan  near    .        nr  xi. '     •• 
'  °  IX.  ;  Matt.  xvii.  ; 

its  source,  by  field-paths  and  through  byways  Luke  ix. 
he  went  with  his  disciples  through  Upper  Galilee. 
In  Gaulonitis  he  had  declared  to  his  nearest  and  most  trusted 
disciples  that  his  end  was  approaching,  and  that  it  was  to  be  one 
of  great  shame  and  pain.  But  there  were  scattered  throughout 
Galilee  quite  a  body  of  people  who  in  such  measure  believed 
on  him  that  they  might  be  called  disciples.  To  these,  "of  whom 
a  nucleus  of  more  than  five  hundred  brethren  survived  the  trial 
of  the  cross,"  he  now  made  the  same  announcement  in  plain  lan- 
guage, saying,  "  The  Son  of  Man  is  being  delivered  into  the  hands 
of  men,  and  they  will  kill  him  ;  and  when  he  is  killed,  after  three 
days  he  shall  arise."  Here  was  an  open  prediction  of  a  violent 
death,  and  of  a  resurrection  after  a  certain  specified  time.  And 
yet  they  could  not  understand  it.  They  could  see  no  necessity 
for  it.  It  was  so  contrary  to  all  their  expectations,  to  his  great 
power  and  niighty  works,  that  his  death  was  utterly  incompre- 
hensible. The  resurrection  was  totally  unintelligible.  And  they 
were  afraid  to  ask  him  what  this  saying  meant ;  but  it  was  a  sad- 
ness and  a  sorrow  to  them. 

We  do  not  know  how  long  this  journey  was,  nor  what  spots  of 
Northern  Galilee  he  visited.  It  was  manifestly  not  intended  to 
be  a  circuit  of  preaching,  but  a  season  to  be  spent  in  instructing 
his  disciples,  especially  in  the  matter  of  his  great  trial,  which  he 
saw  approaching. 

After  some  time  he  brought  his  disciples  to  Capernaum.  On 
their  arrival,  Peter,  who  Avas  the  most  demonstrative,  and  there- 


436        THE    TiriKD    PASSOVEK   TO    THE   FEAST    OF    TABERNACLES. 

fore  the  most  conspicuous  of  the  little  band,  was  applied  to  by 

tho  collectors  of  the  didrachms.  This  didrachra  (or  donble-drachm) 

was  of  about  the  value  of  thirty  American  cents 

tr  ^i.  ^'"  "  ^'    ill  ffold,  and  was  the  half-shekel  tribute  to  the  Tem- 

tax.    Matt.  xvu.  .  •       -r^ 

pie  mentioned  in  Exodus  xxx.  13.  Every  Jew 
acknowledged  it.  Even  during  the  Babylonish  captivity  it  was 
conscientiously  and  punctually  paid.  It  was  not,  then,  a  tax  to 
the  Roman  govenmicnt,  for  it  had  been  collected  long  anterior 
to  the  Roman  rule.  Jesus  had  been  absent  from  his  home,  and 
now,  upon  his  return  to  Caperiuxum,  being  in  arrears,  as  this 
money  had  been  due  since  the  previous  March,  it  was  expected 
that  he  would  attend  to  it.  And  yet  there  was  something  so  excep- 
tional in  his  character  and  history  that  the  collectors  hardly  dared 
to  aj^proach  Jesus  on  the  subject,  but  preferred  to  speak  to  his 
disciples.  After  he  had  passed  into  the  house,  they  said  to  Peter, 
"  Does  not  your  Teacher  })ay  the  didrachm  ?  "  As  all  paid  it, 
Peter  supposed  of  course  that  Jesus  would,  and,  genei'ally  blun- 
dering, often  through  his  gushing  earnestness  and  generosity,  he 
said,  ""  Yes."  Perhaps  he  felt  that  his  Teacher's  honor  was  at 
stake,  and,  forgetting  what  he  had  a  short  time  ago  confessed, 
that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  the  living  God,  and  thus,  as  Jesus 
declared  of  himself,  greater  than  the  Temple,  he  had  placed  his 
Master  in  the  difficulty  of  confessing  himself  to  be  liable  to  Tem- 
ple-tribute, or  of  taking  a  position  in  which  oifence  would  be 
gi\en  where  no  good  could  be  done. 

When  Peter  entered  the  house,  Jesus  said  to  him,  "  Wliat  think- 

est  thou,  Simon  ?     From  whom  do  the  kings  of  the  earth  i-eceive 

tariff  or  poll-tax,  of  their  own  sons  or  of  others  ? " 

,     ,,      ,        .,     Peter  answered, "  Of  others."     Of  course  a  prince 
should  not  pay  it.  '  ^  '■ 

of  blood  royal  would  not  pay  a  capitation-tax ! 
"Thei-efore  the  sons  are  free,"  responded  Jesus.  Peter  must 
have  licard  in  the  words  and  tone  a  very  deep  meaning.  Jesus 
chiimed  to  he  a  son  of  Jehovah  in  a  sense  in  which  no  other  Jew, 
and  thc'i-efore  no  other  human  being,  could  utter  the  claim.  lie 
A\as  a  son,  free  in  his  Father's  house.  Other  men  might  pay 
Temple-tax,  Ijut  surely  not  he.  The  admission  of  Peter,  the  logi- 
cal connection  of  which  that  disciple  did  not  perceive,  took  back 
his  former  confession  and  reduced  Jesus  to  the  level  of  an  itiner- 
ant teacher. 

From  this  predicament  his  Master  relieved  him,  saying,  "  But, 


LAST   DATS    m   GALILEE. 


437 


LTSntACHUS, 


tliat  we  may  not  offend  tlieni,  go  to  tlie  lake  and  cast  a  hook,  and 
take  the  first  fish  that  conies  np  ;  upon  opening  its  mouth  thou 
shalt   find   a   stater;    take 
that,  and  give  it  to  tlieni 
for  nie  and  thee."     It  is  to 
be  presumed  tliat  Peter  did 
^  so,  else  the  narrative  would 
have  found  no  place  in  the 
history.     The  stater  was  a 
coin  equal  to  the  Hebrew 
shekel,  about  sixty  American  cents  gold,  and  was  therefore  two 
double  didraehms  :  it  paid  for  two.      But  it  is  to  be  noticed  that 
while  Jesus  put  himself  into  brotherhood  and  sympathy  with  his 
disciples,  there  is  always  a  dignified  reserve.     He  does  not  say, 
"  Give  it  for  us ;  "  but  "  for  me  and  for  thee:' 

This  was  a  mii-acle  or  nothing.     It  was  at  least  a  miracle  of 
knowledge,  being  out  of  the  usual  methods  in  which  knowledge  is 
gained.     It  was  not  a  creation.     There  was  no 
need  of  that.     And  Jesus  never  created  before       ^  miracle   of 
the  eyes  of  men.     He  did  not  make  the  money  in    ^^^'^^'^se. 
the  fish.     The  fish  had  swallowed  it.     He  knew  it,  and  knew  that 
it  would  come  to  Peter's  hook.     And  it  came.     Tlie  tax  was  paid. 
It  is  quite  easy  to  say  that  this  was  a  selfish  act,  that  it  was  ex- 
erted for  his  personal  benefit,  and  that  it  was  undignified  and  un- 
necessary.    It  occurred.     There  is  nothing  else  undignified,  and 
unnecessary,  and  selfish  in  this  man's  life.     To  have  paid'  this 
special  tax  would  have  been  to  surrender  what  he  had  claimed, 
and  to  let  his  disciples  down  from  the  high  place  to  which  he  had 
been  so  long  engaged  in  lifting  theuL     As  the  Son  of  God,  in  a 
sense  higher  than  any  which  can  be  claimed  by  any  other,  whic^i 
is  manifestly  what  he  thought  and  taught  himself  to  be,  he  should 
not  pay  the  Temple-tax.     Kings  do  not  tax  ])rinces  of  the  blood 
royal.     As   God's  Only  Begotten  he  was  free   in   his  Father's 
house.     Kevertheless,  as  it  would  have  been  most  impi-udent  to 
plant  himself  on  that  claim  at  this  juncture  of  his  history,  and  as 
Peter  had  pledged  the  payment  of  this  tax,  he  perfoi-med  this 
mn-acle,  which  at  once  meets  the  case  and  declares  his  superiority 
to  other  men. 

Several  circumstances  now  combined  to  increase  in  the  disci- 
ples the  rigor  of  their  anticipations  of  a  sensuous  Messianic  reign. 


438       THE   THIKD   PASSOVEK   TO   THE   FEAST   OF   TABEBNACLES. 

Jesus  had  told  them  that  the  end  approached.     The  intimatione 

of  the  darkness  and   sorrow  that  awaited  him,  with  which  ha 

accompanied  this  prediction,  seem  to  have  mada 

Messianic  hopes;    little  impression  upon  them.     The  Messiah  waa 

Mark  ix.-  Matt.    ^^  ^.^j         ^^j  sorrows  wouJd  be  like  the  morn- 

xvm  •  Lukexvii.,     .         ,1,^  t        •  •  mim  /> 

2^^  ing  cloud  beiore  the  rising  sun.     Ihe  Iransligura- 

tion,  the  miracle  of  the  stater  in  the  fish's  mouth, 
combined  with  the  ground  he  took  as  to  his  non-liability  to  be 
taxed,  made  them  feel  that  the  kingdom  had  in  some  sense  been 
set  up,  and  that  the  time  of  the  distribution  of  honors  must  be 
api^roaching.  Certain  things  had  excited  their  vanity.  Peter 
had  received  special  commendation  for  his  confession.  Peter  and 
James  and  John  had  been  taken  to  witness  the  splendors  of  the 
Transfiguration.  A  miracle  had  been  performed  by  which  money 
had  been  procured  to  pay  Peter's  Temple-tax.  Poor  human 
nature  could  not  endure  all  this,  and  so  they  fell  into  a  dis- 
pute in  regard  to  the  Primacy.  Wlien  they  reached  the  pres- 
ence of  Jesus  they  were  flushed  with  the  excitement  of  the 
discussion.  Matthew  says  that  they  came  and  submitted  the 
question  to  Jesus.  Mark  says  that  Jesus  perceived  the  thought 
of  their  hearts.  Their  very  visages  plainly  told  of  the  alter- 
cation they  had  had.  lie  questioned  them  as  to  wluit  had  been 
the  subject  of  dispute.  They  were  silent  with  shame.  But  he 
pushed  them  to  a  reply,  and  they  said  that  they  had  been  dis- 
puting on  the  question,  "  AVho  is  the  greater  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven?" 

Here  was  the  spirit  of  churchism  cropping  out,  with  its  oflicial 
distinctions  and  struggles  for  ofiice,  which  have  been  the  curse  of 

religionists  in  all  ages.    It  was  a  fitting  time  to 
The  rule  of  pre-    gj^^^^.  ^low  that  kinc^dom  of  the  heavens  which  he 

preached,  the  limitless  field  and  perpetual  dura- 
tion of  principles  of  right,  was  set  against  everything  that  sa- 
\ored  of  churchism.  There  were  to  be  no  distinctions  in  that 
kingdom,  no  ofticers,  no  primacies.  He  called  the  twelve  out, 
and  laid  down  to  tliem  this  principle  :  "  If  any  man  desire  to  be 
first,  the  same  shall  be  last  of  all,  and  servant  of  all ; "  as  much  as 
to  say,  profoundest  humility  and  most  extensive  usefulness  con- 
stitute the  only  ground  of  distinction  in  the  kingdom  of  the 
heavens.  The  distinctions  there  are  of  character  and  not  of 
office. 


LAST   DAYS   IN   GALILEE. 


439 


A  little  child. 


John's  frank 
confession. 


To  impress  this  he  took  a  little  child  *  and  set  him  in  the  midst 
of  them,  and  when  he  had  taken  the  boy  in  his  arms  he  said  to 
his  disciples,  "  Uidess  you  shall  be  changed,  and 
become  as  little  children,  you  shall  not  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  the  heavens.  AVhosoevei-,  tlierefore,  shall  humble 
himself  as  this  child,  he  is  the  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  the 
heavens.  AYhosocver  shall  receive  one  of  these  children  in  my 
name  receiveth  me,  and  whos«je\  ei'  shall  receive  me,  receiveth  not 
me,  but  him  that  sent  me." 

This  reminded  John  of  something.  The  wideness  of  this 
catholic  speech  condcnmed  a  little  act  of  sectarian  meanness  into 
which  the  disciples  had  been  betrayed.  It  was 
frank  in  John  to  say,  "  Teacher,  we  saw  one  cast- 
ing out  demons  in  thy  name,  and  we  forbade  him, 
because  he  fcjlloweth  not  us."  It  was  a  most  naive  confession.  It 
was  an  exhibition  of  denominationalism,  sectarianism,  churchism, 
in  its  very  essence,  but  in  its  best  manner.  It  gave  Jesus  an  op- 
portunity to  make  a  speech  that  ought  to  make  any  man  blush  to 
acknowledge  himself  a  churchman,  and  in  the  same  breath  claim 
to  be  a  Christian.  Jesus  said  :  "  Forbid  him  not ;  for  there  is  no 
one  who  shall  do  a  mighty  work  in  my  name  and  be  able  lightly 
to  speak  e\-il  of  me.  For  he  that  is  not  against  us  is  for  us.  And 
whosoe\er  shall  offend  one  of  these  little  ones  believing  in  me,  it 
were  better  for  him  that  a  millstone  were  hung  upon  his  neck 
and  that  he  were  sunk  in  the  depth  of  the  sea.  Woe  unto  the 
world  from  causes  of  offence  !  For  it  must  needs  be  that  offences 
come ;  but  woe  to  the  man  by  whom  the  offence  comes.  For  every 
one  shall  be  salted  with  fire.  Salt  is  good ;  but  if  the  salt  have 
become  saltless,  with  what  will  you  season  it  ?  Have  salt  in  your- 
selves, and  have  peace  one  with  another.  See  that  ye  despise  not 
one  of  these  little  ones ;  for  I  say  unto  you.  Their  angels  in  the 
heavens  always  behold  the  face  of  my  Father  in  the  heavens." 

The  connection  seems  to  be  this :  Forbid  no  one.  The  doino' 
of  any  good  thing  is  sufficient  authority  for  the  doing.  Do  not  dis- 
courasje  that  follower  of  mine  who  follows  me  even  at  the  jrreatest 


*  There  is  a  church  tradition  that  this 
child  was  Ignatius,  who  afterward  be- 
came a  martyr.  But  there  seems  to  be 
really  no  proof  of  this.  The  lack  of 
Buch  personal  distinctions  as  minister  to 


individual  vanity  is  very  striking  in  the 
absence  of  the  names  of  many  parties 
mentioned  in  the  Scripture  histories. 
Where  there  is  no  high  moral  reason  fox 
it,  no  name  is  ever  mentioned. 


4:4:0       TIIE   TIIERD   PASSOVEK   TO   THE    FEAST   OF    TABERNACLES. 

distance  and  Avith  the  least  faitli.  Schism  is  a  great  evil,  and 
schismatics  greatly  to  be  condemned.  But  who  are  schismatics  1 
Those  who  are  driven  from  a  church  because  they 
will  not  yield  the  truth  ?  No,  but  those  who  drive 
them  forth.  The  doom  of  a  destroyer  of  faith  is  terrible.  Incen- 
tives to  defection  will  naturally  occur,  but  w^oe  to  the  man  who 
makes  them.  Those  who  follow  me  will  be  subjected  to  severe 
trial.  As  every  sacrifice  before  being  presented  to  God  is  sprin- 
kled with  salt,  so  each  of  my  disciples  is  to  be  salted  with  fiery 
trials.  Salt  is  a  symbol  of  spiritual  preservation.  Have  this 
spiritual  life  in  you.  If  it  be  gone  you  are  worthless.  Have  a 
keen,  sharp,  active  spiritual  life  in  yourselves  as  individuals,  and 
be  at  peace  auiong  yourselves.  Have  life.  J.et  others  have  life. 
Strive  not  at  all  for  ])re-eminence,  but  very  much  for  inner  life. 
And  see  that  you  do  not  despise  one  of  these  little  ones.  The 
angels  in  heaven  are  like  them.  God  sees  in  the  angels  the 
counter23art  of  His  humblest,  simplest  children.  And,  perhaps, 
he  also  meant  that  to  those  angels  He  connnits  the  keeping  of 
little  children  and  of  child-like  men. 

In  this  connection  Jesus  continued  to  teach  them,  and  said  : 
"  Moreover,  take  heed  to  yourselves ;  if  your  brother  shall  tres- 
pass, go  and  tell  him  his  fault  between  you  and  him  alone  ;  if  he 
shall  hear  you,  you  have  gained  your  brother.  But  if  he  will  not 
hear  you,  take  with  yourself  one  or  two,  that  by  the  mouth  of 
two  or  three  witnesses  every  word  may  be  established.  And  if 
he  neglect  to  hear  them,  tell  it  to  the  congregation  ;  *  but  if  he 
neglect  to  hear  the  congregation,  let  him  be  to  3'ou  as  a  heathen  f 
and  a  tax-gatherer.  Verily  I  say  to  you,  Whatsoever  ye  shall 
bind  upon  the  earth,  shall  be  bound  in  the  heavens  ;  and  whatso- 
ever ye  shall  loose  upon  the  earth,  shall  be  loosed  in  lieaven. 
Again  I  say  unto  you.  That  if  two  of  you  shall  agree  upon  earth 
about  asking  anything,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  by  my  Father  in 
the  heavens  ;  for  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my 
name,  there  I  am  in  the  midst  of  them." 

In  this  teaching  of  the  method  of  mending  breaches  of  fra- 

teruid  fidelity  Jesus  utters  some  ver}'  profound 
HeaUng  breaches.     ^      ,,  rn  ,1  ,  •  j:  x-  i 

truths,     iwo  men  belong  to  a  congregation  or  lol- 

lowers  of  Jesus.    One  is  offended  by  his  brother.     Let  him  not,  in 

*  See  what  was  said  on  the  transla-  I       f  WTiich  means  one  of  another  na- 
tion of  this  word,  page  420.  I  tion,  a  Gentile. 


LAST   DAYS    IN   GALILEE.  441 

turn,  be  an  offender,  but  let  him  bring  personal  kindness  to  bear 
upon  the  offender  for  his  restoration.  It  may  prevail,  and  greater 
love  come  than  existed  before.  But  the  offender  may  be  incor- 
rigible. Let  the  offended  take  two  witnesses,  other  brethren,  so 
that  this  scandal  may  be  kept  from  spreading,  if  possible,  and  so 
that  if  one  continue  to  be  offensi\e  while  the  other  is  peaceable, 
it  may  be  known  which  is  the  offender.  If  he  shall  continue  un- 
appeasable, take  the  case  to  the  congregation.  If  the  voice  of  the 
brotherhood  be  disregarded,  then  the  offender  may  be  to  the  of- 
fended as  if  he  were  an  "  outsider,"  a  Gentile,  and  a  tax-gatherer, 
that  is  to  say,  no  longer  an  object  of  fraternal  confidence,  but  a 
subject  for  missir)nary  zeal ;  certainly  not  a  person  to  be  hated, 
for  the  whole  teaching  of  Jesus  and  his  whole  conduct  taught  a 
different  lesson.  He  received  tax-gatherers  and  sinners,  and  ate 
with  them. 

IS'ow,  whatever  profound  principle  may  underlie  the  declaration 
of  what  is  bound  upon  earth  being  bound  in  heaven,  that  princi- 
ple Jesus  applies  to  every  believer,  to  all  the  dis- 
ciples, to  his  congregation,  and  not  to  the  Apostles  ^^°  agree, 
alone.  That  the  whole  essence  of  modern  churchism  and  of  an- 
cient Jiierarchism  are  totally  absent ;  tluxt  the  "  power  of  the  keys," 
as  it  is  called,  belongs  not  to  any  officials  as  such,  but  to  all  Clnis- 
tians  as  such,  appears  from  the  statement  of  Jesus,  "  If  two  of  vou 
shall  agree  upon  earth  about  asking  anything,  it  sliall  be  done  for 
them  by  my  Father  in  the  heavens  ;  "  and  from  the  reason  which 
he  assigns  for  this,  namely,  "  For  where  two  or  three  are  gathered 
together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  These 
seem  to  be  among  the  profoundest  utterances  and  the  loftiest 
claims  of  Jesus.  AYlierever  two  souls  exist,  to  both  of  whom  some- 
thing is  equally  necessary,  and  necessary  above  everything  else, 
so  that  they  go  to  the  heavenly  Father  with  this  united  and  para 
mount  petition,  it  will  be  granted.  It  cannot  be  a  trifling,  earthly, 
temporary,  egotistic  thing  ;  it  must  be  something  that  takes  hofd 
of  eternity.  If  such  a  thing  be  asked  it  will  be  granted,  because 
nothing  contrary  to  God's  will  can,  under  such  circumstances,  be 
requested.  The  only  permanent  platform  of  union  for  any  two 
souls  lies  high  up  among  the  loftiest  things  of  eternitv. 

Ilis  idea  of  a  true  church  now  comes  out.  It  is  not  a  hierarchy. 
It  does  not  rest  on  officials.  Any  two  souls  together,  united  in 
the  name  of  Jesus,  make  a  church,  M-ith  all  powers  and  functions; 


442   THE  THIRD  PASSOVER  TO  THE  FEAST  OF  TABERNACLES. 


for  there  is  with  them  always  a  third,  and  that  person  is  Jesus. 

There  may  be  a  true  church  Avitlioiit  bishops,  elders,  and  deacons. 

The  fountain  of  spiritual  power  and  authority  is 

His  idea  of  a     always  present  ^vhere  two  souls  are  spiritually  con- 
true  cnurcrL  »/     a  a  «/ 

joined.     "Whetlier  Jesus  makes  good  these  claims 

is  a  question  for  individual  si)iiitual  experiences;  but  thathedid 
make  the  claims  is  simply  what  we  must  record  as  history ;  and 
this  fact  tears  from  the  teacliing  of  Jesus  all  that  men  have  in- 
serted therein  whereon  to  build  ecclesiasticism,  denominationalism, 
sectarianism,  and  whate\'er  would  give  to  any  one  believer  in 
Jesus  what  does  not  belong  to  every  other.  His  was  to  be  a  holy 
catholic  church,  and  a  holy  catholic  church  is  one  in  w^hich  are  no 
persons  wlio  are  not  holy,  and  in  which  is  no  one  who  has  what  is 
not  catholic,  common  to  all.  I 

Peter,  the  noble-hearted  blundei-er,  apparently  having  failed  to 

,isten  cai'cfully  to  the  discourse  of  Jesus,  but  pondering  what  had 

been  said  about  offences,  broke  in  with  the  ques- 

How frequently    ^-       "Lord,  liow  often  shall  my  brother  trespass 

lUSt  I  forgive  ?  .'  i   t   r-  •  i-        o       rn-n  •  o« 

agamst  me  and  1  forgive  mm  ?  iill  seven  times  ? 
That  seemed  a  large  measure  of  placability  to  Peter.*  But  fancy 
the  look  which  the  laro^e-hearted  Teacher  g-ave  him  when  over 
against  Peter's  close  arithmetical  calculation  of  foro;iveness  he  set 
a  statement  of  boundless  compassion.  "Until  seven  times?  I 
say  not  that,  but  until  se\'euty  times  seven ! " 

That  this  compassioiiateness  <»f  Christian  chai'acter  might  be 
impressed  upon  them  lie  related  the  following  parable :  "  There- 
Parable  of  tlie    fore  shall  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens  be  likened 
nnmerciful     ser-    uuto  a  human  f  king  who  wished  to  compare  an 
^^^*-  account  M-itli  his  slaves.     And,  beginning  to  com- 

pare, there  was  brought  one  to  him,  a  debtor  of  many  :j:  talents. 
And  he  not  having  wherewitli  to  pay,  the  lord  commanded  him  to  be 


must! 


*  It  greatly  exceeded  the  rabbinical 
rule  of  three  times,  which  they  based 
ou  Amos  i.  3  ;  ii.  G  ;  Job  xxxiii.  29,  30. 

f  lu  the  common  version  it  is  "a  cer- 
tain king,"  in  the  original  it  is  avepanra) 
PafftXet,  a  man,  a  king  ;  but  it  seems  to 
me  that  the  translation  above  gives  the 
true  sense,  making  avOpwrrw  emphatic. 
So  Meyer  says,  "  da  das  IIimmeKREICII 
mit  einem  Menschlichen  Konige  ver- 
gUchen  wird." 


I  In  the  common  version  it  is  "  ten 
thousand  talents. "  So  a  number  of  the 
MSS.  have  /xvpiaiv  raXavToiv,  but  the  old 
reading,  as  in  the  Codex  Sin. ,  is  irnWoiv, 
many.  If  the  former  reading  be  adopt- 
ed, it  means  an  infinite,  if  the  latter, 
an  indefinite  debt.  One  talent,  Attic, 
was  equal  to  G,000  denam.  If  the  read- 
ing be  10,000  talents,  then  the  one  owed 
his  lord  000,000  times  as  much  as  hia 
fellow-servant  owed  him. 


LAST   DATS   IN   GALILEE, 


443 


sold,  and  the  wife,  and  the  little  children,  and  all  that  he  had,  and 
payment  to  be  made.    Then  the  slave  falling  down  woi-shipped  him 
saying, '  Lord  have  patience  with  me  and  I  will  pay  you  all'    Then 
the  lord  of  that  shive,  moved  with  compassion,  released  him  and 
forgave  him  the  debt.     But  that  slave  going  out  found  one  of  his 
fellow-slaves   who   owed   him  a  iiundred   denarii,*  and,  having 
seized  him,  he  throttled  him,  saying  '  Pay  if  you  owe.'  f   Then  hi's 
fellow-slave  falling  down  besought  him,  saying,  '  Have  patience 
with  me,  and  I  will  pay  you.'     And  he  would  not ;  but  going  out 
he  cast  him  into  prison  until  he  should  pay  the  debt.     Then  his 
fellow-slaves  seeing  what  was  done  were  very  sorry,  and  came  and 
told  their  own  lord  all  that  had  been  done.     Tlien,  having  called 
him,  his  lord  says  to  him,  '  O  wicked  slave,  I  forgave  you°all  that 
debt  because  you  did  entreat  me:  did  it  not  behoove  you  also  to 
pity  your  fellow-slave  as  I  also  pitied  you  ? '     And  his  lord,  being 
indignant,  delivered  him  to  the  tormentors  until  he  should  pay  all 
that  was(>^ving  to  him.     Thus  also  shall  my  heavenly  Father  do 
to  you,  if  you  fi-oni  your  hearts  forgive  not  every  one  his  brc/ther." 
^  The  moral  of  this  beautiful  parable  is  so  apparent  that  it  needs 
little  ex])lication.     It  teaches  the  Christian  doctrine  of  Forgive- 
ness.    A  man  must  be  wide-hearted  who  is  a  sub- 
ject of  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens.     The  parable       ^*^  ™'"''^ 
is  in  accordance  to  what  Jesus  taught  as  a  proper  prayer,  "  Forgive 
as  our  trespasses,  as  we  have  forgiven  those  who  trespass  against 
us."     When  the  slave  who  owed  to  the  master  vastly  more*  than 
his  fellow-slave  owed  him,  appealed  for  mercy  to  his  lord,  he  pro- 
fessed  by  that  very  petition  to  believe  that  mercy  was  a  grace 
which  every  man  should  show  his  fellow-man.     AVhen  he  would 
not  forgive  his  fellow-slave  he  showed  that  that  profession  was  a 
lie.     So  when  a  man  asks  God  to  forgive  him,  he  announces  to 
God  that  he  has  forgiven  his  fellows  their  wrongs  against  him. 
If  he  has  not,  he  is  lying  in  his  prayers.     It  is  nJt  simply  an  im- 
perative rule  of  government,  it  is  a  fundamental  principle  in 
Iniman  nature.     No  man  can  solicit  Avhat  he  does  not  believe  to 
exist.     If  a  man  do  not  feel  mercy  in  himself  he  cannot  believe 
in  mercy  in  another. 


*  Say  !|15  American  gold. 

f  And  yet  it  is  certain  he  did  owe. 
So  the  meaning-  must  be,  "Seeing  that 
thou  owest,  pay  me,"  which  signifies 


that  there  is  nothing  to  be  done  but  to 
pay  when  anything  is  owing ;  no  room 
for  mercy  and  forgiveness. 


4:4:4:       TTlll    TIIIKD    PASSOVER   TO    TUE    FEAST   OF    TABEENACLES. 

About  this  time  Jesus  made  auotlier  missionary  demonstration. 
lie  organized  thirty -live  companies,  each  consisting  of  two  disci- 
]»les  other  than  the  twelve  he  had  ah-eady  selected, 
theseveutv  Luke  ^^  ^^  souicwhat  difficult  to  keep  the  harmony  of 
X.  1-8,  IG ;  Matt,  the  narrative  at  this  point,  and  modern  criticism 
vii.  6  ;  X  2;}-25  ;  has  attacked  the  whole  account  of  the  Mission  of 
Luke  vi.  40 ;  John  ^]^g  Seventy,  as  given  by  Luke,  on  the  gi-ound  that 
there  is  no  trace  of  them  in  the  subsequent  history 
of  Jesus  or  his  early  followers.  It  would  seem  that  even  a  super- 
ficial view  of  the  work  assigned  these  seventy  should  be  an  answer 
to  that.  Jesus  was  shortly  to  go  from  Galilee  to  Jerusalem.  lie 
sent  these  messengei's  before  his  face.  His  time  was  shortening. 
Seventy  men  could  rapidly  spread  themselves  and  make  procla- 
mation of  the  gospel.  It  was  not  intended  to  institute  a  perpetual 
order.  Indeed  it  seems  to  have  been  a  temporary  arrangement, 
and  that  Jesus  probalily  remained  in  Capernaum,  from  which,  we 
believe,  he  sent  foi-th  these  bands,  initil  their  return,  and  then 
began  his  journey.  It  was  to  be  a  brief,  quick  movement,  pre- 
j)aratory  to  his  tra\"els  towards  Jerusalem.  We  are  not  compelled 
to  understand  by  the  words  "  into  every  city  and  place  whither  he 
v^^ould  come,"  that  Jesus  would  go  to  every  town  they  visited,  but 
that  he  would  not  enter  any  town  where  none  of  the  Seventy  had 
been. 

The  ground  occupied  by  these  swift  missionaries  we  cannot 
positively  describe,  but  it  is  probable  that  it  included  a  part  of 
Samaria,  and  nuich  of  Perea  and  Judtea,  wdiere  he  spent  the  last 
six  months  of  his  life.  The  commission  was  this  :  "  Go :  behold 
I  send  you  as  lambs  in  the  midst  of  wolves  ;  be  ye  therefore  wise 
as  the  serpent  and  harmless  as  the  doves.  Give  not  the  holy  to 
the  dogs,  neither  cast  your  pearls  before  the  swine,  lest  they  ti-am- 
ple  them  with  their  feet,  and  turning  might  rend  you.  But  ^vhen 
they  persecute  you  in  this  city,  flee  into  another ;  for  verily  I  say 
unto  you,  You  shall  not  finish  the  cities  of  Israel  until  the  Son  of 
Man  come.  A  disciple  is  not  above  his  teacher,  nor  the  slave 
above  his  lord ;  it  is  enough  for  the  disciple  that  is  perfect  that 
he  be  as  his  teacher,  and  the  slave  as  his  lord.  If  they  have  called 
the  house-owner  Beelzebul,  how  much  more  those  of  his  house- 
hold I     Fear  them  not,  therefore." 

They  were  simply  to  proclaim  his  coming  and  his  gospel.  But 
the  country  was  excited  against  him.     It  behooved  these  disciples 


■•'ilill  T|i:  'ii:;i„ii,iiT.iiiim'i"'''!ti" 


LAST   DAYS    m    GALILEE.  445 

to  unite  the  innocency  of  doves  with  the  supposed  watclifuliiess  of 
the  serpent.     In  declaring  the  truths  wliich  it  Avas  the  mission 
of  his  life  to  cstal)lish  and  propagate,  they  were 
to  irse  discrimination.     It  were  folly  to  ^ive  the 

''  c  coming. 

consecrated  flesh  of  sacrifices  to  dogs.  It  were 
folly  to  present  jewels  to  swine,  who,  finding  that  these  did  not 
satisfy  hunger,  would  crush  them  into  the  mire  and  turn  in  their 
voracity  upon  tlie  givers.  Yet,  when  they  had  conducted  tliem- 
selves  as  well  as  possihle,  no  circnmspection  conld  keep  them  fi-om 
being  assailed  with  malignity.  "Wlien  one  town  rejected  tliem 
they  must  escape  to  another,  and  thus  give  the  whole  land  an  op- 
portunity of  knowing  what  it  was  that  Jesns  tanght.  lie  assm-ed 
them  that  they  should  not  have  visited  all  the  towns  till  the  Mis- 
sion of  the  Son  of  Man  be  accomplished  by  the  establishment  of 
his  claims  as  Messiah,  if  that  be  the  meaning  of  the  saying,  "  Ye 
shall  not  finish  the  cities  of  Israel  nntil  the  Son  of  Man  come." 
If  that  be  not  the  meaning — and  I  am  far  from  being  sure,  and 
give  it  as  the  most  plausible  conjecture — then  I  do  not  know  what 
Jesus  meant.  He  was  going  up  to  Jerusalem.  There  were  two 
things  to  be  secured,  namely,  an  increased  attention  to  himself 
and  his  words,  and  a  snfiicient  interest  npon  the  part  of  the  popu- 
lace to  give  him  protection  against  tlie  growing  malignity  of  the 
church  party — the  priests,  the  scribes,  the  Pharisees.  All  this  might 
in  some  measure  be  produced  by  the  ministry  of  the  Seventy. 

The  Jewish  Feast  of  Tal)erna(;le3  was  now  at  hand.  It  Avas,  as 
Josephus  says,  the  holiest  and  greatest  of  their  festivals.  The  peo- 
ple would  be  assembled  in  great  crowds.     It  would 

be  an  occasion  for  a  powerful  proi)liet  to  make  an       Gahlee  ana  Sa- 
,.,,,,  ,  ,     T  .  maria.    John  vii. , 

impression  which  should  move  tlie  whole  nation.      ••■      t  i  „   • 

+  VIU.  J       ojUKC      IX,  J 

The  younger  sons  of  Mary,  whom  we  should  call  xvii. 
the  half-brothers  of  Jesus,  did  not  believe  he  was  a  prophet,  yet 
perhaps  hoped  that  he  might  put  hiuisclf  forward  as  a  Messiah, 
such  a  Messiah  as  they,  in  common  with  their  nation,  hoped 
lor  —  a  splendid  deliverer,  and  conqueror,  and  king.  Tliev 
urged  him  to  go  into  Judiea,  as  liis  })opularity  seemed  waning 
in  Galilee ;  and  moreover,  all  that  he  had  accomplished  was  to 
attach  a  few  fishermen  to  his  cause.  He  had  not  won  a  person  of 
any  social  or  ecclesiastical  distinction.  To  this  politic  advice, 
which  would  have  been  sound  if  Jesus  had  intended  to  claim  and 
maintain  such  a  Messiahship  as  they  supposed,  he  returned  this 
reply :— 


diG        THE   TniKD    PASSOVER   TO   THE   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES. 

"  My  time  is  not  at  present,  but  your  time  is  always  ready.  Tlie 
world  cannot  hate  you ;  but  it  hatetli  me,  because  I  testify  that  its 
works  are  evil.  Go  you  up  unto  this  feast.  I  go  not  up  to  thia 
feast;  for  my  time  is  not  yet  fulfilled." 

They  wished  hiui  to  join  theu*  caravan,  and  go  up  publicly  and 
conspicuously.  His  thne  had  not  arrived.  He  would  not  be  pre- 
cipitated. He  would  aA'oid  as  far  as  possible  giving  any  occasion 
to  liis  enemies.  He  would  not  be  of  the  party  of  his  brethren. 
But  after  they  had  left  for  Jerusalem,  he  arranged  his  plans  and 
went  up  to  the  metropolis  in  a  secret  manner.  He  sent  messen- 
gers before  his  face,  who  made  the  necessary  preparations,  so  that 
in  the  evening  he  could  enter  lodgings,  rest,  and  next  day  proceed 
on  his  journey.  They  were  going  along  the  borders  of  Galilee 
and  of  Samaria.     At  one  of  the  Samaritan  villages 

n  ospi  a  e  a-  ^  partv  wcre  refused  lodgings  because  they  were 
mantan  village.        *•       l        J  &     o  ./        ^ 

going  to  attend  the  feast  in  Jerusalem,  thus  wit- 

nessino;  against  Mount  Gerizim.  Sectarian  rancor  conquered  ori- 
ental  hospitality.  James  and  John,  the  latter  generally  conceived, 
I  think,  to  be  a  sweetish  kind  of  characterless  young  man,  were 
BO  enraged  that  they  desired  permission  from  their  Master  to  call 
down  fire  from  heaven  to  consume  the  town.  They  were  not  con- 
tent that  Jesus  should  do  it.  They  desired  the  personal  gratifi- 
cation of  vengeance  on  these  people.  Jesus  rebuked  them.  They 
then  went  to  the  next  village  on  the  route. 


TALENT. — STATER  OP  TEYPHON. 


PAKT  VI. 

FEOM  THE   FEAST  OF  TABERNACLES   UNTIL   TILE 

LAST  WEEK. 

FROM  OCTOBER,  A.D.  29,  TO  APRIL,  A.D.  30— SIX  MONTHS. 


CHAPTER   I. 


AT  THE   FEAST   OF   TAEERNACLES. 


Lsr  tlie  mean  time  his  brothers,  with  many  other  friends,  and  all 

the  Jewish  people  who  could  travel,  had  gone  up  to  the  Feast  of 

Tabernacles.      This  festival  is  spoken  of  in  the 

Talmud  as  the  Feast  par  excellence,  and  by  Jo-        ,^^  *l.  ,  ^  ^^.'. 
ii-i-.li  1  11-.     nacles.     John  vu. 

Bcplius  and  by  rlutarch  as  the  most  holy  and 
glorious  of  all  the  Jewish  Holidays.  It  was  celebrated  in  the  au- 
tumn, when  the  heats  were  abated  and  the  rains  had  not  begun. 
The  harvest  had  been  gathered,  and  the  Day  of  Atonement  had  just 
passed.  In  the  fulness  of  their  garners,  and  in  the  sense  of  f i-ee- 
dom  from  the  guilt  of  their  sins,  the  whole  people  rejoiced  together. 
Moreover,  it  was  a  joyful  celebration  of  a  sad  passage  in  the  early 
liistory  of  their  nation,  when  their  fathers  had  dwelt  in  booths  in 
the  wilderness,  and  even  Jehovah's  sanctuary  was  in  a  tent. 

From  all  parts  of  the  land,  and  even  from  many  foreign  parts, 
the  devout  poured  into  the  Holy  City.  No  good  Jew  allo'svcd 
himself  to  sleep  in  a  house.  Boughs  full  of  green  leaves  were 
brought  from  the  country,  and  temporary  booths  constructed  on 
house-tops,  and  along  thoroughfares,  and  in  all  the  environs  of  the 
city,  until  Jerusalem  was  covered  with  a  temporary  forest.  Glad 
ness  reigned,  and  public  and  private  rejoicing  prevailed. 

The  Temple  service  partook  of  the  festal  air  of  the  occasion. 


44:8        FROM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES    UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 


Immediately  after  the  regular  morning  sacrifices,  every  day,  a 

priest  went  with  a  golden  vessel  to  tlie  fomitain  of  Siloali,  on  the 

_      ,         .        side  of  the  hill  on  M'hich  the  Temple  stood,  and 
Temple  service.  ,  ^  ' 

drew  water,  which  he  brought  through  the  water- 
gate,  accompanied  by  a  gay  procession  and  the  sound  of  trumpets, 
and  having  mixed  it  with  wine,  poured  it  on  the  sacrifice  upon  the 
altar,  amid  the  hallelujah  shouts  of  the  people.  This  probably 
reminded  them  of  the  supplies  of  water  Jehovah  had  given  to 
their  fathers  in  the  emergencies  of  the  wilderness.  The  joyful- 
ness  of  this  ceremonial  was  so  great  that  it  passed  into  a  common 
proverb  :  "  lie  that  never  saw  the  rejoicing  of  drawing  water 
never  saw  rejoicing  in  all  his  life."  * 

As  a  complement  of  the  morning  service,  and  retaining  another 
reminiscence  of  the  wilderness  life  of  their  ancestors,  namely,  the 

-,      .  .        guidance  by  the  i)illar  of  fire  throuo-h  the  ni^ht, 

Evening  service.     '^  .  o     ' 

there  were  set  up,  in  the  Court  of  the  Women, 
two  great  golden  lamp-stands,  and  when  these  were  kindled  they 
threw  their  light  over  the  whole  city.  Then  all  the  Temple 
music  played,  and  the  members  of  the  Sanhedrim,  the  elders,  the 
rulers  of  the  synagogues,  the  doctors  of  the  law,  and  all  those  who 
were  distinguished  by  age,  piety,  and  learning,  danced  wildly  and 
recklessly,  in  the  sight  of  the  women  who  crowded  the  balconies, 
and  the  men  who  thronged  the  court ;  he  that  made  himself  the 
most  ridiculous  achieving  the  greatest  success.  Perhaps  this  ad- 
dition to  the  ceremonials  was  taken  from  the  dance  of  David 
before  the  Ark. 

There  was  another  peculiarity  of  this  festi\'al.  In  addition  to 
the  usual  daily  sacrifices,  on  the  first  day  thirteen  young  bullocks, 
two  rams,  and  fourteen  laml)s  of  the  first  year,  were  sacrificed ; 
the  next  day,  twelve  bullocks ;  the  third  day,  eleven ;  and  so 
decreasing  until  on  the  seventh  day,  on  which  seven  bullocks 
were  offered,  making  seventy  in  all.  This  number,  the  Jewish 
doctors  taught,  represented  the  languages  of  the  seventy  nations 
of  the  world,  and  the  process  of  diminution  represented  the  gra- 
dual reduction  of  those  nations  until  all  things  should  come  under 
the  reign  of  the  Messiah. f 

The  legal  limit  of  the  "Feast  of  Tabernacles"  was  seven  days. 


*  Jennings  in  his  Jeicish  Aiitirpiities 
quotes  this  from  the  Mishna^  tit.  Sweah, 
cap.  v.,  sect.  1. 


f  R.  Solomon  on  Numb,  xix.,  cited 
hy  Lig-htfoot  in  his  Temple  Service^ 
chap,  xvi.,  sect.  1. 


AT  TnE  FEAST  OF  TABERNACLES.  449 

but.it  was  followed  on  the  eighth  day  by  a  supplemental  festival 
of  rejoicing,  especially  over  the  ingathered  crops,  their  corn  and 
their  wine.    This  was  a  day  of  special  jollity,  from 

which  Jennino-s*  suijcciests  that  the  heathen  bor-    ,   ^."^.^  ™  ^ 

=>  ^^  festival. 

rowed  their  Saturnalia.  Plutarch  even  made  the 
mistake  of  sui)posing  that  it  was  kept  in  honor  of  Bacchus,  for  lie 
says  {Symposia,  lib.  iv.  prob.  5) :  "  In  the  time  of  the  vintage  tlie 
Jews  spread  tables,  f  ui-nished  with  all  manner  of  fruits,  and  lived 
in  booths,  specially  of  palm  and  ivy  wreathed  togethei-,  and  they 
call  it  the  '  Feast  of  Booths  ; '  and  then  a  few  days  after  [alluding 
pi'obably  to  the  last  day  of  the  feast]  they  kept  another  festivity, 
which  openly  shows  it  was  dedicated  to  Bacchus  ;  for  they  carried 
boughs  of  palms,  etc.,  in  their  hands,  with  which  they  went  into 
the  temple,  the  Levites  (who,  he  fancies,  were  so  called  for  Ewo?, 
one  of  tlie  names  of  Bacchus)  going  before  with  instruments  of 
music,"  etc. 

It  was  to  this  gayest  of  all  festivities  that  the  men  of  the  nation 
were  gathering.  But  over  all  there  was  a  shadow.  The  wonder- 
ful words  and  works  of  Jesus  had  spread  themselves  through  the 
land.  The  mission  of  the  Seventy  had  freshly  excited  public 
attention.  Every  man  had  something  to  tell  or  to  hear  of  what 
Jesus  had  been  saying  or  doing.  Misrepresentations  and  exag  ■ 
gerations  were,  of  course,  rife.  Opinions  differed.  Parties  were 
beginning  to  crystallize.  Some  were  for  him,  some  g,gainst.  The 
latter  were  more  and  stronger  than  the  former,  whose  favorable 
opinion  of  Jesus  we  find  much  modified  by  the  pressure  of  public 
sentiment.  They  said,  "  lie  is  a  good  man,"  Avhile  the  others 
said,  "Nay,  but  he  deceives  tlie  people."  His  friends  did  not 
dare  to  render  a  frank  expression  of  their  views  of  his  character 
and  his  operations. 

Suddenly,  in  the  midst  of  the  feast,  Jesus  appeared  in  the 
Temple  and  began  to  teach.     It  was  like  an  apparition. 

What  course  he  had  come  they  knew  not.  He  was  not  at  the 
beginning  of  the  feast.  His  absence  had  occasioned  nmch  anxious 
speculation  upon  the  part  of  friends  and  foes.    ^         .  ,    ,     ^ 

rrii         1  -1  1  1        1 .  1  Jesus  at  the  feast. 

ihe  days  were  gf)mg  by,  and  lie  did  not  come. 

But  perhaps  on  Wednesday,  the  fourth  day  of  the  feast,  when 

expectation  of  his  coming  had  begun  to  flag,  he  calmly  walked 

*  Jevnsh  Ant.,  book  iii    sea  6. 

29 


450        FEOM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES   UTSTTIL    THE   LAST   WEEK. 

into  the  Temple,  took  his  position,  and  began  to  unfold  his  doctrine 
as  if  nothing  unusual  had  occurred,  as  if  his  friends  were  not 
intensely  anxious  for  his  safety,  and  as  if  his  foes  had  not  been 
forming  plots  to  compass  his  destruction.  lie  went  amply  witli  wide 
knowledge,  and  powerf  idly  with  great  authority,  into  his  discourses. 
The  Jews  listened  and  were  amazed,  and  started  the  inquii-y,  "  How 
does  this  man  know  letters,  never  having  learned  ? "  They  intended 
to  disparage  him  by  calling  the  attention  of  the  people  to  the  fact 
that  he  had  not  received  Rabbinical  instruction.  Tlie  intention 
was  to  create  pojjular  prejudice  against  him,  as  if  he  were  an  in- 
terloper, not  being  a  graduate  of  the  schools,  not 
His  defensive     i     •        •     .i  •  p  j.-i  •     .         tt-  i 

,  bemp"  m  the  succession  oi  tJie  priests,     liis  re])iy 

speech.  °  .        ^  .     ^  _  ^  -^ 

was,  "  My  teaching  is  not  mine,  but  His  who  sent 
me."  lie  did  not  mean  his  doctrines  simply,  but  also  his  mode  of 
teaching  and  the  spirit  with  wJiich  he  taught.  They  charged  that  he 
usurped  the  office  of  teacher.  This  he  denied.  God  was  with  him. 
In  proof  of  tliis  he  says,  "  If  any  one  will  do  His  will  lie  shall  know 
of  the  teaching,  whether  it  bo  of  God  or  I  speak  from  myself." 
This  is  a  plain  way  of  practically  putting  the  teachings  of  any 
teacher  to  the  test.  If  a  man  be  living  in  perfect  purity  of  heart,  in 
strict  study  and  obedience  of  the  pliysical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual 
laws  and  ordinances  of  God,  he  will  render  himself  a  test  of  the 
truth  of  any  other  man's  teaching.  To  this  test  Jesus  submitted 
himself.  As  if  he  had  said:  All  of  the  nation  who  are  acknow- 
ledged to  be  living  pure  lives  confess  my  teaching  divine  :  try  it 
yourselves :  in  proportion  as  you  do  what  you  already  know  that 
God  has  taught  to  be  the  duty  of  man,  in  that  proportion  will  you 
open  your  hearts  to  me. 

And  then,  in  disproof  of  the  allegation  that  he  was  an  in- 
truder into  the  teacher's  office,  he  submits  the  following  plain 
assertion  :  "  lie  who  speaks  from  himself  seeks  his  own 
glory ;  and  he  Avho  seeks  the  glory  of  II im  that  sent  him,  the 
game  is  true,  and  unrighteousness  is  not  in  him."  The  former 
is  moved  by  a  narrow  and  low  vanity ;  the  latter  by  a  high 
devout  spirit.  No  ordination,  no  anointing,  no  induction  into 
priesthood,  no  consecration  can  make  the  former  a  teacher  of 
morality.  His  selfish  vanity  breaks  his  claim.  Jesus  appealed  to 
them  whether  such  characteristic  had  ever  appeared  in  him.  He 
did  not  take  his  position  from  self-promptings ;  he  did  not  teach 
for  morality  what  was  merely  the  suggestion  of  liis   persona] 


AT  THE  FEAST  OF  TABEENACLES.  451 

fancy ;  lie  did  not  seek  to  glorify  himself,  being  willing  for  that 
purpose  to  warp  the  truth  in  unrighteousness.  He  was  so  con- 
scious of  his  rectitude  in  this  particular  that  he  rested  his  appeal 
on  the  opinion  of  all  the  people. 

That  was  his  defensive  speech:  he  then  made  an  attack  upon 
his  enemies.  They  could  not  comprehend  and  obey  him,  because 
they  had  not  sought  to  comprehend  and  obey  those 

who  had  preceded  him,  whom  they  acknowledired         ®.^  ^^'^ 

1        T    •      1  1       •      1  1  mi  enemies, 

to  be  divniely  authorized  teachers.      Ihere  was 

Moses,  the  founder  of  their  theocracy,  the  acknowledged  law- 
giver. They  had  the  Decalogue.  They  were  living  in  violation 
of  it.  The  Jewish  priesthood  of  his  day  were  notoriously  licen- 
tious. Their  rabbis  and  elders  were  so  impure  that  when  they 
brought  to  Jesus  a  woman  taken  in  adultery,  his  speech,  which 
meant,  "Let  him  that  is  no  adulterer  tlirow  the  first  stone,"  so 
condemned  the  entire  assembly  that  not  a  man  of  them  could 
remain  in  his  presence.  And  now  they  stood  around  Jesus,  a 
band  of  conspirators  and  murderers.  He  showed  them  that  this 
was  not  a  mere  question  of  biblical  scholarship,  but  of  that  essen- 
tial relio-ion  which  consists  in  doins:  the  will  of  God,  Wliat  is  the 
capability  of  elucidating  a  point  of  scholastic  pei*plexity  compared 
with  a  consecration  to  doing  the  will  of  the  Most  High  God  ? 

And  then  he  charged  the  rulers  that  they  were  at  that 
moment  seekins:  to  kill  him.  The  multitude  rec-arded  this  asser- 
tion  as  an  exaggeration  of  his  fancy,  and  said,  "  You  have  a 
demon !  who  seeks  to  kill  you  ? " — meaning  that  he  -was  dis- 
ordered through  melancholy.  They  did  not  know  what  secret 
machinations  were  then  at  work  among  the  rulers.  Jesus  gave 
them  a  reminiscence.  Some  time  ago,  in  that  same  city,  he  had 
marvellously  restored  an  impotent  man  to  strength;  and  beneficent 
as  was  this  great  act  of  power,  it  wrought  in  the  hierarchy  no 
sympathy  for  him,  no  disposition  to  co-operate  with  him  for  the 
welfare  of  the  people ;  but  because  it  infringed  some  of  their 
oppressive  regulations  for  observing  the  Sabbath-day,  they  had 
plotted  against  him,  and  had  never  ceased  to  endeavor  to  com- 
pass his  death. 

He  defended  that  past  act.  He  put  the  case  to  them  thus: 
"Moses  gave  to  you  circumcision  (not  that  it  is  of  Moses 
but  of  the  fathers),  and  ye  circumcise  a  man  on  the  Sab- 
bath.     If   a  man   receive   circumcision   on   the    Sabbath,   that 


452        FEOM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES    UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

the   law   of  Moses  should  not  be   broken,  are   ye  angry   with 

me   because   I  have   healed   a  man   on   the    Sabbath?      Jndge 

not  according  to  appearance,  but  judge  righteous 

He  defends  his    ^.^^j    ,,ent."      That  is  to  say— Circuuicision  was 
Sabbath  act  J      »  •' 

earlier  than  Moses,  who  merely  confirmed  in  legal 

euactment  what  the  fatliers  had  always  practised  as  a  part  of 
Monotheism.  The  male  child  was  to  be  circumcised  on  the 
eighth  day,  even  if  it  fell  on  the  Sabbath,  because  circumcision 
was  an  important  sanitary  regulation.  But  the  Jewish  hiei-archy 
had  sought  to  destroy  Jesus  because  he  had  made  a  man  eveiy 
whit  whole  on  the  Sabbath, — such  poor  judges  were  they,  so 
utterly  incapacitated  by  reason  of  their  adherence  to  the  external 
letter,  utterly  unmindful  of  the  internal  spirit.  This  ai'gument 
began  to  prevail  with  the  people,  and  incline  them  favorably 
towards  Jesus.  So,  very  shortly  after,  some  of  tliem  of  Jeru- 
salem said,  "  Is  not  this  he  whom  they  seek  to  kill  ?  And  lo  !  he 
speaketh  boldly,  and  they  say  nothing  to  him.  Do  tlie  rulers 
know  whether  of  a  truth  that  this  is  the  Christ?  But  this  one, 
we  know  wlience  he  is:  when  the  Christ  cometh  no  one  knowetli 
whence  he  is."  This  shows  how  the  multitude  fluctuated.  The 
courage  of  Jesus  struck  them  as  admirable.  They  had  be^ 
come  convinced  that  the  rulers  ^vere  seeking  to  destroy  Jesus. 
Perhaps  they  had  'been  paralyzed  by  finding  in  this  man  some 
indications  of  his  being  the  Messiah,  which  had  frightened  them. 
But  then  they  swung  away  from  that  feeling  by  the  reflection 
that  Jesus  was  a  Nazarene.  They  knew  him  to  be  a  citizen,  if 
not  a  native,  of  a  mean  town  in  the  provinces.  The  opinion 
was  that  the  Messias  should  arise  among  men  by  sudden  incarna 
tion,  without  earthly  parentage.  But  this  man's  parentage  they 
supposed  to  be  known  to  them,  which  is  sufficient  to  their  minds 
to  set  aside  all  supposition  that  he  was  the  Messias. 

Then  cried  Jesus  in  the  Temple,  teaching  and  saying,  "Yo 
both  know  me  and  know  whence  I  am:   and  I  am  not  come 

of  myself,  but  He  who  sent  me  is  true,  whom  ye 
Asserts  his  hea-     j^^^^^^  ^^^^^      j,^^^    j    j,^^^^^    jjj^^       f^^.   j    ^^^    f^.^^^^ 

VGnly  oTKHTi. 

Ilim,  and  lie  hath  sent  me."     They  thought  to 

humiliate  him  by  their  reference  to  his  humble  extraction.     With 

a  loud  voice,  openly  in  the  Temple,  he  acknowledged  his  low 

earthly  relationships.     As  Langc  says,  "  He  even  treated  with 

a  certain  cheerfid  ii-ony  the  supposition  that  therewitli  t]iey  kne^v 


AT  THE  FEAST  OF  TABERNACLES.  Ano 

his  real  essential  origin."  Bnt  when  he  speaks  so  freely  of  his 
ave,Uy  descent  they  desired  to  arrest  him:  b„t  tl41ld 
.  o  .  There  vas  somethnij;  in  Imn  whic]>  repelled  tlieir  rudeness 
John  says  that  >t  was  God's  overrnling  protidence,  "  because  ,^' 
.onr  was  not  yet  come."  There  wereriideed,  among  rrpeole 
hose  who  behoved  in  him  becanse  he  was  a  mi.Lcle  vvoZ 

Ms  z  itr-'T  f'  T  ^°-^^ '-''  '^ '" "-  trtt:;; 

.s  one  does?       Such  sentiments  among  the  people  rendered 
thernlors  uneasy.     While  these  things  were  gotog  fonva  d  tte 

beTwf";;  "?  "  """'V"  "'"  ^''™P'^'  "'"  '^«  SoneXtb^: 
between  the  forejourt  of  the  Gentiles  and  the  inner  court "  aa 

flux  and  ,efl„x  of  pnbhc  opinion.    The  Sanhedrim  sent  officers 
With  orders  to  arrest  him, 

the!!^"  vlf  '^r!;',''  1'^  "  *°"'  ''^''"^  '''""'  '°  )>««  di^^'-'ned 

sen"  me     V!    in         "  ""  ^  "'*  ^•°"'  »'»  ^  S°  ^  Him  that 
sent  me.     le  shall  seek  nie,  and  shall  not  find 

me;   and  whei-e  I  am  ye  cannot  come."    This      ^     alarming 

most  probably  meant  simply  that  for  the  present    ^'"'°''' 

tl.ey  could  not  touch  bin,,  but  that  in  a  short  time  he  would  have 

a  more  con.plete  separation  from  then,.     liut  the  saying  alarmel 

ml  him  <     Is  he  about  to  go  to  the  dispersion  amono-  the  Gen 
tiles,  and  teach  the  Gentiles '! "  ° 

ophiZs  ''"tI  "'"1  ^?'f 'f  ™"'  contradictory  emotions  and 
and  talk  of  nothing  else.  Jesus  was  the  topic  of  public  and  pri- 
vate discourse.  lie  was  tlie  nation's  mystery-a  riddle  to  the  ™1- 
fterror';     r"  'V"  "tT^"'*'''  ^  '"'"^'^y  '°  «-  -'"'-'e,  and 

col  1  ofl  MM  "'^  '""''  "  '™°'"y  ^''°"'  I'""  «'"'  they 
con  d  not  lay  violent  hands  upon  him.    But  he  exposed  to  each 

dioadful.  To  keep  him  was  to  bo  perpetually  tormented.  To 
drive  him  from  the  country  was  to  send  him  out  to  preach  a  doc- 
tone  winch  should  embrace  all  mankind,  and  thus  break  ,'p  the 

T'to  do  h  ''•","■'"'  ""  '"'-'  ^"PP"^^"  "-"-'-^  to  po! 
^s      To  do  h„n  violence  was  perilous,  because  there  was  such  a 

poound  interest  ,n  the  man  and  such  a  division  of  popular  sen! 
tunent.     Thej  were  terribly  perplexed. 


454        FKOM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES   UNTIL,   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

The  "  Feast  of  tlie  Tabernacles,"  strictly  speaking,  closed  at  the 
end  of  the  seventh  day ;  but  on  the  eighth  day  was  a  supple- 
mentary festival  which  concluded  the  whole,  and 
The  great  day    ^^^^.^^^  ^^^^^  ,,  ^j^^      .^^^   .       ^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^„      q^^  ^j^^ 

of  the  feast.  ^  .  *' 

other  days  the  priests,  as  we  have  seen,  went  to 

the  fount  of  Siloam  and  drew  water,  which  was  brought  with 
great  rejoicing  into  the  Temple.  This  ceremonial  was  omitted  on 
the  eighth  day.  The  seven  represented  the  wandering,  the  eighth 
the  entrance  into  the  land  of  rest,  the  nation's  home.  The  water 
came  to  represent  in  sjnnbol  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  It  had  been 
always  a  fact  to  notice  that  there  was  no  fountain  in  the  Temple 
limits  on  Mount  Moriah.  This  was  interpreted  to  signify  that  the 
refreshing  spirit  was  lacking  in  their  dry  ecclesiasticism,  and  the 
gift  of  that  spirit,  like  the  opening  of  a  fountain,  was  among  tlie 
most  precious  promises  of  prophecy.  Joel  (iii.  18)  foretold  that  it 
should  come  forth  from  the  House  of  the  Lord,  and  Ezekiel  (xlvii.) 
descril3es  its  breaking  forth  from  under  the  thi'eshold  of  the  Tem- 
ple. It  was  the  great  expectation  of  the  spiritually  minded  Jews, 
and  most  probably  was  constantly  associated  in  their  minds  with 
other  unspeakable  benedictions  which  should  come  with  t]ie 
Messiah. 

It  was  on  this  day,  the  great  day  of  the  feast,  when  the  failure 
to  draw  water  from  the  fountain  of  the  Siloam  reminded  the  peo- 
ple of  the  absence  of  all  fountains  in  the  Temple, 

,  '    and  tlie  predictions  which  many  undoubtedlv  in- 

loam.  J-  _     ''  ^      " 

terpreted  literally,  and  to  which  a  few  assigned  a 
high  spiritual  significance,  Jesus,  who  was  accustomed  to  sit  as  he 
taught,  rose  up,  and  lifting  his  voice,  cried  out  to  the  multitude, 
"  If  any  one  thirst,  let  him  come  and  drink.  He  who  believes  on 
ine,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  waters,  as  the  Scrip- 
ture has  said."  He  made  allusion,  probably,  to  such  passages  as 
Isa.  xliv.  3,  Iv.  1,  Iviii.  11.  The  meaning  seems  to  be,  that  in 
that  man's  inmost  nature  shall  be  sources  of  refreshment  for  him- 
self, which  shall  yield  streams  of  refreshment  for  others.  This 
appeal  touched  the  hearts  of  some,  who  said,  "  Of  a  truth  this  is 
the  Prophet."  Others  grew  more  emphatic,  and  said, "  This  is  the 
Christ,  the  Messiah."  Othei's  said, "  No ;  for  doth  the  Christ  come 
out  of  Galilee  ?  Has  not  the  Scripture  said  that  the  Christ  comes  of 
the  seed  of  David,  and  from  the  town  of  Bethlehem,  where  David 
was  ? "     The  l^arty  feeling  grew  strong.     Some  of  the  multitude 


THE    POOL  OF  8IIX>AM,    AT   THE   JUNCTIOS   OF  THE   TAU.ET   OF   KIDBON    WllB 
THE   TTBOPiBOR. 


AT   THE   FEAST   OF   TAEEKNA(3LES. 


453 


called  out  to  arrest  him,  but  no  one  bad  tbe  courage  to  lay  bands 
on  bim. 

Tbe  officers  sent  by  tbe  Sanliedrim  returned  witliout  bhn,  and 
to  tbe   indignant  question,  "Wby  liave  ye   not 
brongbt  bim?"  tbev  answered,  ''Xever  did  man       They  cannot 

,  1  •  "         1      „      rm  T-x  arrest  mm. 

speak  as  tins  man  speaks."     Tbe  em-aged  Pbari- 

sees  taunted  tbeni :  "  Are  ye  also  deceived  ?     Have   any  of  tlia 

rulers  or  of  tbe  Pbarisees  believed  on  bim  ?     But  tbis  ciii-scd  mob 


THE   ASSEMBLY   OF   THE   SANHEDRIM. 

(From  an  ancient  description.) 


do  not  know  tbe  law."  Here  Nicodemus,  a  member  of  tbe  San- 
bedrim,  tlie  person  wlio  bad  bad  an  inter\'iew  witb  Jesus  by  nigbt, 
interposed  witb  tbe  question,  "  Does  our  law  condemn  a  man, 
except  it  bear  jfirst  and  Imow  wbat  be  does  ? "  It  seemed  to  be  a 
plain  and  bonest  question,  but  so  excited  were  tins  assembly  of 
judges  tbat  tbey  began  to  deal  in  invective,  saying,  "Art  tbou 


456        FKOil    FEAST    OF    TABEKNACLE8    UNTIL    THE   LAST   WEEK. 

also  of  Galilee  ?  Search  and  look,  for  out  of  Galilee  arises  no 
prophet."  They  were  ready  to  qnote  Moses  for  their  purposes, 
but  would  not  listen  when  it  made  a<:^ainst  them  and  their  prac- 
tices ;  and  it  was  not  true  that  no  prophet  came  from  Galilee,  as 
Jonah  and  Amos,  and  perhaps  others,  were  of  that  country. 

So  the  assembly  was  broken  up  in  disorder,  and  every  man 
went  to  his  house,  while  Jesus  went  to  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and 
there  spent  the  night. 

Again  he  caine  back  to  the  city.     The  Feast  of  the  Tabernacles 

had  ended.     The  lights  were  dead  in  the  great  candelabra  that 

had  shone  upon  the  city,  a  reminiscence  of  the 

Jerusalem;  the  pjn^j.  f^f  jj^Q  which  had  led  tlieii'  fathers  through 
empe      e   rea-  ^j-^g  ^^.Q^jg^.j^ggg^     It  was  the  painful  darkness  fol- 

Bury.      John  viii.  •■ 

lowing  a  great  light,  the  silence  of  a  deserted  ban- 
quet hall,  which  now  lay  upon  Jerusalem,  Jesus  entered  the 
Temple  to  teach  the  people.  Every  day  a  teacher  could  find 
hearers  there.  Now  he  might  still  find  many  who  had  come  up 
from  the  provinces  and  were  still  lingering  in  the  city.  As  soon 
as  he  was  seated  and  prepared  to  teach,  a  very  great  concourse 
gathered  about  him. 

In  the  mean  time  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  had  concocted  a 
plan  to  entrap  him,  and  to  raise  against  him  the  dislike  of  the 

people.     They  brought  to  him  a  woman  taken  in 

^  ,      .     ■,  ,,  adultery,  and  sat  her  in  the  midst  of  the  crowd,  and 

taken  in  adultery.  -^  ^  _  ' 

said  to  Jesus,  "  Teacher,  this  woman  was  taken 
in  adultery,  in  the  very  act.  Now,  Moses  in  the  law  commanded 
us  that  such  should  be  stoned ;  but  what  do  you  say  ? "  The  refer 
ence  was  to  Deuteronomy  xxii.  21.  The  woman  must  have  been 
umnarried,  but  betrothed,  as  stoning  was  prescribed  by  the  law 
only  for  such  persons.  She  was  therefore  probably  young  and 
not  hardened.  This  must  have  been  a  most  painful  ordeal.  In 
nothing  does  the  superior  beauty  of  spiritual  goodness  over  hard 
and  technical  morality  appear  more  than  in  this  scene.  Jesus  was 
spotlessly  pare.  He  did  not  assert  his  purity  by  bursting  into 
invectives  against  the  "horrid  creature."  lie  modestly  bent  his 
head,  and  wrote  on  the  ground  with  his  finger.  He  had  no  pruri- 
ent curiosity.  The  subject  was  distasteful.  But  the  Scribes  and 
Pharisees  seemed  carried  away  with  their  zeal  for  purity.  They 
had  dragged  the  poor  guilty  thing  before  the  public  gaze.  They 
were    then    connnitting    a   sin   greater   than   hers,  as    malicious 


AT   TIIE   FEAST   OF    TABERNACLES.  457 

li)1)0crisy  is  Avorse  than  incontinence.     Bnt  every  man  engaged 
in  this  exposure  had  himself  committed  adultery. 

Jesus  did  not  wish  to  touch  the  question.  But  they  ni-ged  it 
They  thought  it  Avould  embarrass  him.  If  he  should  say,  "  Stoiio 
her  !  "  he  would  be  advising  a  breach  of  Koman  law,  which  tixik 
such  power  out  of  Jewish  hands.  If  he  considered  the  case  mildly, 
the  populace  would  be  excited  against  him,  as  one  who  was  dis- 
posed to  relax  the  law  of  Moses.  These  bad  men  were  animated 
by  many  forms  of  vile  passions.     So  they  urged  the  question. 

Jesus,  blushing,  lifted  himself  np.      lie  looked   tln-ough   each 
man's  eyes  to  the  bottom  of  his  soul.   lie  said  :  '*  Let  him  among 
you  who  has  never  sinned  first  cast  a  stone  at 
her."     (See  Dent.  xvii.  7.)     Again  he  blushed.       Caught  in  their 

111  rni  1  ""^^  trap. 

and  stooped,  and  wrote.  The  word  smote  thein. 
It  aroused  their  consciences.  The  oldest  Pharisee  among  them 
was  an  adulterer ;  so  was  the  youngest  Scribe  ;  so  was  each  man. 
Some  of  the  crowd  probably  knew  the  licentionsness  of  these 
hypocrites,  and,  if  so,  gave  them  such  significant  looks  as  must 
have  been  most  embarrassinc:.  The  oldest  Pharisee  amono-  them 
sneaked  off ;  so  did  the  youngest  Scribe  ;  so  did  each  man.  When 
Jesus  again  rose  from  his  stooping  posture  they  had  all  departed. 
The  woman  had  not  moved.  He  said  :  "  Where  are  those  your 
accusers  ?  Has  no  ]nan  condemned  you  ? "  She  answered  : 
"  No,  sir." — "  Neither  do  I,"  said  Jesus ;  "  go,  and  sin  no  more." 
She  had  sinned.  He  had  no  license  to  give  to  sin.  Whether  the 
popular  opinion,  or  even  his  indulgence,  should  withhold  condem- 
nation, her  only  safety  was  in  abstaining  from  sin.  Nothing  could 
have  won  her  from  the  downward  course  on  which  she  had  en- 
tered so  much  as  this  exqnisite  tenderness  of  Jesus. 

Perhaps,   pointing  to   the  huge  lamps   now  kindled,  he   ex- 
claimed :  "  I  am  the  light  of  the  world  :  he  that  follows  me  shall 
not  walk  in  darkness  but  has  the  ligjit  of  life." 
On  the  spot  his  adversaries  endeavored  to  coun-      Conflict  of  Jesua 

,  ,  .        f  .  ,.  with  his  enemies. 

teract  the  force  of  his  teaching  by  saying  to  him  : 
"You  bear  testimony  concerning  yourself;  your  testimony  is 
not  true."  As  if  they  would  quote  him  against  hiinselt",  and, 
urcre  that  self-2:lorification  was  his  aim.  Jesus  answered :  "  Even 
if  I  bear  testimony  concerning  myself,  my  testimony  is  true  ;  for 
I  know  whence  I  came,  and  whither  I  go ;  but  ye  know  not 
whence  I  come,  and  whither  I  go.     Ye  judge  according  to  the 


4:58        FEOM   FEAST   OF    TABERNACLES    UNTIL    THE   LAST    WEEK. 

flesh  ;  I  judge  not  any  man.  And  even  if  I  do  judge,  my  judg- 
ment is  true ;  for  I  am  not  alone,  but  I  and  He  who  sent  me. 
13 ut  it  is  also  written  in  your  owu  law  that  the  testimony  of  two 
is  true.  I  am  a  witness  concerning  myself,  and  my  Father  who 
sent  me  witnesses  for  me."  Here  is  a  claim  to  a  mysterious  origin 
and  high  position  in  the  universe.  The  nature  of  the  case  was 
such  that  he  was  com^iellcd  to  bear  witness  concerning  himself. 
Kay,  more,  his  very  nature  Avas  such  that  he  Avas  compelled  to 
testify  of  himself,  as  light,  which  shows  the  existence  of  other 
things,  makes  its  own  existence  known.  Moreover,  they  wei'e  so 
fleshly  that  they  could  not  of  themselves'  discern  spiritual  things, 
so  that  he  was  obliged  to  show  them.  They  took  a  sinful  plea- 
sure in  discerning  in  man  what  they  might  condemn.  He  took  nc 
such  pleasure.  He  was  not  ready  to  judge  and  condemn  men 
If  they  had  been  as  free  from  this  evil  disposition  as  he,  they 
w^ould  not  seize  every  word  he  spoke  as  matter  for  condemna- 
tion. 

But  when  he  spoke  of  his  Father  as  being  a  witness  for  him, 
his  enemies  asked  :  "  AVhere  is  your  Father  ? "  His  reply  Avas : 
"  Ye  neither  knoAv  me  nor  m}^  Father  :  if  ye  had 
v  th  %^  ^  ^  knoAvn  me  ye  Avould  have  knoAvn  my  Father 
also."  They  must  have  understood  him  to  mean 
that  he  felt  a  consciousness  of  being  one  Avith  God.  That  cer- 
tainly was  the  claim  Avhich  Jesus  set  forth.  Whether  he  Avas  mis- 
taken or  not,  Avhcther  he  told  the  truth  or  a  falsehood, — these  are 
tAvo  other  questions ;  but  Avhether  he  made  this  claim  is  a  ques- 
tion readily  answered.  He  most  manifestly  did.  And  no  one 
could  find  such  a  claim  made  by  any  man,  otherwise  very  good 
and  exemplary,  Avithout  feeling  that  hoAvever  mistaken  he  might 
be,  he  is  unquestionably  sincere  in  his  belief.  The  Avliole  ques- 
tion of  the  divinity  of  Jesus  is  narroAved  to  the  inquiring  Avhether 
his  judgment  Avas  hurt  by  a  false  consciousness.  If  that  ques- 
tion be  determined  in  the  affirmative,  then  Ave  have  these  difficul- 
ties on  our  hands,  namely,  to  account  for  a  man  so  immaculate, 
so  surpassingly  good,  so  profound,  so  rapid  and  searching  a  reader 
of  the  hujnan  heart,  that  the  like  of  him  has  never  risen  among 
the  sons  of  men, — a  being  Avith  such  self-control,  such  vast  poAvers 
of  mind  and  Avonderf  ul  endoAvments  of  physique,  living  the  most 
resplendent  of  human  lives,  and  dying  a  sublimest  death  of  mar- 
tyrdom, and  influencing  the  ages  by  his  life  and  death,  Avhile  he 


AT  THE  FEAST   OF   T^UJEKNACLES.  459 

himself  was  inwardly  crazed  by  believinp^  himself  to  be  one 
person  while  he  was  in  reality  another, — livinp;  and  dying  in  the 
belief  that  he  was  God,,  while  in  point  of  fact  he  was  really 
inferior  to  even  any  man  who  knows  who  he  is. 

It  was  truth  or  blasphemy  which  he  was  speaking.  From  the 
Btanding-point  of  the  Jews  they  must  have  deemed  it  the  latter, 
and  yet  they  had  not  the  courage  to  lay  hands  on  the  man  who 
had  committed  in  their  hearing  the  greatest  cn-ime  possible  under 
the  theocracy.     His  good  greatness  seemed  to  paralj'zc  them. 

Then  said  Jesus  again  to  them :  "  I  go  awa}-,  and  you  shall  seek 
mo,  and  in  your  sins  you  shall  die :  for  where  I  go  you  have  not 
the  ability  to  come."  The  Jews  said:  "Will  he  kill  himself  ? " 
lie  replied  :  "  You  are  of  those  lieneath  •  I  am  of  those  above ; 
you  are  of  the  world  ;  I  am  not  of  the  world.  I  said  to  you  that 
you  shall  die  in  your  sins  ;  for  if  you  do  not  believe  that  I  am,  you 
shall  die  in  your  sins,"  They  asked  him,  sarcastically :  "Who 
are  you  ?  "  He  replied  :  "  What  say  I  to  you  from  the  first  ?  I 
have  many  things  to  say  and  to  judge  concerning  you,  but  the 
Father  who  sent  me  is  here ;  and  I  speak  to  the  world  those 
things  which  I  have  heard  from  Illm."  John  inserts  the  explana- 
tory sentence — "  They  understood  not  that  he  spoke  to  them  of 
the  Father,  God."  So  utterly  obtuse  and  fleshly  were  they  that 
even  these  mystical  utterances  of  Jesus  were  incomprehensible. 
Then  he  said  to  them :  "  When  you  have  lifted  up  the  Son  of  Man 
then  shall  you  know  that  I  am,  and  from  myself  I  do  nothing, 
but  as  the  Father  has  taught  me,  so  I  speak.  And  He  who  sent 
me  has  not  left  me  alone.  lie  is  with  me,  for  I  do  always  those 
things  that  please  Him." 

Upon  this  many  of  the  people  believed  on  him.  There  was 
something  in  the  words  or  in  the  manner,  or  in  both,  which 
touclied  them  and  awoke  them  into  faith.  But 
it  was  not  very  great  or  very  intelligent  faith,  as  ^°^  ^  ®^®  '^^ 
appears  from  what  immediately  follows.  He 
said  to  such  :  "If  ye  continue  in  my  \vord,  then  are  ye  my  disci- 
ples indeed ;  and  ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  emaiv 
cipate  you."  He  saw  that  they  were  regarding  him  in  a  sensuous 
light,  as  a  political  deliverer  from  the  Koman  yoke,  and  therefore 
spoke  this  word  to  set  them  right.  He  had  exliibited  such  cour- 
age in  peril,  and  spoken  so  frankly  of  his  consciousness  of  being 
one  with  God  that  they  had  begun  to  think  that  they  might  have 


460        FKOM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES   UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

been  misled  by  his  antecedents  and  his  manner,  and  tbat  this, 
after  all,  was  the  Clirist,  the  Anointed,  the  Messias, — still  connect- 
in"-  him,  however,  with  their  hopes  of  freedom  from  the  Roman 
yoke.  ■  This  speech,  which  claimed  that  all  his  triumphs  were  to 
be  spiritual,  opened  their  eyes  to  their  misapprehension.  More- 
over, it  touched  them  on  the  sorest  spot  of  their  hearts,  as  their 
reply  shows.  They  indignantly  answered  him  :  "  Seed  of  Abra- 
liam  are  we,  and  to  no  man  have  we  been  slaves  at  any  time :  how 
do  you  say  then,  '  Ye  shall  be  emancipated  ? '"  So  blind  were 
they  as  to  forget  that  their  fathers  had  been  slaves  in  Egypt  and 
Babylon  for  generations,  and  that  they  were  virtually  at  that  very 
moment  the  slaves  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

Jesus  replied  :  "  I  most  solemnly  assure  you  that  whoever  is  do- 
ing sin  is  the  slave  of  sin.  And  the  slave  abides  not  in  the  house 
continually.  If,  therefore,  the  Son  shall  emancipate  you,  you 
shall  be  indeed  f  i-eed.  I  know  that  you  are  Abraham's  seed ;  but 
you  seek  to  kill  me  because  my  word  has  no  place  in  you.  I 
speak  what  I  have  seen  with  my  Father,  and  you  then  do  what  you 
have  seen  with  your  father." 

These  last  words  seem  addressed  to  the  crowd  promiscuously. 
It  excited  their  anger  greatly.  If  they  had  believed  on  him 
before,  they  dropped  him  now,  and  with  vehemence  replied,  "Abra- 
ham is  our  father." 

Jesiis  said  unto  them,  "If  you  were  Abraham's  children  you 

would  do  the  works  of  Abraham ;  but  now  you  seek  to  kill  me,  a 

man  who  has  told  you  the  truth,  which  I  have 

Jesusmostdeep-  ^^^^^^^  f^.^,,^^  (.^^^_     rpj^j^  ^^^^  ^^^^  Abraham.     You 

13;  incenses  them.  i         p  p   ^i        ?>      rri  •      i.-n 

do  the  works  of  your  lather."  Ihis  still  more  m- 
censed  them,  and  they  retorted,  "  We  are  not  born  of  fornication. 
One  father  have  we,  God." — "  If  God  were  your  father,"  replied 
Jesus,  "you  would  have  held  me  dear ;  for  I  proceeded  forth  and 
liave  come  fi'om  God;  neither  came  I  of  myself,  but  He  sent  me. 
Why  do  you  not  understand  my  speech  ?  Because  you  cannot 
liear  my  discourse."  Ye  are  of  your  father  Diabolus  (the  Calum- 
niator), and  the  desii-es  of  your  father  you  are  minded  to  do.  He 
was  a  manslayer  from  tlie  beginning,  and  in  the  truth  he  has  not 
an  abiding-place,  for  the  truth  is  not  in  him ;  when  he  speaks  a 

f  It  is  important  to  notice  the  dis-  ]  late  utterance  of  the  latter,  -which 
tinction  between  XaXia  and  A070J,  the  j  means  a  reasonable  connected  line  of 
foniier  signifying  the  outward  aiticu-  I  thought. 


AT    TUE    FEAST    OF    TAI3EKNACLES. 


461 


lie  he  speaks  of  liis  own,  for  he  is  a  liar  and  the  liar's  father. 
But  heoause  1  speak  the  truth  j'ou  do  not  believe  nie.  AVlio  of 
you  convicts  me  of  wrong  ?  *  ^^^y  tlo  you  not  believe  nie  if  I 
speak  the  truth?  lie  who  is  of  God  hears  the  M'ords  of  God:  on 
this  account  you  hear  not,  because  you  are  not  from  God." 

Upon  their  claiming  to  be  Abraham's  children  Jesus  showed 
them  that  they  had  none  of  the  characteristics  of  the  spiritual 
descendants  of  Abraham.     That  was  tantamount 
to  a  charge  of  spiritnal  bastard v,  which  thev  re-     Children  of  Abra- 

^  ^  "    .  "  ham. 

pelled  by  claiming  God  as  their  father.  But 
Jesns  shows  them  that  they  have  not  the  characteristics  of  spirit- 
nal children  of  God,  because  they  hate  the  One  who  has  come  out 
from  God.  If  they  were  God's  spiritual  children  the  truth  would 
be  their  vernacular ;  but  they  cannot  receive  the  truth ;  it  is  as  un- 
intelligible to  them  as  an  unknown  language.  lie  then  pours  tho 
awful  statement  into  their  ears  that  they  are  the  children  of  tho 
Devil,  who  was  at  once  a  liar  and  a  murderer,  who  in  the  begin- 
ning sought  to  destroy  the  race,  and  endeavored  to  accomplish 
his  nefarious  designs  by  a  lie.  The  Jews  showed  this  disposition 
towards  Jesus — the  lying,  homicidal  s})irit — in  that  they  sought  to 
kill  him,  not  for  any  error  of  thought  or  wrong  of  life,  for  ho 
appeals  to  them  if  they  have  ever  been  convinced  on  evidence 
that  he  had  done  a  wrong  or  made  a  mistake.  It  was  a  great 
claim.  lie  challenges  any  flaw  to  be  shown  in  his  doctrines  or 
life.  And  yet  they  hate  him  murderously.  If  they  were  of  God 
they  would  hear  the  words  of  God;  but  their  failure  to  hoar  the 
words  of  God,  which  Jesus  professed  to  speak,  is  proof  that  they 
are  not  of  God.     Then,  they  are  of  the  Devil. 

Jesus  rested  his  reproof  on  actual  facts  of  which  they  were 
cognizant,  such  as  their  known  desire  to  slay  him.  To  his  lofty 
rebuke  they  reply  with  coarse  invective:  "Is  it  not 
polite  in  us  to  say  that  thou  art  a  Samaritan,  and 
hast  a  demon  ? "  They  were  going  to  throw  at 
him  the  two  hardest  words  known  in  Jewish  quar- 
relling, just  because  they  knew  no  harder;  but  they  sought  to  in- 
tensify them  by  saying — It  is  really  a  stretch  of  politeness  to  call 


Jesus  charged 
ynfh  having  a  de- 
mon. 


*  The  word  means  "error"  as  well 
as  "  fault,"  mistake  of  judgment  as 
weU  a-s  sinfulness  of  life.  So  the  word 
which  I  liave    translated   "convicts" 


signifies  to  prove  the  fallacy  in  one's 
logic  as  well  as  to  fasten  uj^on  one  tlifl 
charge  of  wrong-doing. 


462        mOM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES    UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

you  a  Samaritan:  are  we  not  doing  a  "handsome"  thing  to  restrain 

ourselves  and  go  no  further  than  to  say  "you  have  a  demon?  " 

Jesus  calmly  replied,  "  1  have  not  a  demon.    I  honor  my  Father 

and  you  dishonor  me.     And  I  seek  not  my  glory.     There  is  one 

who  seeks  it  and  judges."     The  mention  of  God's 
His  reply.  .     ,  ,  ,  .  .  ,  , 

judgment  arouses  his  compassions,  and  he  says  to 

them,  "  I  solemnly  assure  you  that  if  any  one  shall  keep  my  word 
he  shall  not  see  death  through  the  ages."  The  Jews  replied,  "  Now 
we  know  that  you  have  a  demon.  Abraham  is  dead,  and  the 
prophets,  and  you  say,  '  If  a  man  keep  my  word  he  shall  not  taste 
of  death  through  the  ages.'  Are  you  greater  than  our  father 
Abraham,  who  is  dead  ?  And  the  prophets  are  dead.  Whom  do 
you  make  yourself? "  This  was  pressing  him  to  declare  his  exact 
position  toward  God  and  toward  Abraham, — -to  reveal  himself 
wholly  in  all  his  claims.  He  simply  answers  that  if  he  glorified 
himself  his  glory  would  be  nothing ;  that  liis  Fatlier  would  bring 
all  his  glory  to  light,  and  that  that  Father  was  the  God  whom  they 
professed  to  adore.  He  thus  claimed  to  be  the  Son  of  God  in  an 
exclusive  sense.  He  adds,  "  And  you  have  not  known  Him 
[although  you  call  Him  your  God],  but  1  know  Him,  and  if  I 
should  say  I  know  Him  not,  I  should  be  a  liar  like  to  you  ;  but  I 
know  Him,  and  I  keep  His  word."  He  presents  this  as  if  he  felt 
that  they  were  urging  him  to  deny  his  own  consciousness,  to  de- 
clare that  he  was  not  what  he  felt  himself  to  be,  one  with  God ; 
to  assume  a  lower  position  M'ould  be  to  violate  his  own  nature,  to ' 
falsify  his  convictions,  and  to  deny  the  truth  of  God.  In  regard 
to  Abraham,  however,  he  said,  "  Abraham,  your  father  [as  yon 
claim],  exulted  that  he  saw  my  day,  and  he  saw  it  and  was  glad.' 

This  was  an  astounding  assertion.     They  said  with  sarcasm, 
"  You  have  not  fifty  years  yet,  and  has  Abraham  seen  you  ? " 

Jesus  replied  most  loftily,  as  if  from  some  far-off  eternity,  "  I 

most  solemnly  declare  to  you  that  before  Abraham  was  born  1 

AM."     If  this  be  not  the  senseless  assertion  which 

.,    ^  the  Jews  took  it  to  be,  it  is  a  declaration  of  the 

Abraham.  .  ' 

consciousness  which  Jesus  felt  of  his  being  in  ex- 
istence before  time  began,  before  measurements  of  duration  had 
been  discovered,  in  eternity,  eternally  coexisting  with  the  Being 
whom  he  calls  his  Father,  and  whom  we  all  su[>pose  to  be  God. 

The  Jews  took  up  stones  to  cast  at  him,  but  he  somehow  hid 
himself  from  the  frantic  multitude  and  went  out  of  the  Temple. 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE   FEAST   OF   DEDICATION, 


Where  Jesus  went,  and  how  long  lie  stayed  in  any  place,  are 

questions  the  answers  to  which  escape  our  closest  investigations. 

He  travelled  and  taught.     This  is  nearly  all  we 

can  learn.     Tliere  are  certain  incidents  recorded        Perhaps  some- 
,      1  ,     ,  .  1  ,  .   ,  .  where  near  .len- 

by  his  biograpliers  which  seem  to  associate  them-    ^-^^     Luke  x. 

selves  with  this  portion  of  his  history,  and,  even  if 
we  have  missed  their  precise  chronology,  may  as  well  be  intro- 
duced here.  They  seem  to  show  that  Jesus  was  oi  route  towards 
Jerusalem  to  attend  for  the  third  time  the  Feast  of  tlie  Dedica- 
tion, a  festival  which  celebrated  the  renewal  of  the  Temple  ser- 
vice under  the  Maccabees. 

On  one  occasion  a  lawyer  stood  np,  with  the  intent,  if  possible, 
to  entrap  Jesus  in  his  sayings.     He  put  this  question  to  Jesus : 
"  Teacher,  by  doing  what  shall  I  inherit  perpetual 
life?"     To  this  Jesus  returns  two  questions,  im-        '^^   lawyer's 

.  1     .     .  question, 

portaiit  m  themselves,  and  mcreasmg  their  impor- 
tance by  their  relation  to  each  other.  Probably  pointing  to  the 
phylactery  of  his  questioner's  robe,  on  which,  as  a  lawyer,  he  bore 
the  inscription  of  that  passage  of  Scripture  (Deut.  vi.  5)  which 
the  Jews  were  accustomed  to  repeat  daily,  he  said,  "AVliat  is 
written  in  the  law  \ "  His  next  question  was,  "  How  readest  thou  ? " 
He  calls  his  attention  to  the  fact  that  a  man  must  first  know  the 
words  of  the  record,  and  that  then  the  mood  iu  which  he  exam- 
ines them  will  have  influence  on  his  judgment.  So,  before  mak- 
ing answer,  Jesus  asked  the  lawyer  what  response  he  had  been  al)le 
to  get  for  himself  out  of  the  law.  His  reply  was,  "  Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  all  thy  soul,  and 
with  all  thy  strength,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself."  Jesus  said,  "  You  have  answered  rightly.  Do  this  and 
you  shall  live." 

Perhaps  tkis  touched  him  as  an  intimation  that  his  life  had 


464        FROM    FEAST    OF    TABEKNACLES    UNTIL    THE    LAST    "WEEK. 


been  in  fault,  and  therefore  he  could  not  understand  the  profound 
B])iritual  sul)jects  which  he  had  brought  forward  for  discourse. 
lie  may  have  felt  piqued,  and  to  make  return  gave  Jesus  what 
])ei-haps  he  intended  to  be  a  quiet  touch  of  sarcasm  by  the  ques- 
tion, "  And  who  is  my  neighbor? "  As  if  he  had  said  that  he  liad 
kept  the  law,  unless  Jesus  gave  to  the  term  neighbor  perhaps  a 
meaning  not  altogether  accepted  among  his  people,  thus  covertly 
seeking  to  rebuke  him  for  his  too  great  laxity  in  mingling  with 
the  hated  Samaritan  race. 

Jesus  replied  in  the  beautiful  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan. 

"A  certain  man  went  down  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho,  and  fell 

among  thieves,  who  both  stripped  and  wounded 

Parable  of  the  ^^  ^^^^  departed,  leaving  him  half  dead.  By  a 
Good  Samantan.  '.  ^-  '.  .'^^  .  ; 

contmgency  a  certam  priest  was  gomg  down  that 

way ;  and  when  he  saw  him  he  passed  by  on  the  other  side.  And 
likewise  a  Levitc,  when  he  came  to  the  place  and  saw  him,  passed 
by  on  the  other  side.     But  a  certain  Samaritan,  as  he  journeyed, 

came  to  where  he  was,  and,  see- 
ing him,  was  moved  with  com- 
passion, and  coming  to  him  he 
bound  up  his  w^ounds,  pouring 
in  oil  and  wine,  and  set  him  on 
his  own  beast,  and  brought  him 
to  an  inn,  and  took  care  of  him. 
And  on  the  morrow  lie  took  out 
two  denarii,*  and  gave  them  to 
the  innkeeper,  and  said,  '  Tak(^ 
care  of  him,  and  whatsoever  thou  spendest  more,  when  I  come 
again  I  will  repay  thee.'  " 

Then  Jesus  submitted  to  the  lawyer  the  question,  "Wliich  of 
these  three  seems  to  thee  to  have  been  neighbor  to  him  that  fell 
among  the  thieves  ?  "  And  he  replied,  "  lie  who  showed  mercy 
on  him."     Jesus  said,  "  Go,  and  do  thou  likewise." 

The  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho  was  proverbially  perilous 


*  To  English  readers  of  this  parable 
the  generosity  of  the  Samaritan  in  leav- 
ing two  pennies  with  the  landlord  seems 
to  be  a  small  thing.  But  let  us  recollect 
that  each  denarius  represented  a  day's 
labor.  It  would  surely  not  be  considered 
a  small  thing  if  a  New  York  laboring 


man  should  humanely  take  up  a  poor 
fellow  who  had  been  maimed,  and  leave 
ten  dollars  to  meet  his  expenses.  Per- 
haps ten  dollars  now  in  New  York  would 
be  a  fair  representative  of  two  denarii  in 
Palestine  in  the  days  of  Jesu.s.  It  was 
a  liberal  provision. 


THE   FEAST   OI'   DEDICATION.  465 

by  rcapon  of  being  the  resort  of  higliwaymen.     Of  this  Josephus 

(B.  J.,  iv.  8,  3)  informs  us.     The  priests  and  Levites  who  lived  in 

Jericho   and  officiated  in  Jerusalem  were  accus-      „       , 

,  111  IP  11  p       From  Jerusalem 

tomed  to  take  the  longer  and  safer  road  by  way  or    ^^  jericho 

Bethlehem,  but  on  this  occasion  they  had  chosen 
the  shorter  route.  Their  guilt  is  increased  by  the  fact  that  the} 
examined  the  condition  of  the  wounded  man  and  found  it  to  be 
so  very  desperate,  and  yet  their  selfish  lo-ve  of  safety  di-owned  the 
voice  of  conscience  and  humanity  in  their  hearts.  If  the  lawyer 
thought  it  was  not  the  correct  and  regular  thing  for  a  Jew  to 
show  mercy  to  a  Samaritan,  Jesus  showed  him  the  beautiful 
picture  of  a  Samaritan  putting  his  own  life  in  peril  to  save  a  man 
whom  he  considered  a  heretic,  and  whom  lie  knew  to  be  his  na- 
tional enemy. 

If  the  wounded  man,  however,  was  not  a  Jew, — and  Jesus  does 
not  say  he  was, — then  the  Samaritan  is  represented  as  having  the 

widest  possible  humanity.     He  had  met  a  man 

,  ,  TT      T  1         ,    1  .1  A  lesson  of  wide 

who  was  a  stranger,     lie  did  not  have  even  the    j^ujQanity 

pleasure  which  comes  from  helping   an  enemy, 

which  is  always  an  intense  personal  gratification  of  one's  own 

nobleness.     The  person  before  him  presented  only  two  claims  to 

his  attention  and  his  kindness,  namely,  he  was  a  man.  and  in  trouble. 

Here  was  the  very  widest  humanity.     But  we  know  that  the  helper 

was  a  Samaritan,  and  by  introducing  this  feature  into  the  picture 

Jesus  taught  that  it  is  possible  to  have  humanity  with  heterodoxy, 

and  to  have  orthodoxy  without  humanity ;  and  he  also  teaches 

that  if  a  man's  orthodoxy  do  not  beget  humanity  it  is  barrenly 

worthless  ;  that  humanity  is  superior  to  orthodoxy,  and  inhumanity 

is  worse  than  heterodoxy. 

The  beauty  of  this  parable  in  an  sesthetical  view,  its  grapliic- 
ness,  its  fulness,  its  wideness  and  completeness  of  action,  its 
genuine  humaneness,  are  all  heightened  by  the  fact  that  this  great 
Teacher,  who  selected  the  Samaritan  to  be  the  model  of  neighborly 
behavior,  had  himself  been  recently  insulted  and  rejected  by  the 
Samaritans. 

It  would  seem  to  have  been  on  this  journey  to  the  Feast  of  Dedi- 
cation that  Jesus  and  his  followers  went  to  the  little  neighbc  ring 
village  of  Bethany,  to  meet  a  household  consisting  of  three  per- 
sons, two  sisters  and  a  younger  brother,  of  whom  we  shall  have 
nore  to  say  hereafter.  This  family  seems  to  have  attracted  and 
30 


'466        FKOM   FEAST   OF  TABEKWACLES   UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

held  the  friendship  of  Jesns.     The  sisters  were  named  Martha 

and  Mary,  the  former  probably  being  the  elder  and  the  keeper  of 

the  house.      Their  brother  was  named  Lazarus. 

Bethany.  Mary    "\y]ieji,  or  liOAV  often  previously,  or  whether  ever 

before,  Jesus  had  been  in  this  house,  we  have  no 

means  of  knoAving  positively ;  but  it  would  seem 

f  i-om  the  air  of  the  narrative  that  Jesus  had  had  some  previous 

intercourse  with  this  interesting  domestic  circle. 

Jesus  had  come  into  the  house  tired  with  travel  and  preaching. 
Ilis  reception  by  the  sisters  shows  the  difference  in  their  tempera- 
ments.     Mary  sat  at  his  feet,  listening  lovingly  to  his  words. 


Mary  was  receptive.  But  Martha  went  bustling  about  the  house, 
preparing  many  things,  intent  upon  giving  Jesus  something  of  a 
festal  reception  as  he  came  from  his  tiresome  journey.  At  last 
her  industry  passed  over  into  worry.  She  became  cumbered  about 
much  serving.  And  then  she  became  a  little  fretful.  And  she 
went  from  the  kitchen  to  the  sitting-room  and  broke  in  upon  the 
^artv  with  the  half-playfid,  half-petulant  speech  addressed  to  Maiy 
tn^uugu  desus,  "Dost  thou  not  care  that  my  sister  has  left  mo 
to  serve  alone  ?  Bid  her  therefore  that  she  help  me  !  "  It  did 
not  occur  to  Mary  that  much  preparation  would  be  needed.  ^^^'^ 
she  loved  Jesus  so  that  she  went  straight  into  the  sittmg  room  and 


THE   FEAST    OF   DEDICATION.  467 

took  a  stool  at  liis  feet,  in  the  confidence  of  innocence.  Martha 
loved  him  just  as  much,  and.  knew  that  he  must  have  something 
to  eat,  and  water  to  wash  with,  and  a  comfortable  bed.  Mary 
thouo-ht  of  what  she  needed  of  Jesus.  Martha  thouirht  of  what 
Jesus  needed  of  her.  She  was  so  anxious  to  get  back  to  Jesu? 
that  she  felt  keenly  how  her  work  was  depriving  her  of  the  pleas- 
ure and  profit  of  the  company  of  her  illustrious  friend  and  guest. 
Mary  was  having  all  the  good  of  it.  Martha  was  not  envious  oi 
her  sister,  but  she  desired  to  have  some  of  the  happiness  of  that 
society,  and  if  no  one  helped  her  she  would  lose  it  all. 

The  reply  of  Jesus  has  generally  been  regarded  as  a  rather 
severe  rebuke  to  Martha,  and  a  boundless  compliment  to  Mary. 
I  venture  to  say  that  it  was  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other.  He  did  most  probably  convey  in  his  .  ji^j^° 
tone,  as  is  intimated  in  the  repetition  of  her  name, 
some  dissatisfaction  with  Martha's  course.  It  was,  however,  only 
the  dissatisfaction  of  love,  not  of  anger.  lie  desired  to  have  her 
there  where  Mary  was.  lie  loved  the  sisters  equally.  He  was 
not  satisfied  that  Martha  sliould  be  worrying  in  the  kitchen,  and 
he  should  l)e  losing  her  society.  lie  did  not  undervalue  care  for 
his  personal  comfort.  No  man,  sinner  or  saint,  ever  does.  It 
was  a  token  of  her  love  substantially  given.  He  must  have  ut- 
tered the  words  tenderly,  with  the  tone  of  love,  reproving  love  for 
putting  itself  to  trouble.  lie  did  need  food  and  a  resting-place, 
but  he  also  needed  her  company.  And  so,  with  a  loving  smile 
and  a  kind  look  that  pleaded  his  love  against  his  words,  he  ut- 
tered this  sentence  that  had  in  it  more  of  warning  than  of  re- 
proof. 

She  ivas  in  peril.  She  was  undertaking  too  much  for  her  means. 
That  was  making  her  over-careful.  Slie  was  becoming  distracted 
and  worried,  anxious  and  troubled.  SJie  was  losing  her  self-con- 
trol. She  was  in  danger  of  losing  her  whole  enjoyment  of  those 
for  whom  she  was  working.  Kow,  no  true  man  can  see  his  friend, 
especially  if  that  friend  be  a  woman,  making  over-exertion  for 
his  comfort,  and  be  unconcerned.  Unless  he  be  entirely  selfish 
he  will  interfere.  So  Jesus  did  as  soon  as  she  opened  the  door 
and  looked  in. 

Nor  did  tlie  reply  of  Jesus  imply  that  only  one  dish  was  neces- 
sary. That  is  an  absurd  interpretation  of  his  words.  Nor  did  it 
mean  that  religion  was  that  one  thing.     This  is  a  mystical  inter- 


468        FKOM  FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES    tTNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK, 


pretation.  The  plain,  common-sense  meaning  of  this  part  of  the 
reply  is,  tliat  he  required  only  one  thing  in  his  reception,  namely, 
love  of  him.  Martha  had  that.  All  then  that  was  necessary  was 
simple  attention  to  his  simple  wants. 

What  he  says  of  Mary  is  not  so  much  complimentary  as  defen- 
sive. We  must  recollect  that.  It  was  not  a  volunteered  statement. 
Martha  knew  that  she  loved  Jesus,  and  believed  that  Mary  did 
too;  but  thought  that  her  sister  had  a  very  indifferent  way  of 
showing  it ;  and  Martha  intimated  as  much.  Jesus  simply  meant 
to  defend  Mary.  lie  said,  "  Martha,  you  shall  not  take  away 
Mary's  share  in  this  loving  reception  of  me.  She  has  chosen  the 
part  of  goodness  as  well  as  you."  The  fact  is,  that  the  reply  of 
Jesus  was  a  sweet  speech  to  both  the  women,  and  both  felt  pleased 
and  improved  by  it. 

There  is  no  record  of  what  followed  ;  but  I  have  no  doubt  that 
when  Martha  shut  the  door  behind  her,  Jesus  intimated  somehow 
to  Mary  that  she  should  go  to  the  help  of  her  sister,  for  he  saw 
that  Mary's  peril  was  in  the  direction  of  quietism,  as  Martha's 
was  in  the  direction  of  worry.* 

From  Bethany  Jesus  went  up  to  the  metropolis.  While  passing 
he  saw  there  a  man  who  had  been  blind  from  his  birth.f     This 


*  I  ventvire  to  refer  the  reader  to  two 
published  sermons  of  mine,  entitled, 
Mary;  or,  Religion  in  Beauty,  and 
Martha  ;  or,  Religion  in  Service. 

f  I  can  unite  with  Dean  Milman, 
who,  in  a  note  to  the  text  of  his  Hist. 
Christianity,  in  loco,  says  :  "I  hesitate 
at  the  arrangement  of  no  passage  in 
the  whole  narrative  more  than  this  his- 
tory of  the  blind  man."  The  Harmo- 
nists have  two  opinions,  one  placing  it 
at  the  time  when  Jesus  escaped  from 
the  wrath  of  his  enemies  in  the  Tem- 
ple, and  the  other  in  the  time  I  have 
given  it  in  my  text  above.  In  favor  of 
the  former  it  may  be  urged  that  the 
narrative  seems  so  closely  connected 
that  we  can  hardly  imagine  an  interval. 
Moreover,  we  know  that  that  conflict  in 
the  Temple  was  on  the  Sabbath,  and  that 
this  healing  took  place  on  the  Sabbath. 
(ix.  14.)  The  objection  to  that  view  is 
that  Jesus    evidently    departed    alone 


from  the  Temple,  while  at  the  healing 
of  the  blind  man  his  disciples  were  with 
him.  Archbishop  Trench  replies  that 
it  is  easy  to  suppose  that  they  could  have 
extricated  themselves  as  Jesus  did  him- 
self; but  the  ArchbishoiJ  must  have 
overlooked  the  fact  that  they  were  not 
present  at  that  violent  interview.  The 
argument  from  the  Sabbath  is  not  con- 
clusive, because  the  conflict  took  place 
on  a  festal  Sabbath,  and  this  healing  on 
a  regular  weekly  Sabbath.  Both  might 
have  fallen  on  the  same  day,  but  it  is 
not  known  that  they  did.  I  have  been 
inclined  to  place  it  where  it  stands  in 
the  text,  because  the  connection  of  the 
conclusion  of  the  narrative  seems  to 
me  quite  as  close  as  that  which  is  urged 
for  the  beginning,  and  the  conclusion 
(John  X.  22)  connects  itself  with  the 
Feast  of  Dedication,  at  which  his  disci- 
ples were  with  him,  as  they  were  not 
on  the  former   occasion.     Moreover,  a 


THE   FEAST   OF  DEDICATION. 


4C9 


Jerusalem.  The 
blind  man,    John 


was  the  first  time  that  the  disciples  were  in  Jerusalem  with  Jesus. 
As  they  were  passing  a  certain  place  they  saw  a  man  who  hud 
been  blind  from  liis  birth.      It  occurred  to  the 
disciples    to    extract    from   their   Teacher  some 
light  on  a  dark  difliculty,  as  old  as  the  history  of 
human  thought. 

Ti-aces  of  ihe  profound  study  given  l)y  men  to  such  questions 
as  the  existence  of  evil  in  the  universe  of  the  good  God  •  the 
transmission,  if  not  of  meiital  and  moral  traits, 
at  least  of  penalties  ;  the  connection  between  sin  ^^«<*°««  ^^  eviL 
and  suffering ;  and  kindred  problems,  are  almost  everywhere  iu 
the  stream  of  re(;orded  thought,  as  far  up  towards  the  fountain- 
head  as  the  literature  of  the  world  enables  us  to  ascend.  It  is 
probably  impossible  to  say  when  men  first  began  to  have  these 
conceptions  in  shapely  manner  in  their  minds.  But  this  much  is 
certain,  that  very  early  iu  the  history  of  human  society  we  discover 
that  the  doctrine  of  retribution  was  not  held  merely  looselv 
as  hypothesis,  but  was  imbedded  in  the  human  mind,  and  sprinc^- 
ing  up  in  all  forms  of  human  literature  and  art.  The  heathen 
classics  are  full  of  it.  The  students  of  the  old  Greek  dramatists 
can  ne\er  foi-get  with  what  power  it  comes  out  in  the  writino-s  of 
^schylus,  the  father  of  classic  tragedy  ;  how  he  shakes  his  read- 
ers with  the  grand  horrors  of  the  Prometheus,  the  Agamemnon, 
the  Eumenides;  how  in  them  and  his  other  tragedies  which  have 
survived  we  are  thrilled  by  the  perpetual  reproduction  of  ances- 
tral guilt,  the  punishment  of  successive  generations  of  sinners 
who  are  pressed  into  the  commission  of  atrocities  by  the  doom 
which  lay  mountain  hea%7  on  their  race.     Nor  will  they  fail  to 


great  difficulty  lies  against  the  other 
date,  namely,  that  Jesus  would  scarcely 
have  left  the  Temple  in  a  secret  man- 
ner, and  then  immediately  perform  a 
miracle  which  would  attract  all  eyes  to 
him  at  the  moment  of  a  popular  tu- 
mult, nor  would  there  have  been  space 
during  the  remainder  of  the  day  for  the 
events  to  have  occuiTed  which  are  con- 
tained in  the  narrative.  It  is  a  beauti- 
ful thought  that  it  exhibits  his  godlike 
calmness  to  be  able  thus  in  his  own  peril 
to  stand  still  and  work  this  beneficent 
miracle.      If  I  were  wiiting  a  poem  in- 


stead of  a  history,  I  should  take  the 
other  date,  in  favor  of  which  are  Lange, 
Olshauseii,  Meyer,  Stier,  Trench,  and 
Milman ;  against  whom,  and  in  favor  of 
the  view  I  adopt,  stand  Lucke,  Tho- 
luck,  De  Wette,  Alford,  and  Rev.  Mor- 
ris  Dods,  who  translated  and  editel 
Lauge's  >'  Life  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
Macknight  places  the  healing  on  tho 
day  of  the  escape  from  the  Temple ; 
the  recognition  and  subsequent  proceed- 
ings during  the  visit  at  the  Dedication, 
The  reader  must  examine  and  decide  foi 
himself. 


470        FROM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES   UNTIL    THE   LAST   WEEK. 

remember  how  the  greatest  of  Greek  dramatic  authors,  in  his 
wonderful  (Edijpus^  seems  to  attempt  an  imitation  of  the  intrica^ 
cies  of  Divine  Providence,  and  the  inevitability  of  the  blow  of 
retribution  from  the  opening  of  the  plot  to  the  tremendous  catas- 
trophe; nor  with  what  splendid  diction  and  terrible  beauty  thi! 
same  doctrines  are  set  forth  by  Euripides  in  his  wonderful  Vhua- 
dra  and  overwhelming  Medea.  Indeed,  the  whole  ancient  chissic 
tragedy  surges  with  the  heaving  billows  of  sinful  j)assion  under 
the  beating  tempests  of  tremendous  retribution. 

The  ancient  idea  of  penalty  was  personified.     Nemesis,  daugli- 
tei"  of  Darkness  and  kinswoman  of  Shame,  was  the  agent  of  the 

gods  in  the  punishment  of  the  violation  of  law, 
e  ancien  pa-    ^^^^  ^^^^^  ^j^^  sijccial  aveufrer  of   family  crimes, 
gtin  idea.  .  ^  .  .  "  "^  . 

AVith  the  scent,  the  swiftness,  and  the  certainty 

of  a  sleuth-hound,  she  followed  guilt  through  all  the  windings  of 
societ}''  and  all  the  doublings  of  blood,  until  she  smote  it  with  tho 
scourge  that  infuriated  or  the  sword  that  destroyed.  The  skill  of 
even  Phidias  was  employed  to  embody  in  marble  the  popular  con- 
cej^tion  of  this  personation  of  penalty. 

This  same  idea  of  the  inevitable  following  of  pain  upon  trans- 
gression, at  whatever  intervals  and  through  whatever  prosperi- 

„,    „  ties, — f]-om  which  was  always  made  the  illogical 

The  Hebrew  idea.  ',      .  ,  cc     •  ^  i  -i 

conchision  that  no  suiienng  takes  place  with- 
out sin, — lay  dark  and  heavy  on  the  Hebrew  mind.  In  that  sim- 
plest, grandest,  and  most  solemn  of  all  the  ti-agedies,  the  book 
Joh^  we  see  a  very  powerful  representation  of  this.  A  man  serv- 
ing God  with  such  consecration  and  such  constancy  that  even  the 
Almighty  spoke  of  him  as  Ilis  perfect  servant,  suddenly  topples 
from  the  pinnacle  of  luunan  prosperity  to  the  dunghill  of  the 
lowest  debasement ;  from  surroundings  of  comfort,  which  made 
liim  seem  like  a  secure  god,  into  privations  and  pains  which 
ranked  him  among  the  most  pitiful  of  the  feeble.  AVlien  his 
friends  drew  near  to  condole  with  liim,  they  knew  him  not. 
They  beheld  a  blackened  ruin  lie  where  there  had  stood  a  palace 
of  delights.  The  sight  was  so  appalling  that  Eliphaz  the  Teman- 
ite,  and  Bildad  the  Shuhite,  and  Zophar  the  Naamathite,  lifted  up 
their  voices  and  we])t,  and  rent  their  mantles  and  crowned  them- 
selves with  dust,  and  sat  down  with  the  sufferer  seven  days  and 
seven  m'ghts,  and  never  a  man  of  them  essayed  to  break  with 
syllables  the  awful  silence  of  that  transcendent  grief.   And  wheii 


THE   FEAST   OF   DEDICATION.  471 

tliey  did,  wlien  they  had  taken  a  week  to  contemplate  the  situa- 
tion and  study  the  case  of  Job,  these  three  great  men,  whom  Job 
had  thought  worthy  to  be  his  friends,  embodied  their  philosophy 
iu  such  words  as  these : 

Eliphaz  said  :  "  Who  ever  perished,  being  innocent  ?  or  where 
were  the  righteous  cut  off?  Even  as  I  have  seen,  they  that  ploufjK 
uii/juity,  aiid  sow  wickedness,  reaj?  the  same.^^  Bildad  said :  "  Can 
the  rush  grow  up  without  mire?  Can  the  flag  grow  without 
water?  "Wliilst  it  is  yet  in  its  greenness,  and  not  cut  down,  it 
withereth  before  any  other  herb.  So  are  the  paths  of  all  that 
forget  God  /  and  the  hypocrite's  hope  shall  perishP  Zophar 
boldly  said :  "  Know  that  God  exacteth  of  tJiee  less  than  thine 
iniquity  deservethP 

And  amidst  all  this  intimation  or  assertion  of  secret  sin,  Job  was 
without  fault.  But  it  was  impracticable  for  these  men  to  conceive 
it  possible  that  there  could  be  so  much  suffering  and  no  sin.  We 
hnow  that  Job  was  in  the  midst  of  prodigious  pains  which  were  in  no 
way  a  punishment  for  either  his  own  sins  or  the  sins  of  any  other. 

So  when  we  come  down  t<;  the  days  of  Jesus  and  the  passage 
of  our  text,  we  find  the  great  Teacher  confronted  with  a  case  of 
special  privation,  and  his  disciples  phimply  put 

.  .  .  .         .  "  WTio  did  sin  9 " 

the  direct  question  to  him :  "  Who  did  sin,  this 
man  or  his  parents,  that  he  was  born  blind  ?  "  Here  is  a  sad  case, 
a  man  who  had  never  beheld  God's  great  expanse  of  the  heavens 
or  fruitful  field  of  the  earth — a  man  who  had  never  seen  the  love- 
light  in  the  eye  of  mother  or  wife  or  child — a  man  to  whom  the 
angel  rays  of  holy  light  had  never  come  flooding  in  from  all  the 
forms  of  nature  and  of  art,  full  of  I'eports  of  beauty.  It  was  a 
dire  privation.  It  never  occurred  to  the  disciples  to  ask  the  pre- 
vious question  :  "  Why  came  he  thus  ? "  They  never  question 
tlieir  prejudices  and  tlieir  old  ideas  which  they  had  received  fi-om 
their  fathers.  If  they  had  ever  I'ead  the  book  of  Job  they  had 
forgotten  its  moral.  They  presumed  sin.  Here  is  suffering,  where 
is  the  sin  ?  Suffering  has  oidy  one  parent.  Sin.  All  they  seemed 
curious  to  know  Avas,  Who  was  the  sinner  ?  It  broke  upon  them 
like  a  new  day  on  what  they  supposed  the  noon  of  their  intelli- 
gence when  the  Master  said,  Neither  hath  this  man  sinned,  nor 
his  parents.  It  was  an  utterance  which  smote  the  mouth  of 
Poetry  with  the  hand  of  Silence,  and  emptied  the  garnered  treas* 
ures  of  Philosophy  into  the  sea. 


472        FROM   FEAST   OF   TABEENACLES    UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 


It  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  suppose  that  the  disciples  believed  in 
the  doctrines  of  pre-existence  and  metempsychosis,*  or  had  even 
heard  them.  There  is  no  sufficient  proof  that  these  Platonic  ideas 
had  spread  genei-ally  among  the  Hebrew  people,  or  that  they  pre- 
vailed to  any  extent  even  in  the  schools  of  the  Rabbis. 

Here  is  the  ray  of  light  which  Jesus  let  in  on  one  case,  and 

which  maybe  applicable  to  millions:  "Neither  hath  this  man 

sinned,  nor  his  parents ;  but  that  the  works  of  God 

What  Jesus  ^i^^^^i^  j^^  made  manifest  in  him."  Not  that  the 
man  had  never  committed  sin  of  any  kind,  not 
that  his  parents  were  faultless,  but  that  this  blindness  was 
neither  punitive  nor  the  result  of  sin.  It  was  the  grand  rev- 
elation to  the  world  that  suffering  may  exist  without  sin,  and  as 
part  of  the  working  of  a  beneficent  law  whose  sweep  describes  a 
circumference  too  large  for  human  vision,  but  enclosing  a  vast 
field  of  God's  benign  operations ;  of  this  circle,  the  segment,  if 
visible  to  us,  is  too  small,  too  fine  a  point,  for  us  to  find  the  cen- 
tre, measure  the  radius,  and  calculate  the  area,  with  all  the  aids 
of  all  the  geometry  known  to  man.  Jesus  says  that  a  man  may 
Buffer  for  God's  sake,  and  by  the  cure  of  the  blind  man  and  the 
results  of  that  cure  he  demonstrated  this  blessed  fact. 

Jesus  added  the  saying,  "  Wliile  it  is  day  we  must  work  the 
works  of  him  who  sent  us.  Night  comes,  when  no  man  can 
work.  As  long  as  I  am  in  the  world  I  am  the  light  of  the  world." 
The  proverbial  expression  "  Niglit  comes,  when  no  man  can  work," 
simply  meant  that  he  who  did  not  his  work  in  the  day  cannot  do 
it  in  the  night ;  that  when  a  man  neglects  an  opportunity  to  do 
what  he  should  do,  he  cannot  recover  it :  and  Jesus  applies  this 
general  principle  to  himself  and  his  disciples.  As  he  was  the 
light  of  the  world,  what  fitter  thing  than  that  he  should  open  the 
eyes  of  the  blind  ?  So,  he  spat  on  the  ground,  and  made  clay  of 
the  spittle,  and  anointed  the  blind  man's  eyes  therewith,  and  said 
_to  him,  "  Go,  wash  in  the  pool  of  Siloam," 

Anciently  a  virtue  was  supposed  to  be  in  saliva  for  disorders  of 


•  The  doctrine  of  metempsychosis 
was  widely  leceived  among  the  Jews  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  especially  among  the 
Cctbulists,  who  explicitly  taught  that 
blindness  from  the  birth  was  to  be  ac- 
counted for  by  this  doctrine ;  but  we 
cannot  learn  that  it  was  taught  in  the 


times  of  Jesus.  Lightfoot  quotes  the 
Rabbins  as  teaching  that  the  embryo 
might  sin  in  the  womb,  and  as  quoting 
for  proof  the  struggle  betweer  Jacob 
and  Esau.  (Gen.  xxv.  22.)  Tholuck 
believes  that  this  was  merely  the  pri- 
vate opinion  of  particular  individuals. 


•  THE   FEAST   OF   DEDICATION.  473 

the  eyes,  as  M-e  learn  from  Livy  {Ilist.  Nat.,  xxviii.  7).     Suetoniua 

(  Vei<x>.,  vii.)  and  Tacitus  {Hist.,  iv.  8)  give  accounts  of  the  restoring 

of  a  blind  man  by  the  Emperor  Vespasian,  and 

botli  speak  of  the  use  of  saliNa,  the  latter  repre-    ,  ^^^^""^'^  of  the 

1      1  1 .     1  healing', 

seutiiig  the  blind  man  as  beggmg  the  Emperor  to 

anoint  his  eyes  with  spittle.*  Jesus  himself  in  a  similar  case  em- 
ployed it  in  the  healing  of  a  blind  man  (Mark  viii.  23),  and  also 
in  the  case  of  one  suffering  from  a  defect  in  the  organs  of  speech 
and  hearing.  He  did  not  always,  however,  use  outward  applica- 
tions, as  we  see  in  the  case  of  the  blind  man  near  Jeiiclio  (Mat- 
thew XX.  34).  Why  he  did  so  in  this  case  we  do  not  positively 
know.  Trend I's  suggestion  seems  good:  "  Probably  the  reasons 
M-hich  induced  him  to  use  tliese  means  were  ethical ;  it  was  per- 
liaps  a  help  for  the  weak  faith  of  the  man  to  find  that  something 
external  was  done."  It  may  also  have  been  a  test  of  his  faith, 
as  faith  was  the  psychological  basis  on  which  Jesus  wrought  his 
miracles.  It  could  hardly  have  been  to  wash  off  the  clay  which 
would  have  obstructed  the  nse  of  the  eyes  after  the  miracle  had 
been  wrought,  as  this  would  not  have  been  a  sufficiently  import- 
ant thing  to  mention,  nuich  less  to  command.  The  short  history 
is,  that  "  he  went  and  washed,  and  came  seeing." 

The  recovery  of  his  sight  made  so  great  a  change  in  the  appear- 
ance of  the  man  that  some  of  his  neighbors  doubted  his  identity, 
although  they  still  saw  a  great  resemblance  to  the  blind  beggar. 
When  he  affirmed  that  he  was  the  very  man,  they  asked  him, 
"  How  were  your  eyes  opened  ?  "  He  answered,  "  The  man  who 
\s  called  Jesus  made  clay,  and  anointed  mine  eyes,  and  said  to  me, 
*  Go  to  the  Siloara  and  wash : '  then  I  went  and  washed,  and 
received  sight."—"  Where  is  he  ? "  said  they.  "  I  do  not  know," 
said  he. 

The  people  noticed  that  the  man  had  been  healed  on  the  Sab- 
bath. It  was  expressly  forbidden  by  some  of  the  Ilubbins,  accord- 
ing to  Liglitfoot,  to  put  saliva  on  the  eyelids  on 
the  Sabbath :  in  case  of  inflammation  of  the  eyes,  ^''''^'''^  ""^  *^® 
however,  some  did  allow  this  to  be  done.  There 
being  some  difference  of  opinion  among  their  religious  teachera 
and  rulers,  the  man's  neighbors  brought  him  to  the  Pharisees. 
The  wish  has  often  been  expressed  that  some  miracle  of  Jesus  had 

*  Trench  says  that  abundant  quota-  I  in  Wetstein,  in  loco. 
Mods  to  the  same  effect  are  to  be  found  j 


474        FROM   FEAST   OF   TAEEENACLES    imTIL    THE   LAST   WEEK. 

been  submitted  to  judicial  investigation.  I^ow  here  is  precisely 
such  a  case.  Jesus  had  given  sight  to  a  man  blind  from  his  birth. 
The  man  was  no  fof)l,  but  rather  a  quick-witted,  genial  person. 
The  best  intellects  of  the  nation  employed  themselves  in  investi 
gating  the  phenomena  and  circumstances  of  the  case.  These  in- 
tellects were  not  credulous,  but  exceedingly  skeptical ;  not  spiritu- 
alistic, but  exceedingly  materialistic;  not  friendly  to  Jesus,  but  ex- 
ceedingly hostile.  If  it  be  possible  to  disprove  the  alleged  work- 
ing of  a  miracle  we  have  now  an  opportunity.  Let  us  study  the 
investigation  and  i-esults. 

The  Pharisees  asked  him  how  he  had  received  his  sight.  That 
presumed  blindness  and  a  cure.  The  man  admitted  botli,  and  to 
the  point  of  their  question,  namely,  the  rnaniier 
catechised.  '^"^  ^f  the  healing,  he  replied,  "  He  put  clay  on  my 
eyes,  and  I  washed,  and  I  see."  There  must 
have  been  some  peculiar  quality  in  the  clay,  and  if  so  it  arose 
from  the  saliva  of  Jesus,  for  the  same  dust  from  which  to  make 
the  clay,  and  the  same  water  of  Siloam,  had  been  open  to  tho 
use  of  millions  of  men,  and  yet  no  other  blind  man  had  been 
healed. 

This  was  so  manifest  to  all  his  inquisitors  that  a  schism  waa 
immediately  produced.  No  one  doubted  that  a  very  Avonderful 
thing  had  been  done,  if  there  were  no  fraud  or  collusion  in  the 
case.  Their  hostility  .to  Jesus  came  out  in  the  saying,  "  This  man 
is  not  from  God,  because  he  does  not  keep  the  Sabbath."  But 
some  re])lied,  "  IIow  can  a  man  that  is  a  sinner  work  such  signs?" 
Here  was  a  dilemma.  The  miracle  could  not  be  denied,  if  there 
wei-e  no  fraud,  and  they  could  not  give  up  their  ideas  of  Sabbath- 
keeping  so  far  as  to  accept  a  good  man,  although  he  had  sustained 
his  claims  by  a  miracle. 

They  turned  again  to  the  healed  man  and  said,  "  What  do  yon 
say  of  him,  seeing  he  has  opened  your  eyes?"  This  question  in- 
volves the  admission  on  their  part  that  Jesus  had  given  the  man 
sight  in  some  wonderful  way,  if  his  story  be  true,  or  else  the  ad- 
mission of  that  upon  the  man's  part,  or  b(jth.  That  //e  believed  it 
was  a  miracle  is  nuinifest  from  his  reply,  "  He  is  a  prophet."     But 

the  inquisitors  were  not  williuix  to  be  imiwsed 
His  parents  ex-  rm  .  .        ,     .     .  . 

amined,  upon.     Iney  had  no  interest  m  admittmg  a  mira- 

cle, but  the   contrary.     They  called  his  jiai-enta 

and  asked  them  three  questions :  "  Is  this  your  son  ?  "     "  Was  ho 


TnE   FEAST    OF   DEDICATION. 


475 


born  Lliiid  ?  "     "  How  does  he  now  see?"     To  wliicli  liis  parcutg 

replied  :  1.  "  "We  know  that  this  is  our  son  ;  "  2.  "  We  laww  tliat 

he  Avas  horn  Hind  i  "  3.  "  We  know  not  how  he  now  sees,  nor  do 

we  kncAv  iclio  has  opened  his  eyes  :  he  is  of  full  age,  he  sliall 

speak  for  himself,"     The  Pharisees  in   Sanhedrim  had  already 

agreed  that  if  any  man  should  aeknowledge  Jesus  to  be  the  Christ, 

the  Messiah,  he  should  be  put  out  of  the  synagogue,  that  is,  endui-e 

the  sentence  of  the  thirty  days'  excommunication.*     Of  course 

such  a  decree  did  not  pi-omote  in  any  way  the  interests  of  truth 

or  the  interests  of  Jesus.     The  fear  of  it  made  the  parents  dodge 

the  question.     But  we  are  not  to  conceive  of  them  as  heartlessly 

selfish,  for  they  knew,  as  they  said,  that  their  son  was  a  man,  and 

they  knew  that  he  was  very  shrewd  and  ready.     They  were  willing 

to  trust  him  to  take  care  of  himself. 

lie  was  recalled  and  put  on  his  oath.     "  Give  glory  to  God :  wo 

know  that  this  man  is  a  sinnei-."     This  address  certainly  does  not 

mean  that  he  was  to  asciibe  all  the  glory  of  his 

,-,,,.  *"      -r  The  patient  put 

cure  to  God,  and  give  no  reverence  to  Jesus,  as    ^n  oath 

Hammond  and  Jeremy  Taylor  teach.     It  was  a 

form  of  adjuration,  similar  to  that  which  Joshua  put  to  Achan, 

(see  Joshua  vii.  19).t     They  pretended  in  his  absence  to  have 

found  the  existence  of  fraud,  and  so  they  desire  him  to  purge 

himself  bv  takinij:  an  oath  and  tellinn-  the  whole  truth  and  nothinaj 

but  the  truth.     AVhile  the  man  is  not  to  be  overcome  by  their  au- 


*  "  There  appear  to  have  been  two, 
or  some  say  three  kinds  of  excommuni- 
cation among  the  Jews,  greatly  differ- 
ing iu  degrees  and  intensity,  and  our 
Lord  often  alhides  to  them,  not  as 
though  they  were  a  sHght  matter,  but 
as  among  the  sharpest  trials  which  his 
servants  would  have  to  endure  for  hir 
name's  sake.  The  mildest  was  an  ex- 
clusion for  thirty  days  from  the  syna- 
gogue, to  which  period,  in  case  the  ex- 
communicated showed  no  sign  of  re- 
pentance, a  similar  or  a  longer  period, 
according  to  the  will  of  those  that  im- 
posed the  sentence,  was  added  :  in  other 
ways  too  it  was  made  keener ;  it  was 
accompanied  with  a  curse  ;  none  might 
hold  communion  with  him,  no,  not  even 
his  family,  except  in  cases  of  absolute 


necessity.  Did  he  show  himself  obsti- 
nate still,  he  was  in  the  end  absolutely 
separated  from  the  fellowship  of  the 
people  of  God,  cut  ofE  from  the  congre- 
gation,— a  sentence  answering,  as  many 
suppose,  to  the  delivering  to  Satan  in 
the  apostolic  church.  1  Cor.  v.  5 ;  1  Tim. 
i.  20.  Our  Lord  is  thought  to  allude 
to  all  these  three  degrees  of  separation, 
Luke  vi.  22,  expressing  the  lightest  by 
the  a0iipi(,\ii',  the  severer  by  the  oj'i5i{,%(r, 
and  the  severest  of  all  by  the  fK^aKXav. 
Yet,  after  all,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
these  different  grades  of  excomm.unica- 
tion  were  so  accurately  distinguished  in 
our  Lord's  time." — Trench. 

t  Compare  1  Samuel  vi.  5,  and  Ezra 
X.  11. 


476        FEOM   FEAST   OF   TA3JEKNACLES    UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 


His  slirewdness. 


tliority  and  influence  of  position,  lie  is  nevertheless  a  little  more 
reserved.  lie  quietly  but  firmly  answei-ed,  "  If  he  be  a  sinner  I 
do  not  know  it :  but  I  do  know  one  thimj^  that  being  blind  I  now 
see."  On  theories  he  would  not  convict  hhnself  ;  but  he  planted 
himself  on  facts.  They  could  not  shake  him  away  from  those, 
lie  was  no  fool  and  no  coward,  hut  he  was  cai-eful. 

They  then  endeavored  to  cross-question  the  man,  probably  hop- 
ing that  he  would  contradict  himself  or  else  say  something  which 
they  could  nse  to  the  damage  of  Jesus,  They 
said,  "  What  did  he  to  thee  ?  How  opened  he 
thine  eyes  ? "  This  persistence  began  to  arouse  the  resentments  of 
the  man,  and  he  o-ives  them  a  sarcastic  answer.  "  I  have  told 
yon  already,  and  ye  did  not  hear  :  why  do  you  wish  to  hear  again  ? 
AVill  even  you  wish  to  become  his  disciples  ? "  Or  perha|)s  the 
grateful  man,  intending  to  add  himself  to  the  number  of  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus,  ventured  to  intimate  as  much  to  these  persecutors 
of  his  benefactor  and  himself.  This  enraged  them,  and  they  re- 
viled him  and  said,  "  You  are  his  disciple ;  but  we  are  the  disci- 
ples of  Moses.  We  know  that  God  spake  to  Moses ;  but  this  one 
— we  know  not  whence  he  is." 

The  man  then  Ijegan  in  turn  to  question  and  press  them.  They 
were  the  acknowledged  teachers  of  morals  and  religion.  They 
ought  to  be  able  to  meet  so  plain  a  case  as  this.  lie  said,  "  In  this 
is  the  wonderful  thing,  that  you  [great  divines]  know  not  whence 
he  is,  and  yet  he  has  opened  mine  eyes.  We  know  that  God  does 
not  hear  sinners ;  but  if  any  one  be  a  worshipper  of  God,  and  does 
His  will,  him  He  heareth.  From  the  jieon  [the  beginning  of  time] 
it  has  not  been  heard  that  any  one  opened  the  eyes  of  one  born 
blind.     He  could  do  nothing  if  he  were  not  from  God."  * 

This  enraged  them.     The  man  they  had  endeavored  to  detect 

in  a  fraud  became  their  teacher  of  morality  and  theology.     He 

was  cool  while  they  were  heated.     Again  they 

Enrages  the  m-         -i     i      -  i  •  tit-  i       i  i  i  *""     i 

quisitors  railed  at  hnn.     vVith  clmrchly  arrogance  they  ex- 

claimed, "  You  were  altogether  born  in  sins,  and 
do  you  then  teach  us?"  They  chai'ge  that  his  blindness  was 
God's  mark  upon  him  for  his  sin,  showing  him  to  be  both  physi 
cally  and  spiritually  defective.     They  forgot,  in  their  blind  rage, 


*  According  to  Grotius,  opening  the 
eyes  of  the  blind  was  an  ackno\vledged 
sign  of  the  Messiah.     Midrash   in  Ps. 


cxlvi.  8 ;  Isa.  xlii.  7.  It  was  a  miracle 
never  known  to  be  wrought  by  Mosea 
or  any  other  prophet. 


THE   FEAST   OF   DEDICATION.  477 

that  they  now  admit  tliat  ho  had  heen  born  blind,  wliile  they  liave 
spent  tlicir  strength  to  show  that  it  was  all  a  fraud,  which  he  had 
colluded  Avith  Jesus  to  perpetrate.  Their  verdict  escaped  in  their 
wrath.  Whatever  else  the  investigation  de\eloped, it  proved  that 
Jesus  had  opened  the  eyes  of,  one  born  l)lind,  by  anointing  his 
eyes  with  a  clay  made  of  common  street  dust  and  spittle.  Never- 
theless they  cast  him  out  of  the  synagogue  and  excommunicated 
him.  From  their  days  to  this  the  churchmen,  who  are  their  suc- 
cessors, have  sought  to  drive  away  and  excommunicate  those 
^■hose  eyes  Jesus  has  opened. 

Jesus  heard  that  the  man  was  excommunicated,  and,  having 
found  him,  said  to  him,  "Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son  of  Man?" 

He  knew  that  that  meant  the  Messiah,  but  he  did    ^ 

1  T         ,       -HI-       .  1  TT     1  xi     J.    Jesus  meets  bim. 

not  know  who  the  Messiah  was.     lie  knew  tiiat 

the.  person  speaking  to  him  was  Jesus,  whom,  however,  he  had 

learned  to  regard  thus  far  only  as  a  miracle- worker  and  a  prophet. 

His  confidence  in  Jesus  was  great :  he  said,  "  Lord,  who  is  he,  that 

I  may  believe  in  him  ?  "     As  if  he  had  said,  "I  will  receive  any 

one  as  Messiah  who  shall  be  set  forth  as  such  by  you."     Jesus 

answered,  "  You  have  both  seen  him,  and  he  it  is  that  is  talking 

with  you."     The  man  said,  "Lord,  I  believe,"  and  worshipped 

him.     We  cannot  know  the  height  of  that  worship  until  we  know 

the  idea  which  the  name  "  Messiah  "  conveyed  to  that  man.    How 

much  of  God  was  in  the  Son  of  Man,  the  Christ,  the  Messiah, 

accoi'ding  to  this  man's  measure  of  thought,  so  much  of  God  he 

worshipped  in  Jesus.     No  man  ever  does  more. 

Jesus  said,  "  For  judgment  am  I  come  into  this  world,  that  they 
who  see  not  might  see,  and  that  they  who  see  may  become  blind." 
Did  he  not  speak  this  in  a  soliloquy?  The  tone  indicates  it. 
Reflecting  upon  the  unsuccessful  effoft  he  had  made  to  enlighten 
those  of  his  people  who  were  considered  the  enlightened  class, 
but  perversely  preferred  darkness  to  light,  and  contrasting  this 
with  the  physical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  illumination  he  had 
shed  upon  this  blind  beggar,  it  was  natural  that  this  reflection 
should  occur  to  him.  The  blind  through  him  found  light,  and 
those  who  thoug-ht  themselves  enlightened  were  demonstrated  to 
be  blind. 

Some  Pharisees  near  by,  who  had  probably  been  watching  him 
as  he  talked  with  the  excommunicated  man,  now  approached,  with 
the  question,  "Are  we  blind  also?"     His  reply  was,  "H  you 


478        FROM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES   UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

were  blind  you  would  have  no  sin ;  but  now  tliat  you  say, '  We  see, 

your  sin  remains  "     He  varies  the  words  a  little 

Pharisees  engage  ^^  ^^^-^^  ^^^j^.  condemnation  more  pointed.     The 

Jesus  in  conversa-    _  ,  ,  i.ii         i         ■>  t    ^  -, 

J.-QJJ  lact  that  they  elanned  to  be  ah-eady  enlightened, 

and  yet  resisted  the  truth,  fastened  their  guilt 
upon  them. 

Then  followed  a  discourse  which  our  modern  professors  of 

rhetoric  would  pronounce  an  outrageous  mixture  of  metaphors, 

but  which  has  perhaps  never  confused  any  learned 

Discourse  of  the  ^j.  i^i^igarned  reader  by  its  shifting  of  figures,  as 

shepherd  and  the       ,  .  •      i  -i      i  t 

sheep  when  at  one  time  a  person  is  described  as  a  door 

who  had  at  another  been  represented  as  a  shep- 
herd, and  again  another  person  is  represented  at  one  time  as  a 
sheep  and  at  another  time  as  a  shepherd.  His  relation  to  all  true 
people  as  the  true  Shejyherd  of  the  sheej),  and  the  relation  of  all 
false  people  to  him  as  enemies  of  him  and  of  the  flock  of  God,  is 
what  Jesus  sets  forth ;  and  this  is  a  severe  reproof  of  the  religious 
leaders  of  his  time. 

The  Jews  were  descendants  of  shepherds,  and  still  fed  many 
flocks,  so  that  they  were  familiar  with  the  allusions  to  shepherd 
life  with  which  their  whole  sacred  literature  abounded,  and  which 
abound  in  this  discourse  of  Jesus.  In  the  translation  of  this  dis- 
course I  have  put  many  explanatory  words  in  brackets  to  fill  out 
the  pictures  to  our  eyes ;  for  the  speech  opens  with  a  picture  of 
a  fold  by  night,  with  the  night-watch  on  guard,  and  the  thieves 
occasionally  climbing  over  the  low  walls. 

"  I  most  solemnly  assure  you,"  said  Jesus,  "  that  he  who  [as  a 
pastor  of  the  flock  of  God]  enters  not  through  the  [appointed] 
door  into  the  sheepfold,  but  climbs  np  some  other  Avay,  is  a  thief 
and  a  robber ;  but  he  M'ho  '[frankly]  enters  in  through  the  door  is 
a  [true  and  genuine]  shepherd  of  the  sheep.  To  him  the  door- 
keeper opens,  and  the  sheep  hear  his  voice,  and  he  calls  his  own 
sheep  by  name,  and  leads  them  out.  When  he  puts  forth  his  own 
sheep  he  goes  before  them  [into  the  pasture],  and  his  sheep"  fol- 
low him  ;  for  they  know  his  voice.  And  a  stranger  will  they  not 
follow,  but  will  flee  from  him ;  for  they  know  not  the  voice  of 
strangers." 

Having  uttered  these  sayings,  he  looked  upon  them  and  saw 
that  they  had  failed  to  appreciate  the  intent  and  meaning  of  his 
words.     lie  was  determined  that  they  should  feel  some  of  ita 


THE   FEAST    OF   DEDICATION.  479 

force,  so  he  ex"]3Hcitly  said :  "  I  most  solemnly  fissure  you  that  1 
am  the  door  of  the  sheep.  All  who  ever  came  [professing  to  be- 
the  Shepherd  of  Men  and  were  not,  such  as  your 
Pharisaic  pastors]  are  thieves  and  robbers  :  but  the  .  ^^  e^^icit  say- 
sheep  did  not  hear  them.  I  am  the  door:  through 
me  if  any  one  enter  he  shall  be  saved  [from  false  spiritual  pas- 
tors], and  shall  go  in  and  out  and  find  pasture.  The  thief  comes 
not,  except  that  he  might  steal  and  kill  and  destroy.  I  am  come 
that  they  might  have  perpetual  life,  and  have  it  abundantly.  I 
am  the  Good  Shepherd.  The  good  shepherd  gives  his  life  for  the 
sheep.  But  the  hireling  [such  as  you],  who  also  is  not  a  shep- 
herd, whose  own  the  sheep  are  not,  sees  the  wolf  coming,  and 
leaves  the  sheep  and  flees,  and  the  wolf  catches  and  scatters  them, 
because  he  is  [merely]  a  hireling  and  cares  not  for  the  sheep.  I 
am  the  Good  Shepherd,  and  know  mine,  and  mine  know  me.  As 
the  Father  knows  me,  I  also  know  the  Father,  and  I  give  my  life 
for  the  sheep.  And  other  sheep  I  have  which  are  not  of  this 
fold  ;  those  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  my  voice,  and 
there  shall  be  one  flock,  one  shepherd.  On  this  account  my  Father 
loves  me,  because  I  lay  down  my  life,  that  I  may  take  it  again. 
No  one  took  it  from  me, but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself.  I  have  autlun-- 
ity  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  authority  to  take  it  up  again.  This 
injunction  have  I  received  of  my  Father." 

It  seems  quite  plain  from  all  this  that  Jesus  felt  that  he  held  a 
relation  to  all  the  good  (piite  diffei-ent  fi-om  that  held  by  any  other 
man,  and  quite  superior ;  that  such  intimacy  ex- 
isted between  God  and  himself  that  he  only,  I^elation  of  Je- 
together  with  those  who  came  in  his  s])irit,  could  ^^^  '^  ^  ^°°'' ' 
bring  men  together,  from  Jewish  and  from  Gentile  folds,  and 
bring  all  to  God.  He  made  another  intimation  of  his  approach- 
ing death,  but  claimed  to  have  power  over  life  and  death,  so  that 
his  sacrifice  of  himself  was  not  the  sullen,  despairing  abandon- 
ment of  a  defeated  revolutionist  to  his  fate,  but  was  a  voluntary 
endurance  of  death  for  a  high  object.  It  was  this  which  made 
his  Father  love  him,  this  high,  heroic  dutifulness. 

This  profound  speech,  containing  a  sharp  i-eproof  of  the  un- 
faithfulness  of    these  venal   shepherds,  made  a 
great   division   among  his   hearei-s.     Some  said,       A  division 
«  He  has  a  demon,  and  is  mad."     That  is  the  im-    ^"''^'*  '^""^ 
pression,  or  something  similar,  made  on  all  weak  and  shallow  men 


480        FKOM  FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES   mSTTn.   TIIE   LAST   WEEK. 

by  the  discourses  of  those  who  are  of  very  profound  and  loft;y 
nature.  Jesus  caught  them  up  so  suddenly  to  su(;h  a  lofty  height 
that  their  heads  grew  dizzy.  Others,  not  yet  understanding  him, 
but  having  strength  of  mind  to  maintain  their  self-possession 
in  some  measure,  replied :  "  These  are  not  the  woixls  of  a  de- 
moniac. Can  a  demon  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind?"  Tliey  ap- 
peal to  tlie  well-known  miracle  of  the  cure  of  the  blind  man, 
which  the  investigation  had  established,  and  in  which  the  peoph; 
retained  their  confidence,  although  the  man  had  been  excom- 
municated. 

It  was  the  Feast  of  the  Dedication,  kept  in  honor  of  the  cleans- 
ing of  the  Temple  and  the  restoration  of  the  Temple  service 

.    ,  „  u])on  the  deliverance  of  the  nation  by  the  Mac- 

AchaUenge.  '  .  n   ^i       c      • 

cabees  irom  the  oppression  or  the  bynans,  a.c. 

1C4.     (See  1  Mace.  iv.  52-59.)     It  was  winter.     Jesus  was  M'alk- 

ing  in  the  Temple,  in  Solomon's  portico.     The  Jews  encircled  him 

and  said  to  him,  "  IIow  long  do  you  agitate  us  ?     If  you  be  the 

Christ  [the  Messiah]   tell  us  plainly."     It  is  a  fact  to  notice  tliat 

Jesus   never,  in   so   many  words,  declared   his   Messiahship   to 

them.     He  does  not  now.     His  reply  is:  "I  told  you,  and  you 

beh'eved  not.     The  works  that  I  do  in  the  name  of  my  Father, 

they  bear  witness  of  me.     But  you  believe  not,  because  you  are 

not  of  my  sheep.     My  sheep  hear  my  voice,  and  I  know  them, 

and  they  folloAv  me,  and  I  give  them  perpetual  life ;  and  they 

shall  never  perish,  and  no  one  shall  pluck  them  out  of  my  hand. 

The  Father  who  gave  to  me  is  greater  than  all,  and  no  one  is  able 

to  pluck  them  out  of  the  Father's  hands.     I  and  my  Father  ai-e 

One." 

The  claims  here  made  by  Jesus  are  of  the  most  exalted  kind. 

The  lives  of  all  the  good  are  in  his  hands.     He  gives  them  a  per- 

E  aJt  d  1"         petuation  of  their  lives.    Nothing  can  destroy  them 

because  he  guards.     This  claims  power  over  all 

the  forces  of  the  universe.     God  is  above  all,  and  Jesus  and  God 

are  one.     Siu;h  were  his  claims,  right  or  wrong.     He  did  not 

choose  to  declare  himself  to  them  as  Messiah;  for  reasons  which 

we  can  conjecture,  but  he  does  not  hesitate  to  declare  himself  to 

be  God.     The  infuriated  Jews  so  understood  him.     Again  they 

took  up  stones  to  stone  him.     He  said  to  tliem,  "  Many  good  works 

have  I  showed  you  from  the  Father ;  for  which  work  of  these  do 

you  stone  me  ?  "     Their  reply  was :  "  We  do  not  stone  you  for  a 


TIEE    FEAST    OF    DEDICATION.  481 

good  work,  but  for  blasplieinj  ;  because,  being  a  man,  you  make 
yourself  a  god."  If  what  Jesus  had  said  was  not  tlie  truth,  then 
it  certainly  was  blasphemy,  and  the  Jews  were  not  prepared  to 
acknowledge  the  truth,  and  Jesus  did  not  witlidraw  the  claim  ; 
but  he  did  answer  them  by  a  quotation  from  Psalm  Ixxxii,  C.  lie 
said,  "  Is  it  not  written  in  the  law,  '  I  said,  You  are  gods? '  If  he 
called  them  gcjds  to  whom  the  word  of  God  came,  and  the  Sci-ip- 
ture  cannot  be  broken,  do  you  say  to  him  whom  the  Father  has 
sanctified  and  sent  into  the  world,  '  TIk^u  blas})hemcst,'  because  I 
said,  '  I  am  a  Son  of  God?'  If  I  do  not  the  works  (;f  my  Fa'lier, 
believe  me  not ;  but  if  I  do,  although  you  believe  not  me,  be!  eve 
the  works,  that  you  may  know  and  believe  that  the  Father  is  in 
me  and  I  in  the  Father." 

This  speech  of  Jesus  is  an  ai'gument  from  the  use  of  language. 
The  phrase  "  Son  of  God  "  it  was  not  blasphemous  to  ajjply  to 
a  man,  for  the  Scripture  did  it  repeatedly.     But 
Jesus   must   also   have  meant  much   more  than       Supposed  blas- 

,,,  ,,        ,  ,.         p  ,.,.,,.  phemous  assump- 

that,  or  else  be  desccndmg  irom  Ins  iiigli  claims  ;    ^.^^^^ 

that  the  latter  was  not  the  case  appears  from  the 
conduct  of  his  enemies  innnediately  upon  the  conclusion  of  the 
speech.  It  nmst  be  noticed  that,  in  cinnmenting  on  the  passage 
of  Sci'ipture  he  had  quoted,  he  nuide  an  argument  involving  this: 
If  those  to  whom  the  word  of  the  Father  came  were  called  "  gods," 
it  is  not  blasphemy  for  him  who  is  the  very  revelation  of  the 
Father  to  call  himself  "god."  But  thai  he  had  not  done  in  this 
mild  and  usual  form  ;  he  had  explicitly  declared  himself  one  with 
the  everlasting  Father,  and  it  M*as  their  inference — a  fair  and 
loo-ical  inference — that  he  claimed  to  be  a  ijod  and  to  be  the  God. 
lie  now  appeals  to  his  works.  If  they  cannot  receive  his  testi- 
mony M'ithout  such  aids  to  their  undei-standing  as  appeal  to  their 
senses,  here  are  his  works.  They  are  the  works  of  God.  You 
ouffht  to  believe  that  he  who  does  those  thini>:s  is  in  God,  and  God 
in  him.  So  the  Jews  understood  him  ;  so  he  undoubtedly  meant, 
if  we  have  his  very  words  in  this  record.  Jesus  believed  himself 
to  be  in  God,  and  God  to  be  in  him,  and  himself  and  God  to  be 
One. 

When  he  announced  this  the  Jews  sought  to  capture  him,  but 
he  escaped  out  of  their  hands. 
31 


CHAPTEE    III. 

« 

m   PEEEA. 

Jesus  must  have  felt  that  the  end  of  his  career  was  approach- 
ing .     lie  left    the  dense    atmosphere   of   hostilit}'^,  and   passed 
across   the  Jordan   into  Perca,  the   territory  of 
*  T    A^       T^     Ilerod  Antipas.     The  name  Perea  included  all 

of  Jordan.     John  _        ^ 

X.  that  territory  lying  along  the  east  of  the  Jordan, 

extending  from  the  foot  of  Ilauran  to  the  desert 
on  the  sonth  of  the  Dead  Sea.  The  river  rendered  tlie  land  fer- 
tile, so  that  it  was  a  district  of  vineyards,  and  the  proximity  of 
the  mountains  of  Gilead  and  Moab  preserved  the  salubrity  of 
the  climate. 

Jesus  came  back  to  the  place  where  John  had  had  a  revelation 
of  the  Messiah  in  the  son  of  Mar3\     To  the  spot  where  he  was 

baptized,  but  which  he  had  never  since  revisited. 
Visits  the  place     -r  ,  ,  .f,  •    ■,    ^  •         ^  f    c       t  • 

.,.  ,     ,.  Jesus  returned,  as  it   to  reo-ird  hnnselt  lor  his 

of  his  baptism.  _  _    '  ... 

coming  conflict.  It  was  a  region  inhabited  by  a 
mixed  population,  and  its  distance  from  the  capital  removed  it 
from  the  fierce  religious  contentions  of  the  day.  He  might  have 
a  little  rest  from  those  conflicts.  Moreover,  the  testimony  which 
John  had  borne  in  his  behalf  was  still  remembered  by  the  people. 
When  he  performed  works  whi<:;h  far  surpassed  even  John's  pro- 
phecies of  him,  the  people  resorted  to  him  in  multitudes,  saying, 
"  John  indeed  wrought  no  sign ;  but  all  things  that  John  said  of  this 
man  were  true."  And  many  believed  on  him  there.  How  long 
he  stayed  we  do  not  know,  but  his  sojourn  was  probably  several 
weeks. 

The  time  was  occupied  by  journeys  and  teachings.     It  is  pro- 
Are  there  few    hable  that  it  was  at  this  period  that  one  said  to 
that    be    saved  ?    him,  "  Lord,  are  they  few  that  are  being  saved  ? " 
Luke  xiii.  His  answer  was  : 

•'  Strive  to  enter  in  througli  the  narrow  door ;  for  many,  I  say  unto  you,  will 
Beck  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  be  able.     From  the  time  when  the  master  of  tha 


m  PEKEA.  483 

K.'Use  has  risen  and  has  shut  the  door,  and  you  begin  to  stand  without  and  to 
knock  at  the  door,  saying,  'Lord,  open  to  us,'  answering  he  shall  say  to 
you,  '  I  know  you  not  whence  you  are.'  Then  you  shall  begin  to  say,  '  We  hav 
eaten  and  drunk  in  thy  presence,  and  thou  hast  taught  in  our  streets.'  And 
he  shall  say  to  you,  '  I  know  you  not  whence  you  are ;  depart  from  me,  all 
workers  of  iniquity.'  There  sliall  be  weeping  and  gnasliing  of  teeth  when  you 
shall  see  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob  and  all  the  prophets  in  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  you  thrown  out.  And  they  shall  come  from  the  east  and  the 
west,  and  from  the  north  and  the  south,  and  shall  recline  in  the  kingdom  of 
God.  And  see,  they  are  last  who  shall  be  first,  and  they  arc  first  who  shall  be 
List." 

The  question  was  proposed  by  some  frivolous  person  in  the 
crowds  about  him,  some  person  not  yet  enough  attached  to  him 
to  be  called  a  disciple:  AVlio  shall  be  of  the  kingdom  of  the 
Messiah  ?  Now  there  comes  forward  in  the  reply  of  Jesus  what 
we  shall  find  repeatedly  presented  liereafter,  the  idea  of  the  last 
becoming  first,  and  the  first  falHng  beliind.  Many  would  like  to 
be  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  are  not  able  to  enter  in,  simply 
because  they  do  not  take  the  legitimate  measures.  They  '•  are 
not  able  "  to  break  into  the  kingdom  nor  to  sneak  into  it,  and 
these  are  the  only  ways  they  try.  lie  represented  their  final  for- 
lornness  by  the  picture  of  a  head  of  a  household  whose  family 
had  been  wandering  about  beyond  the  hour  for  retiring,  and  his 
resolute  determination  that  if  they  would  not  keep  his  regulations 
they  should  stay  outside.  No  matter  what  the  privileges  of  any 
man,  if  he  do  not  come  in  God's  ways  he  cannot  come  at  all ;  and 
no  matter  whence  a  man  may  come,  if  he  come  ariglit  he  shall 
have  admittance. 

The  same  day  certain  of  the  Pharisees  came  and  said  to  him, 
"Depart  hence,  for  Ilcrod  desires  to  kill  you."  They  invented 
the  story  to  induce  Jesus  to  leave,  or  they  had  reason  to  know 
that  Herod  had  animosity  towards  the  Teacher.  This  latter  is 
quite  compatible  witli  his  desire  to  see  Jesus.  Katures  like 
Herod's  are  fitful.  Jesus  seems  to  have  received  the  statement 
as  a  message  from  Herod,  since  he  made  this  reply:  "  Go  and  tell 
that  fox,  Behold,  I  cast  out  demons  and  I  do  cures  to-day  and  to- 
morrow, and  the  third  day  bring  them  to  an  end.  Nevertlieless, 
I  must  walk  to-day,  and  to-morrow,  and  the  following  :  for  it  can- 
not be  that  a  prophet  perish  out  of  Jerusalem  ! "  This  was  not 
the  language  of  precision,  but  of  irony  and  melancholy.  John 
had  perished  by  the  liands  of  Herod,  but  as  a  general  rule  the 


484:        FEOII   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES    UNTIL    THE   LAST   WEEK. 

hatred  wliicli  produced  martyrdom  had  its  seat  at  the  Bation'a 
ecclesiastical  headquarters,  Jerusalem, 

It  was  while  en<xaired  in  this  work  that  Jesus  received  the  news 
of  the  illness  of  his  friend  Lazarus.  Upon  receiving  the  message 
he  said,  "  This  sickness  is  not  unto  death,  but  for  the  glory  of 
God,  that  the  Son  of  God  may  be  glorified  thereby." 

Notwithstanding  this  news  Jesus  accepted  an  invitation  to  eat 

with  a  Pharisee  on  the  Sabbath.     This  Pharisee  Avas  probably 

a  member  of  the  Sanhedrim  or  a  president  of  the 

The    dropsical    gyj^^o-oc-ue,  as  he  is  called  one  of  the  rulers  of  the 

man.     Luke  xiv.      -rX,       .  .        i  t  tit 

Pharisees.     At  that  dinner  was  a  man  who  iiad 

the  dropsy.  The  invitation  was  not  an  honest  one,  as  the  Phari- 
sees were  lying  in  wait  to  iind  something  against  Jesus,  and  this 
inan  may  have  been  placed  there  for  the  very  purpose  of  trapping 
Jesus  into  doing  something  on  the  Sabbath;  but  the  man  himself 
does  not  seem  to  have  had  any  sinister  intent.  Jesus  knew  the 
thoughts  of  the  company,  and  asked  this  question :  "  Is  it  lawful 
to  heal  on  the  Sabbath-day  or  not?"  And  they  were  silent. 
The  question  was  incisive,  was  such  as  answered  itself,  and 
made  a  defence  for  Jesus.  He  healed  the  man  and  sent  him  off, 
and  nttered  this  further  defence:  "Which  of  you  having  an 
ass  or  an  ox  fallen  into  the  pit  on  the  Sabbath-day,  will  not 
straightway  pull  him  out  on  the  Sabbath-day  ? "  As  if  he  had 
said,  that  if  their  compassion  for  the  beast  or  regard  for  their 
property  should  lead  them  to  pull  a  brute  out  of  the  water, 
surely  he  ought  to  be  allowed  to  heal  the  human  being  who 
had  the  dropsy. 

lie  then  addressed  them  this  parable : — • 

"  "\yiicn  you  are  bidden  of  any  man  to  a  wedding,  recline  not  on  the 
chief  seats,  lest  a  more  honorable  man  than  you  be  bidden  of  him ;    and 
he  who  l)ade  you   and   him   coming  shall   say  to   you. 
On    talcing    a    low    'Qiye  place  to  this  one,'  and  then  you  begin  with  shame 
'^^^'  to  take  the  lowest   place.      But   when  you  are  bidden, 

go  and  recline  in  the  lowest  place,  that  when  he  wlio  invited  you  comes 
he  may  say  to  you,  'Friend,  go  up  higher;'  then  you  shall  have  honor 
in  the  presence  of  them  who  recline  with  you.  For  every  one  who 
exalts  himself  shall  be  humbled,  and  he  who  humbles  himself  shall  be 
exalted." 

The  value  of  the  parable  is  in  the  exhibition  it  gives  us  of  the 
quick  sight  which  Jesus  had  for  all  the  small  details  of  social 


m  PEREA.  486 

intercourse,  and  the  lesson  of  simple,  blithe  enjoyment  of  plea- 
sures, not  seeking  distinction,  letting  the  honor  come,  oi',  if  it  do 
not  come,  being  happy  withont  it  all  the  same, 
lie  followed  this  up  with  an  address  to  his  host. 

""Wlien  you  make  a  dinner  or  a  supper,  call  not  your  friends,  nor  youi 
brethren,  nor  your  kinsmen,  nor  your  rich  neigliljore,  lest  they  also  invite 
you  in  return  and  a  recompense  be  made  you.  But  when  j-ou  make  a  feast, 
call  the  poor,  the  maimed,  the  lame,  the  blind.  And  you  sliall  Ijc  blessed; 
for  they  cannot  repay  you :  but  you  shall  be  recompensed  in  the  resurrection 
of  the  just." 

Men  sometimes  invite  others  to  their  entertainments  in  order 
to  be  invited  again.  This  Jesus  pronounces  M'rong.  lie  is  not 
to  be  understood  as  teaching  that  a  man  is  never  to  entertain  rich 
people  or  kinsfolk,  but  that  when  he  does  so  he  has  no  recompense 
l)eyond  the  pleasure  which  the  party  gives  him.  If  he  will  really 
have  a  reward  from  God  for  the  feast,  he  must  bid  those  who 
can  never  repay  him,  bestowing  his  hospitality  for  no  personal 
advantage. 

Then  one  of  the  guests  said,  "  Blessed  is  he  whoever  eats  bread 
in  the  kingdom  of  God."  The  remark  seems  quite  natural  when 
we  recollect  that  in  the  current  Jewish  notions  tlie  resurrection 
of  the  just  was  the  same  thing  as  the  setting  up  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  which  was  to  l)e  inaugurated  with  a  great  feast.  It  led 
to  the  delivery  of  the  following  parable: — 

"A  certain  man  made  a  great  supper,  and  bade  many:  and  sent  his 
slave  at  '5upi)er-time  to  say  to  those  who  were  Ijidden,  '  Come,  for  all 
things  are  now  ready.'     And    they    all    with    one    voice 

i".  1  mict'iii-  iTi  Tantble  of  the  Great 

be<ran  to  make  excuse.      1  he  nrst  said   to  hun,     1  have    „ 

"  '  Supper. 

liought  a  field,  and  nuist  go  out  and  see  it:  I  pray  thee 
have  me  excused.'  And  another  said,  'I  have  bought  five  yokes  of  oxen, 
and  I  go  to  prove  them:  I  jjray  thee  have  me  excused.'  And  another 
said,  '  I  have  married  a  -wife,  and  on  this  account  I  cannot  come.'  And  the 
servant  came  and  told  his  lord  these  things.  Then  the  master  of  the  housv, 
being  angry,  said  to  liis  slave,  '  Go  out  quickly  into  the  broad  places  and 
streets  of  the  city,  and  bring  in  hither  the  poor,  the  maimed,  tlie  blind,  and 
tlie  lame.'  And  the  slave  said,  'Lord,  it  has  been  done  as  you  liave  com- 
manded, and  yet  there  is  room.'  And  the  lord  said  to  the  slave,  '  Go  out  into 
tlie  highways  and  hedges,  and  compel  them  to  come  in,  that  my  house  may 
be  filled.  For  I  say  to  you,  Tliat  none  of  those  men  who  were  bidden  shaL 
taste  of  my  supper.'  " 


4:86        FROM  FEAST   OF   TAJJEKNACLES   UKTIL   THE   LAST   "WEEK. 

The  lessons  seem  quite  plain.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  a  feast, 
and  men  have  been  invited  thereto.  They  decline  to  come,  not 
on  account  of  business,  buying  land  and  oxen,  or  marriage,  as  all 
these  are  lawful  things,  but  on  account  of  too  much  devotion 
to  these  things,  and  the  failure  to  adjust  their  affairs  so  as  to 
discharge  all  duties  properly.  The  "  compelling  "  the  uninvited 
to  come  in,  to  fill  up  the  places  of  the  recreant  invited  guests, 
is  readily  understood  when  we  reflect  that  these  people  were  so 
poor  and  worthless  and  unknown  that  the  messenger  would  have 
the  greatest  difficulty  in  convincing  them  that  the  invitation  was 
for  them.  Kebuke  to  the  Jewish  nation  was  herein.  They  had 
declined  the  invitation  of  God,  and  now  God  would  fill  their 
places  with  the  Gentiles. 

Great  multitudes  flocked  to  him  on  this  journey.     Luke  reports 

that  he  gave  them  this  description  of  such  discipleship  as  he 

required,  and  enforced  his  teaching  with  striking 

erms  9  sci-  illustrations,  and  the  repetition  of  what  he  had 
plesmp.  Luke  xiv.  ^ 

elsewhere  spoken. 
This  is  the  address: — 

"  If  any  one  come  to  me  and  hate  not  his  father,  and  mother,  and  wife, 
and  children,  and  brethren,  and,  sisters,  and  yet  more,  even  his  own  life, 
he  cannot  be  my  disciple.  Whoever  bears  not  his  cross,  and  comes  after  me, 
cannot  be  my  disciple.  For  who  of  you,  wishing  to  build  a  tower,  does 
not  sit  down  first  to  count  the  cost,  whether  he  has  the  means  to  finish 
it  ?  Lest  haply,  after  he  has  laid  the  foundation,  and  not  being  able  to 
finish  it,  all  who  see  it  begin  to  mock  him,  saying,  This  man  began  to  build, 
and  was  not  able  to  finish.  Or  what  king,  going  to  war  against  another 
king,  sits  not  do\\Ti  first  to  consult  whether  he  is  able  with  ten  thousand 
to  meet  him  that  comes  against  liim  with  twenty  thousand?  And  if  not, 
he  being  yet  afar  off,  he  sends  an  embassy  and  asks  for  peace.  So  like- 
wise every  one  of  you  who  forsakes  not  all  that  he  has  cannot  be  my  dis- 
ciple. Now,  salt  is  good,  but  if  the  salt  become  insipid,  with  what  shall 
it  be  seasoned  ?  It  is  fit  neither  for  the  land  nor  for  manure :  they  cast  it  out. 
lie  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear." 

This  was  a  sifting  speech.  It  taught  them  that  it  was  no  lioli- 
day  amusenient  to  be  liis  disciple,  but  that  it  involvcMi  a  subordi- 
nation of  all  the  passions  to  their  consecration  to  him.  In  using 
the  cross  as  the  symbol  of  self-denial,  Jesus  seems  again  to  have 
given  prophetic  intimation  of  iiis  death;  but  in  the  minds  of  tlio 
discii)lcs  there  could  have  been  no  such  connection.  Internally 
the  erection  of  a  Christian  character  is  like  the  erection  of  any 


m   PEKEA. 


4S7 


Publicans   and 
sinners.  Lukexv. 


other  great  structure ;  a  man  must  lay  his  plan,  he  must  study  to 
know  Avliat  is  necessary  to  execute  it,  and  he  must  assure  himself 
that  he  has  the  requisite  resources..  The  conflict  of  Christian  life 
is  like  any  other  war.  One  must  consider  the  oj^position,  and 
how  and  with  what  he  is  to  meet  it.  These  illustrations  mean 
only  to  impress  the  necessity  of  entering  on  discipleship  with  am- 
plest determination  to  go  forward  to  complete  success. 

Then  crowds  of  piiblicans  and  sinners  drew  near  to  hear  him. 
Luke  says,  "  all  the  publicans  and  sinners."  He  received  them 
kindly,  and  taught  them  the  ways  of  the  kingdom 
of  the  heavens.  This  gave  the  Pharisees  occasion 
to  murmur.  They  said,  "  This  man  receives  sin- 
ners and  eats  with  them."  In  reply  Jesus  delivered  those  three 
parables  of  surpassing  beauty  which  were  to  illustrate  his  favorite 
proposition,  that  the  Son  of  Man  had  come  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  actually  lost.  They  ought  to  be  read  consecutively 
without  break,  and  so  we  give  them. 

"  What  man  of  you,  ha\nng  a  hundred  sheep,  and  having  lost  one  of  them, 
does  not  leave  the  ninety  and  nine  in  tlie  deseit  and  go  after  the  lost  one  until 
he  find  it  ?  And  when  lie  has  found  it,  he  lays  it  on  his 
shoulders,  rejoicing.  And  coming  into  the  house  he  calls 
together  his  friends  and  neighbors,  sajing  to  them,  Rejoice 
with  me,  for  I  have  found  my  sheep  -svliich  was  lost.  I  say  to  you,  that  like- 
wise joy  shall  be  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repents,  more  than  over  ninety 
and  nine  just  persons  who  have  no  need  of  repentance. 

"  Or  what  woman,  ha%nng  ten  drachmae  [140  cents],  if  she  lose  one  drachma 
[14  cents],  d(K'S  not  light  a  lamp,  and  sweep  the  house,  and  seek  diligently  till 
she    find    it  ? 

,      1       ,  ,  The  Parable  of  the 

And  when  she    ^    ^  _,  . 
Lost  Com. 

has    found  it 

she  calls  her  fnends  and  her 
neighbors  together,  sajing.  Re- 
joice witli  me,  for  I  have  found 
the  drachma  which  1  lost.  Like- 
wise I  say  to  you,  there  is  joy  in 
the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God  drachma. 

over  one  sinner  who  repents." 

"  A  certain  man  had  two  sons.  And  the  younger  of  thorn  said  to  his  father, 
'  Give  me  tlie  portion  of  goods  that  falls  to  me.'  And  lie  divided  between 
them  the  means  of  living.  And  not  many  days  after,  the 
younger  son,  having  gathered  all  together,  took  his  journey 
into  a  far  country,  and  there  wasted  his  substance  living 
profligately.     iVnd  when  he  had  spent  all,  there  arose  a  mighty  famine  in  that 


The  Parable  of  the 
Lost  Sheep. 


The  I'.irable  of  th« 
Pi'odigal  Son. 


488        FROM   FEAST   OF   TAJiERNACLES    UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

country ;  and  he  began  to  l>c  in  want.  And  he  went  and  joined  himself  to  one 
of  the  citizens  of  that  country;  and  he  sent  him  into  his  fields  to  feed  swine. 
And  he  would  fain  have  been  filled  with  the  pods  that  the  swine  did  eat : 
and  no  one  gave  to  him.  And  coming  to  himself,  he  said,  'How  many  hired 
servants  of  my  father  have  bread  enough  and  to  spare,  and  I  am  perislnng 
liere  with  hunger !  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father,  and  will  say  to  him, 
Fatlier,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven  and  before  you ;  I  am  no  moi-e  wortliy 
to  be  called  your  son  :  make  me  as  one  of  your  hired  servants.'  And  he  ai-ose 
and  came  to  his  father.  But  when  he  was  yet  a  great  way  off  liis  fatlier  saw 
liim,  and  Avas  moved  with  compassion,  and  ran,  and  fell  on  his  neck,  and 
kissed  him.  And  the  son  said  to  him,  'Father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven 
and  in  your  sight.  I  am  no  more  worthy  to  1)C  called  your  son  ;  make  me  as 
one  of  your  hired  servants.'  But  the  father  said  to  liis  slaves,  '  Bring  forth 
quickly  tlie  best  robe,  and  put  it  on  him ;  and  put  a  ring  on  his  hand,  and  san- 
dals on  his  feet.  And  bring  hither  the  fatted  calf,  and  kill  it ;  and  let  us  eat 
and  be  merry.  For  this  my  son  was  dead  and  is  alive  again  ;  he  was  lost  arid 
is  found.'  They  Ijegan  to  l)e  merry.  Now  his  elder  son  was  in  a  field :  and 
as  he  came  and  drew  nigh  to  the  liouse,  lie  heard  music  and  dancing.  And 
having  called  one  of  the  servants,  he  asked  what  these  things  meant.  And  he 
said  to  him,  '  Your  l)rother  is  come :  and  your  father  has  killed  the  fatted  calf, 
because  he  lias  received  him  safe  and  sound.'  And  he  was  angry,  and  would 
not  go  in;  but  his  father  coming  out  entreated  liim.  And  he,  answering,  said 
to  his  fatlier,  '  Lo,  these  many  years  do  I  serve  you,  and  never  did  I  transgress 
your  command ;  and  you  never  gave  me  a  kid  that  I  might  make  merry  with 
my  friends.  But  when  this  your  son  has  come,  who  has  devoured  your  means 
ol  living  with  harlots,  you  have  killed  for  him  the  fatted  calf.'  And  he  said 
to  him,  '  Cliild,  you  are  always  with  me,  and  all  that  I  have  is  yours.  But  it 
was  needful  to  make  merry  and  be  glad,  for  this  your  brother  was  dead,  and 
is  alive  ;  he  was  lost,  and  is  found.'  " 

•  The  connection  and  the  climax  in  this  series  of  parables  must 
be  noticed.  They  indicate  a  regular  discourse  rather  than  a  col- 
lection of  sayings.  Ownership,  in  some  sense,  is  the  connecting 
thought.  A  lifeless  coin,  a  living  domestic  animal,  a  son  ;  this  is 
the  climax.  If  the  order  which  Luke  gives  was  observed  in  the 
address,  then  it  would  logically  seem  thus :  The  recovery  of  a  lost 
animal  is  a  cause  of  rejoicing, — nay,  even  the  recovery  of  a  coin, 
— how  much  more  the  reco\ery  of  a  son.  Men  are  i-epresented  as; 
the  sons  of  God,  and  all  sinful.  Sinners  are  of  two  classes, — }>i'(  d- 
igal  sinners  and  puritan  sinners, — those  who  gravitate  towaid  the 
condition  of  outlaws  and  those  who  gravitate  towards  the  condi- 
tion of  sneaks.  In  some  particntlars  the  prodigal  is  worse  than 
the  elder  brother,  in  many  others  the  elder  brother  is  worse  than 
the  prodigal.     The  yearning  love  of  the  fatlier  draws  the  wan- 


m  PEEEA.  4S9 

derer  home ;  the  goodness  of  the  father  hears  with  the  son  who  is 
a  hypocrite.     In  any  case,  when  a  human  being  is  h>st,  God  is  the 
loner.     This  puts  the  appeal  to  every  liuman  heart  on  a  hif>-her 
plane  tluui  mere  selfish  taking  care  of  one's  self.* 
Then  followed  this  parable : — 

,  "  Tliere  was  a  certain  rich  man  that  had  a  steward ;  and  he  was  accused  to 
him  of  wasting  his  property.  And  calling  him,  he  said  to  him,  'What  is 
this  which  I  hear  of  you?  Render  an  account  of  your 
steward-sliip ;  for  j^ou  can  be  no  longer  a  steward.'  And  raiabie  of  the  Unjust 
tiie  steward  said  witln-n  liimself,  'What  shall  I  do,  because  ^"''""'^'  ^"''"-^''''^ 
my  lord  takes  the  stewardship  away  from  me?  I  am  not  strong  enough  to 
dig;  I  am  asliamed  to  l)eg.  I  know  what  I  will  do,  that  when  I  am  put  out 
of  the  stewardship  they  may  receive  me  into  their  houses.'  And  calling 
each  one  of  liis  lord's  debtors,  he  said  to  tlie  fiist,  'IIow  much  do  you  owe 
ny  lord?'  And  he  said,  'A  hundred  baths  (806  gallons)  of  oil.'  ^And  he 
said  to  him,  '  Take  your  bill,  and  sit  down  quickly,  and  Amte  Jifty.'  Then  he 
said  to  another,  '  And  how  much  do  you  owe  ? '  And  he  said,  '  A  hundred 
cors  (1109  bushels)  of  wheat'  And  he  said  to  liim,  'Take  your  bill  and 
wi-ite  eighty.'  And  the  lord  praised  the  unjust  steward,  because  he  did  pru- 
dently ;t  fortliG  children  of  this  Ufe  are  more  prudent  for  their  generation 
than  the  children  of  light. 

"And  I  tell  you,  IMake  for  yourselves  friends  of  the  riches  of  injustice, 
that  wlK-n  it  fails  they  may  receive  you  into  the  enduring  tabernacles  He 
that  IS  faitl.ful  in  the  least  is  faithful  also  in  mucli.  If,  therefore,  you  have 
not  been  faithful  in  the  unjust  riches,  who  will  commit  to  you  the  true  ?  And 
if  you  have  not  been  faithful  in  another's,  wlio  will  give  you  youi-s  ?  No 
domestic  can  serve  two  masters;  for  he  will  either  hate  the  first  and  love  the 
other,  or  he  will  adiiere  to  the  lirst  and  despise  the  other.  You  cannot  serve 
God  and  Mammon.'' 

Perhaps  we  shall  simplify  the  difhculties  which  manv  have 
found  in  this  parable  by  learnhig  to  whom  it  was  addi-essed  and 
what  it  was  intended  to  teach.  It  was  not  ad- 
dressed to  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  but  as  Luke  Meaning  of  the 
expressly  says,  «to  his  disciples.''  It' was  in-  ^''''''^''• 
tended  to  teach  prudence  in  the  management  of  a  man's  spiritual 
affairs.  The  ordinaiy  lack  of  this  prudence  he  makes  the  more 
conspicuous  by  contrasting  it  with  the  prudence  of  men  who  are 


*  See  these  ideas  enlarged  in  my  pub- 
lished sermons,  entitled  llie  Puritan 
Sinner  and  Lost. 

t  This  seems  the  verj-  best  translation 
of  the  original  word.    It  was  used  in 


Wiclif s  translation,  but  unfortunately 
was  changed  in  the  common  version. 
There  may  be  prudence  without  wis- 
dom, for  piudenc3  is  often  a  rascally 
Tirtue, 


490        FKOM   FEAST   OF   TAUEKNACLES   UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

absorbed  in  worldly  matters.  Here  was  a  steward  to  whom  waa 
committed  the  affairs  of  his  rich  employer.  The  bonds  made  by 
that  steward,  who  seems  to  have  had  a  power  of  attorney,  would 
bind  the  master.  He,  -moreover,  lent  the  money  of  the  master, 
and  took  obligations  therefor.  He  became  wasteful.  Upon 
learning  this  the  employer  expostulated  with  him  indignantly, 
and  ordered  him  to  settle  up  his  affairs.  This  gave  him  time  to 
think.  But  he  did  not  delay.  He  went  from  bad  to  worse,  lie 
now  resolved  to  rob  his  master.  Calling  the  debtors  together,  he 
made  a  swift  arrangement  with  them.  Tlicy  were  not  poor  ten- 
ants, but  rich  neighbors  in  large  business  themselves,  or  else  they 
could  not  have  been  trusted  with  sucli  amounts  of  such  costly  ar- 
ticles as  oil  and  wheat.  He  handed  back  their  Ixmds,  and  received 
in  return  bonds  for  a  nuich  less  sum.  They  wei-e  thus  laid  under 
great  pecuniary  obligation  to  this  steward.  They  did  not  know 
that  he  was  about  to  lose  his  place  ;  but  he  did.  So  when  he  waa 
discharged  he  had  ground  of  an  appeal  to  them.  AVhen  his  em- 
ployer discovered  what  had  been  done,  he  complimented  the 
shrewdness  of  a  man  who  had  been  most  dishonest  towai'ds  him. 
It  M'as  only  the  forecast,  not  the  dishonesty,  that  was  praised. 

Jesus  used  the  parable  to  teach  his  disciples  prudence  in  regard 
to  the  future  oi  their  souls.     A  great  difficulty  exists  in  the  say- 
ing of  Jesus :  "  Make  for  yourselves  friends  of 

Friends  of  the  ^^le  mammon  of  injustice,  that  when  it  fails  they 
Mammon   of   un-  ,  .  ,  i      •         ,    ,  i      ',i 

^,-„v,».<.^„o,,^oo  iiiay  receive  you  mto  the  endurmg  tabernacJes. 
righteousness.  j  j  & 

Money  is  represented  under  the  name  Mannnon, 
and  it  has  been  said  that  this  was  the  name  of  the  Syrian  god  of 
wealth,  as  Plutus  was  in  the  Greek  mythology.  But  no  proof  has 
been  discovered  of  such  a  fact.  It  is  called  "Unjust  Mammon," 
or  "the  Mammon  of  Injustice,"  as  riches  are  ordinarily,  not 
always,  acquired  in  a  sinful  way,  or  used  for  purposes  of  injus- 
tice, or  are  in  themselves  delusive.  The  dealing  with  large  wealth 
usually  leads  to  some  wrong-doing ;  and,  as  Meyer  says,  "  the 
ethical  character  of  its  use  is  represented  as  cleaving  to  itself  " 
in  this  phrase  in  the  parable.  But  riches  can  l)e  used  so  as  to 
secure  permanent  spiritual  blessings.  The  disciple  of  Jesus  who 
does  not  so  use  it  is  not  as  prudent  as  the  unjust  steward.  Gen- 
erally his  disciples  do  not ;  and  therefore  Jesus  says  that  "  the 
children  of  this  life  are  more  prudent  for  their  generation  than 
the  children  of  light "  are  for  the  world  beyond. 


IN  PEKEA.  491 

Tlie  Pharisees,  who  were  covetoiis,  heard  all  these  things  and 
derided  him.     To  them  he  addressed  the  following  parable : 

"  There  was  a  certain  rich  man,  and  he  was  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen, 
and  feasted  sumptuously  every  day.     And  a  certain  poor  man  by  tlie  name  oi 
Lazarus  was  laid  at  his  gate,  afflicted  with  ulcers,  and  de- 
siring to  be  fed  with  the  crumljs  which  fell  from  the  rich      l-"^"  ^'-     ^''^"■^^^ 

,  ,  ,        T  n'  T   1      1  1  •        1  o^  t^"  liii^li  Miin  and 

man  s  table  ;  yet  even  the  dogs  came  and  licked  liis  ulcers.    Lazarus. 

And  the  poor  man  died,  and  was  carried  away  by  the 

angels  to  Abraham's  bosom.     And  the  rich  man  also  died,  and  was  buried ; 

and  in  the  under-world  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments,  and  saw 

Aljraham  from  afar,  and  Lazarus  in  his  bosom.     And  he  called  and  said, 

'  Father  Abraham,  have  mercy  on  me,  and  send  Lazarus  to  dip  the  tip  of  hia 

finger  in  water  and  cool  my  tongue ;  for  I  am  in  pain  in  this  flame.' 

"But  Abraham  said,  '  Son,  remember  that  you  received  your  good  things  in 
your  life,  and  Lazarus  in  like  manner  evil  things;  but  now  he  is  comforted 
here,  and  you  are  in  pain.  And  ])csidcs  all  this,  there  is  a  great  chasm  fixed 
between  us  and  you,  so  that  those  wishing  to  pass  hence  to  you  cannot,  neither 
can  they  i)ass  thence  to  us.'  And  he  said,  '  I  l>eseecli  you,  tlien,  fatlier,  send 
him  to  my  fathei-'s  house,  for  I  have  five  brothers,  to  testify  fully  to  them, 
that  they  may  not  also  come  to  this  place  of  torment.'  But  Al)ruham  said, 
'They  have  Moses  and  the  prophets;  let  them  hear  them.'  But  he  said, 
'  No,  father  Abraham,  but  if  one  went  to  tliem  from  the  dead  they  would 
change  their  minds.'  But  he  said  to  him,  '  If  they  hear  not  jMoses  and  the 
prophets,  they  would  not  be  persuaded  if  one  rose  from  the  dead.'  " 

This  parable  is  not  intended  to  be  a  revelation  of  the  ontward 
condition  of  individual  souls  in  the  spiritual  world.  Jesus  takes 
the  imagery  of  Jewish  and  Gentile  mj'thologj  as 
the  mere  drapery  for  the  teaching  of  most  impor-  "^^  ^^^  ^  ® 
taut  moral  lessons.  "  Abraham's  bosom "  is  a 
metaphor  for  a  place  of  permanent  rest  in  communion  with  the 
good.  The  whole  parable  is  a  short  and  striking  drama,  convey- 
ing most  solemn  and  impressive  lessons.  The  main  lesson  is 
the  ruinonsness  of  nnbelicf  in  a  spiritual  World,  an  nnbelief 
which  renders  men  selfish  in  this  world,  and  engrossed  witli  this 
world,  so  that  they  may  be  covetous  as  tlie  Pharisees  were,  or  self- 
indulgent  as  the  rich  man  in  the  parable  was;  The  Pharisees,  so 
far  from  being  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  were  remai'kably 
abstemious  in  diet  and  modest  in  dress.  Bnt  penuriousness  and 
prodigality  are  opi)Osite  sins,  growing  from  the  trunk  of  worldli- 
ness,  tliat  is,  overestimate  of  the  value  of  what  addresses  tlie 
senses,  the  one  finding  its  pleasure  in  hoarding  and  the  other  in 


4:92        FEOM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES   UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

squandering, — and  tlms  worldliness  grows  from  the  root  of  unbe- 
lief in  a  spiritual  world. 

In  the  story  two  persons  are  represented  as  being  in  extremely 

opposite  conditions.    One  was  rich,  the  other  a  beggar.     One  was 

clothed  in  byssus,  a  linen  which  was  sold  in  the 

vs-omenin     is  |.jjjjg  ^f  Jesns  for  its  wei<>;ht  in  jrold,  and  in  o-ar- 
world.  .  o  !■!!       5  t? 

ments  colored  with  the  most  costly  dyes.     The 

other  did  not  have  clothes  enough  to  cover  his  sores.   The  one  had 

a  mansion  with  a  gate ;  the  other  was  homeless,  and  laid  about 

at  people's  doors,  probably  by  those  who  desired  to  be  rid  of  him. 

In  comparison  with"  the  splendid  condition  of  the  one  who  fared 

sumptuously  "  every  day,"  was  the  fact  that  the  other  waited  to 

catch  tlie  crumbs  which  the  servants  of  the  former  would  throw 

to  the  beggars  and  the  dogs.     These  latter,  such  wretched  dogs  as 

prowl  in  Oriental  cities,  added  to  the  humiliation  of  the  beggar 

by  being  his  only  attendants,  licking  his  sores,  and  thus  making  a 

contrast  with  the  unfeeling  human   brother.     The  beggar  was 

named  Lazarus   in  the  story.     Perhaps  it  Avas  suggested  by  the 

name  of  the  friend  of  Jesus,  ^vllom  he  was  soon  to  raise  from  the 

dead. 

That  men  may  know  that  condition  is  nothing  and  character 

everything,  Jesus  transfei'S  the  scene  to  the  under-world.     Lazarus 

dies.     lie  has  no  funeral.     But  after  death  he  is  happy.    Angels 

escort  him  to  the  society  of  the  good  and  blessed.     The  rich  man 

dies.   Ilis  funeral  is  a  pomp.    But  he  is  wretched 

.  The  same  men    jn  the  under-world.  lie  sees  Abraham  and  Lazarns. 

— ^g  He  cries  to  them  for  help.     lie  had  found  his 

pleasure  in  physical  delights.  His  misery  is  the 
want  of  them.  He  does  not  deplore  his  unbelief,  but  wants  his 
tongue  cool.  He  is  a  churchman  even  in  the  under-world.  He 
claims  Abraham  as  his  father.  Abraham  acknowledges  the  rela- 
tionship, calling  him  "  son,"  but  showing  him  that  that  is  of  no 
avail  to  a  Jew  whose  character  is  ruined  by  unbelief.  The  rich 
man's  ideas  of  caste  do  not  desert  him  in  the  under-world.  He 
does  not  presume  to  ask  "Father  Abraham"  to  bring  him  a 
drink,  but  he  requests  him  to  send  that  beggar  Lazarus  to  wait 
on  him.  The  whole  story  teaches  that  in  this  world,  or  any 
other,  a  man  is  himself;  that  death  does  not  destro}'  his  identity. 
The  same  prejudices  and  passions  a  man  has  here  he  has  hero- 
after. 


IN   PEREA.  493 

Prayers  to  departed  saints  do  not  seem  helpful.  Al^raliam 
could  not  help  the  rich  man.  There  is  as  great  a  gulf  in  the  spir- 
itual world  as  in  this.     Men  cannot  cross  and  re- 

,11.  ,1  T  1  1        i.  1     1        Prayers  to  saints, 

cross  the  nne  at  pleasure.     Lazarus  could  not  help 

tlie  ri('h  man  if  he  would.  The  rich  man  had  not  been  specially 
vicious,  may  have  done  many  things  which  he  ought  to  have 
done,  and  for  that  he  had  received  his  "good  things  "  in  this  life. 
Lazarus  was  not  perfect,  and  had  done  many  things  which  he 
ought  not  to  have  done,  and  he  had  received  his  "evil  things"  in 
this  life.  r>ut  the  great  distinction  between  them  M'as  that  Laza- 
rus had  built  his  character  on  a  sure  faith  in  the  surpassing  im- 
portance of  the  spiritual  woi'ld,  and  the  rich  man  had  erected  his 
on  faith  in  the  surpassing  importance  of  the  material  world. 
And  this  dift'erence  is  immense. 

The  forloni  wretch  would  seem  to  have  been  anxious  to  prolong 
the  conversation.  lie  rememl)ered  his  brothers  ;  but  the  M-ay  ho 
speaks  of  them  leaves  us  at  a  loss  Avhether  he  was  more  concerned 
for  them  or  more  disj)Oscd  U)  arraign  God's  providence.  He  desires 
the  dead  Lazarus  to  be  sent  on  an"  errand  for  hiin,  and  to  warn 
his  brothers  by  telling  them  that  there  was  a  spiritual  world. 
This  means  that  if  God  had  given  him  sufficient  warning  he  would 
not  have  gone  into  that  torment.  The  reply  of  Alu-ahani  is  stern, 
and  by  it  Jesus  gives  a  powei-ful  lesson  for  all  time.  God  knows 
what  kind  and  amount  of  evidence  is  necessary  to  convince  those 
who  will  be  convinced,  and  he  has  given  it.  He  knows  that  no 
amount  of  ai^'  kind  of  evidence  Avill  convince  those  who  do  not 
choose  to  know  the  truth.  The  appearance  of  one  from  the  dead 
would  not  be  more  convincing  than  the  Holy  Scriptures.  And  it 
must  be  noticed  that  almost  innnediately  after  this  he  raised  Laz- 
arus from  the  grave.  A  man  who  had  been  four  days  dead  came 
back,  and  had  no  more  influence  upon  the  md)elieving  Jews  than 
Jesus  had,  or  the  writings  of  Moses. 

There  may  have  been,  many  suppose  there  was,  in  this  parable 
a  lesson  for  nations — the  rich  man  representing  the  Jews  and  Laz- 
arus the  Gentiles.  The  sjiiritual  conti-ast,  as  to  pi-ivilegcs,  is  as 
great  in  one  case  as  in  another.  The  Gentiles  shall  become  the 
children  of  Abraham  by  faith,  while  the  Jews  shall  be  cast  out. 
Perhaps  he  did  mean  that  also,  but  it  is  not  quite  ajiparent,  and 
we  have  given  above  what  we  think  the  clear-sighted  iiearers  of 
Jesus  must  have  felt  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  speaker. 


494:        FROM  FEAST   OF   TABEENACLEfl   UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

It  was  probably  in  this  connection  that  he  made  the  following 
address  to  his  disciples  : — 

"It  is  impossible  for  causes  of  offence  not  to  come  ;  but  woe  to  him  through 
whom  they  come !      It  were  better  for  him  that  a  millstone  were  hung  round 
Luke  xvii.    On  of-   his  ueck,  and  lie  cast  iuto  the  sca,  than  that  he  should  cause 
fences,  forgiveness,  and   one  of  these  little  ones  to  offcnd.     Take  heed  to  your- 
^^^^'  selves:     If  your  brother  trespass,  admonish  him;  and  if 

he  change  his  mind,  forgive  him.  And  if  he  tresj^ass  against  thee  seven 
times  in  a  day,  and  seven  times  turn  again  to  thee,  saying,  I  change  my  mind; 
thou  shalt  forgive  him." 

Tlien  the  apostles  said  to  the  Lord,  "Increase  our  faith."  And 
the  Lord  said — 

"  If  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard,  ye  might  say  to  this  sycamine- 
tree,  Be  rooted  up,  and  be  jAanted  in  the  sea ;  and  it  would  have  ol)eyed 
you.  But  who  of  you,  having  a  slave  ploughing  or  tending  flocks,  will 
Bay  to  him,  when  he  is  come  from  the  field,  '  Go  immediately  and  recline  to 
eat  ? '  And  will  not  rather  say  to  him,  '  Make  ready  wherewith  I  may  sup, 
and  gird  tliyself,  and  serve  me,  until  I  eat  and  drink  ;  and  afterwards  thou 
Bhalt  eat  and  drink  ? '  Doth  he  thank  the  slave  because  he  did  the  things  com- 
manded him  ?  So  likewise  ye,  when  ye  shall  liave  done  the  things  which  are 
commanded  you,  say,  We  are  unprofitable  slaves;  Ave  have  done  what  was  our 
duty  to  do." 

This  address  teaches  the  behavior  j^roper  among  brothers. 
Through  the  frailty  of  human  character  men  will  offend,  and, 
what  is  woi-sc,  will  cause  others  to  offend.  It  is  a  thing  to  be 
dreaded.  But  if  one's  brother  commits  an  offencejie  must  go  to 
him  kindly  and  admonish,  and  upon  repentance  must  forgive  him, 
and  must  do  so  just  as  often  as  the  brother  offends  and  repents. 

As  this  recpiires  faith,  the  twelve  who  were  near  him  united  in 
a  prayer  for  increase  of  faith,  and  it  has  been  noticed  that  this  is 
the  only  petition  in  which  the  whole  twelve  ever 
did  unite.  The  reply  of  Jesus  shows  something 
more  than  the  gross  marvel  which  a  literal  rendering  of  words 
would  indicate.  It  shows  that  Jesus  believed  there  was  a  loftier 
circle  of  existence,  in  which  faith  represents  what  muscular 
Btrength  stands  for  in  this  lower  physical  world,  and,  moreover, 
that  in  that  sphere  things  are  possible  which  are  impossible  in  this 

The  disciples  were  always  ready  to  go  into  pride,  and  such  a 
picture  of  spiritual  power  Jesus  tempered  by  calling  their  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  they  were  servants,  and  that  as  they  expected 


IN   PEKEA.  495 

their  slaves  to  do  their  duty  without  feeh'ng  that  they  had  laid 
any  one  under  obligation,  so  when  the  disciples  of  Jesus  had  per- 
formed  their  greatest  and  best  works  they  were  to  consider  in 
humility  that  they  had  merely  done  their  duty. 

The  Betliany   in  Perea  is  about  thirty  miles  from  the  Olivet 
Betliany,  which  is  less  than  two  miles  from  Jerusalem ;  fifteen 
stadia  says  Luke.     AYliile  Jesus  was  carrying  for- 
ward his  woi-k  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  Lazarus        Sickness   and 
sickened.     Lazarus  was  the  cherished  friend  of    f^^^l  ^^''''"'• 
Jesus.     Iiuleed,  nowhere  else  in  his  history  do  we 
find  Jesus  enjoying  the  amenities  of  society  in  repose,  and  away 
from  the  glare  of  publi(nty  which  notable  men  of  aifairs  must 
always  endure,  except  in  this  household,  which  consisted  of  a 
busy,  bustling  elder  sister,  a  gentle,  thoughtful  younger  sister,  and 
a  quiet  brothei-,  probably  the  youngest  of  the  three.     Bethany 
M-as  so  near  to  Jerusalem  that  it  presented  Jesus  a  place  of  easy 
retreat,  and  it  was  so  small  and  unimportant  a  villao-e,  lying  nes- 
tled (piietly  on  the  mountain  side,  containing  no  residence  of  offi- 
cial pei-sonage,  whether  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  that  it  afforded  a 
safe  and  happy  escape  from  the  bickerings  and  contentions  of  the 
excitable  metropolis.     Jesus  had  put  hiuiself  upon  the  footing  of 
most  respectful  familiarity  with  this  family,  insomuch  that  Martha 
came  to  him  with  her  petty  household- cares  and  the  gentle  Mary 
became  his  companion.     These  people  were  not  desperately  poor, 
but  rather  iu  moderately  comfortable  circumstances,  seeing  that 
they  entertained  company  and  were  ownei-s  of  a  family  buriab 
place. 

When  Lazarus  sickened  the  sisters  despatched  a  messenger  to 
Jesus,  saying  simply,  "  Lord,  behold  he  whom  you  love  is  sick." 
It  was  a  i-equest  delicately  embedded  in  an  expression  of  trustful- 
ness. AVhen  Jesus  heard  it  he  said,  "This  sickness  is  not  unto 
death,  but  for  the  glory  of  God,  that  the  Son  of  God  may  be 
glorified  thereby."  This  was  a  declaration  which  showed  that 
Jesus  believed  he  could  see  the  conclusion  of  this  whole  matter, 
and  the  results  proved  how  correct  it  was.  It  was  not  merely  an 
opinion  of  a  case  of  sickness,  expressed  after  hearing  tlie  symp, 
toms  from  the  messenger,  but  it  was  of  the  nature  of  a  prediction. 
It  gave  the  messenger  comfort  to  carry  to  the  sistei-s. 

After  receiving  the  message  Jesus  remained  in  Perea  two  dava 
before  he  again  alluded  to  the  subject  or  made  any  change  in  his 


406        FKOM   FEAST    OF   T.VUERNACLES   UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

movements.  He  then  said  to  his  discijiles,  "Let  ns  go  into 
Judsea."     Tlicy  recalled  the  painful  scenes  throiij^h  ^yhich  thej 

had  so  lately  passed  with  him  in  Jerusalem,  scenes 

Jesus  stm  re-    ^y\^\^.]^  iini)ressed   them   deeply  with  the  feeling 

mains  in  Perea.  ,  ,       .  , .  f   .  i  ^^  .  , 

that  tlie  intentions  or  the  ruling  party  were  most 

malignant.  They  replied,  "Rabbi,  the  Jews  of  late  sought  to 
stone  you,  and  do  you  go  there  again?"  His  answer  was,  "Are 
there  not  twelve  hours  in  the  day?  If  any  one  walk  in  the  day 
he  does  not  stumble,  l)ecause  he  sees  the  light  of  this  world.  But 
if  any  one  walk  in  the  night  he  stumbles,  because  there  is  no  light 
in  him," 

There  is  in  these  words  not  only  a  lofty  truth  as  to  the  special 
mission  of  the  extraordinary  man  who  uttered  them,  but  an  im- 
portant principle  touching  all  human  life.  The  disciples  desired 
to  prolong  his  life  by  keeping  him  from  his  enemies.  lie  did  not 
desire  to  lose  his  life  in  any  sense,  either  by  having  his  career  cut 
short  by  his  foes,  or  l)y  his  own  departure  from  the  line  of  his 
rio-htful  work.  He  held  that  if  he  should  protract  the  years  of 
his  natural  life  by  kecjung  out  of  the  line  of  his  woilv,  because 
the  peril  of  death  lay  therein,  his  life  would  be  lost  in  a  worse 
manner  than  if  he  were  killed  in  doing  his  work  at  the  right  time 
and  place.  He  should  have  outlived  himself,  and  thus  have  lost 
his  life.  The  only  safety. and  happiness  lie  in  doing  the  assigned 
work,  discharging  the  obvious  duty.  That  is  walking  in  the  light. 
There  is  just  so  much  of  light  and  life,  say  "twelve  hours."  If 
a  man  lill  those  hours  with  the  right  work,  ho  has  gained  life.  If 
he  omit,  and  then  endeavor  to  go  out  in  the  night  to  work,  he  stum- 
bles. To  apply  it  to  himself:  if  his  duty  call  him  to  Bethany, 
thither  he  must  go,  even  if  the  Jews  kill  him ;  for  staying  away 
is  stepping  out  of  the  light  of  duty  into  the  night  of  selfishness. 
If  Jesus  do  so,  he  cau  no  longer  accomplish  any  good  in  Perea,  or 
Galilee,  or  elsewhere.     He  must  walk  in  the  day. 

He  then  said  to  them,  "  Lazarus,  our  friend,  is  sleeping  ;  but  I 

go  that  I  may  awake  him."     He  knew  that  Lazarus  was  dead. 

Whether  by  the  prophetic  spirit  that  was  in  him 

He  announces    ^^.  |     j^jg  j,i(]nrincnt  iipon  whatever  dcsci'iption  of 
the  death  of  Laz-      .  ,       "-  ,  .  • .   •  . 

the  case  tlie  -messenii-cr  may  nave  given,  it  is  not 
arus.  i^  .         .  T 

important  to  decide ;  but  the  fact  is  that  Jesus  in 

Perea  knew  that  Lazarus  was  dead  in  the  Bethany  near  Jerusa- 
lem.    He  desired  to  prepare  the  minds  of  his  disciples  for  the 


IN   PEKEA.  497 

dangerous  journey,  and  so  began  to  let  tlicm  know  the  exact  state 
of  the  ease.  Tliey  took  his  statement  literally,  and  said,  "  Lord, 
if  he  sleep  he  shall  recover."  But  Jesus  spoke  of  his  death.  In 
all  languages  sleep  is  represented  as  the  image  of  death ;  but  it 
comes  with  extraordinary  beauty  and  force  from  the  lips  of  him 
who  is  going  to  arouse  the  sleeper.  Then  Jesus  said  to  them 
l»lainly,  "  Lazarus  is  dead,  and  I  am  glad  on  your  account  that  I 
was  not  there,  that  ye  may  believe ;  but  let  us  go  to  him." 

The  history  here  inserts  a  little  incident  which  is  very  beauti- 
ful, and  which  sheds  light  on  a  certain  cast  of  character.    Thomas, 
called  Didymus,  turned  to  his  fellow-disciples  and 
said  very  pathetically,  "  Let  us  also  go,  that  we         ^^°  ^^^     ° 
may  die  with  him."     Thomas  was  a  natural  skep- 
tic, a  constitutional  doubter,  a  desponding  soul.     lie  required  the 
most  grossly  palpable  proofs  to  win  his  belief.     But  he  was  true- 
hearted  and  brave  when  he  did  believe.     And  of  just  such  stuff 
do  we  find  a  certain  class  of  doubters  and  melancholy  men  in 
all  ages,     Lazarus  was  dead.     Jesus  was  going  to  die.     The  circle 
was  breaking.      "  Let   us  all  go  together,"  said  this  sad,  brave 
man.     His  faith  could  not  reach  to  the  heights  of  his  Master's 
predictions,  but  his  fidelity  made  him  ready  to  follow  that  Master 
unto  the  death. 

Wliy  Jesus  should  have  delayed  two  days  in  Perea  after  receiv- 
ing the  message  of  Martha  and  Mary  we  can  only  conjecture,  and 
scarcely  any  theory  yet  presented  seems  entirely 
satisfactory.     He  did  not  idle.     He  was  not  en-       ^^^  •^^'"'  ^^' 

1  •  1  •!  •  T       T-»  ,         laved. 

deavonng  to  while  away  time.  In  i  erea  he 
found  plenty  of  work  to  do,  and  he  chose  to  finish  what  had  been 
BO  auspiciously  begun.  It  is  true  that  he  might  have  left  some 
disciples  behind  him  and  have  returned.  But  he  did  not  intend 
to  return.  His  career  was  coming  to  its  close.  He  read  his  cir- 
cumstances correctly.  Moreover,  he  was  never  hurried.  He  had 
that  self-possession  which,  when  conjoined  with  high  intellectual 
and  moral  qualities,  is  the  measure  of  true  greatness.  He  knew 
what  he  could  do,  and  what  he  would  do.  And  then  he  had  re- 
spect to  those,  his  dearest  friends,  whose  spiritual  iinpi-ovement 
was  a  ruling  consideration  in  this  matter.  He  was  working  for 
the  good  of  men  and  for  the  glory  of  God.  He  neither  loitered 
nor  hurried. 

32 


CHAPTER    ly. 


JESUS   ON    HIS   LAST   CIRCUIT. 


"When  Jesus  readied  Bethany  lie  found  that  Lazarus  had  been 

alread}'  "four  days  in  the  tomb."     It  would  seem  that  when  the 

messenger  was  despatched  by  the  sisters,  Lazarus 

In  Bethany  near  ^vas  still  living.  Such  their  message  implied.  It 
was  therefore  satisfactory  and  consolatory  to  the 
messenger  to  hear  Jesus  say  that  that  sickness  was  not  unto  death. 
He  must  have  been  greatly  surprised  when  he  returned  and  found 
Lazarus  buried,  and  if  he  delivered  the  message  to  the  sisters  they 
must  have  been  sorely  puzzled,  for  Lazarus  had  died  in  the  mean 
time.  This  message  must  have  seemed  to  them  to  show  that  Jesus 
had  lost  his  way.  He  had  said  that  this  sickness  was  not  unto 
death  at  the  very  moment  when  Lazarus  was  in  his  grave,  for  the 
Jews  made  haste  to  bury  their  dead  out  of  their  sight,  and  a 
prompt  interment  was  intended  to  be  an  honor  to  the  deceased.* 
Wlien  this  message  came  to  Martha  and  Mary  it  must  have  been 
a  double  blow.  They  had  had  such  love  for  Lazarus  and  such 
confidence  in  the  power  of  Jesus  ;  and  now  Lazarus  was  dead  and 
Jesus  was  mistaken,  or,  if  not  mistaken,  he  did  not  regard  them 
enough  to  come  and  explain  his  dark  sayings.  So  it  seemed  to 
them.  Lazarus  must  have  died  the  day  the  messenger  left  for 
Perea,  and  been  buried  before  sundown.  That  journey  occupied 
a  day.  Jesus  spent  two  other  days  in  Perea,  and  the  fourth  was 
given  to  the  journey  to  Bethau}^,  so  that  when  he  arrived  it  was 
the  fourth  day  that  the  corpse  of  Lazarus  had  been  in  the  grave. 


*  For  proof  that  it  was  custoraaiy  to 
bury  the  dead  on  the  day  of  their  death, 
eee  Acts  v.  6,  10,  and  Jahn's  Arcliceology ^ 
i.  2.  In  hot  countries  it  is  necessary  to 
bury  promptly  bfecaiise  of  the  rapid  de- 
composition ;  and  the  Jews  had  the  ad- 
ditional reason  of  being  fearful  of  deiile- 
ment  by  reason  of  contact  with  a  corpse. 


Even  now,  in  Jerusalem,  the  burial,  as  a 
general  rule,  is  not  defeiTed  more  than 
three  or  four  hours  ;  and  if  the  death 
occur  so  late  in  the  evening  that  the 
burial  cannot  take  place  that  night,  it 
is  performed  at  the  eaiiiest  break  of 
day. 


JESUS   ON  niS  LAST   CrRCUIT.  499 

The  sorrow  of  this  stricken  family  liad  called  to  them  their 
neii^hboring  friends,  and  also  many  Jews  from  Jerusalem,  some 
undoubtedly  sincerel}'  sympathizing  with  these  afflicted  young 
women,  others  simply  going  through  the  ceremonies  of  condolence 
in  a  perfunctory  manner,  and  others  perhaps  desirous  of  bringing 
back  into  the  fold  of  orthodoxy  these  excellent  women,  who  had 
been  tnrned  aside  by  the  fascination  and  friendship  of  the  young 
heresiarch  of  Nazareth.  There  was  a  crowd  in  the  house.  Martha, 
always  busy  and  bustling,  was  in  a  position  to  hear  of  the  approach 
of  Jesus,  and  she  hastened  to  meet  him.  Mary  was  sitting  quiet  in 
the  house.  The  tiaits  of  character  in  each  came  out  undei'  the 
new  and  exciting  circumstance  of  the  arrival  of  Jesus.  Martha  met 
him  first,  and  the  words  that  burst  from  her  lips  indicate  what  had 
been  the  thoughts,  and  probably  the  sayings,  of  the  sisters  in  his 
absence.     "  Lord,  if  you  had  been  here  iny  brother  had  not  died !  " 

This  speech  is  a  study.     Martha  had  had  ample  opportunity  to 

investigate  the  character   of    Jesus.      She   had   seen   him  both 

fatigued  and  rested ;  had  noticed  him  gazing  in 

J.        .    .       .  1  .  T  ,1  ,    .      Martha's  speech, 

revery  far  mto  tiie  air,   or  down  the  mountani 

slope,  as  he  sat  before  the  door  of  her  house  ;  had  heard  him  when 
he  was  engaged  in  conversation  M'itli  Lazarus  or  some  of  the  dis- 
ciples ;  had  watched  his  inteix-ourse  with  Mary;  noticed,  as  only 
woman's  quick  eye  can  notice,  all  his  movements  about  the  house, 
his  dress  and  address,  his  dispositions  of  himself,  his  off-guard 
moods,  his  temper  under  provocation,  and  all  those  things  which 
have  been  said  to  make  a  man  cease  to  be  a  hei-o  to  his  valet. 
The  whole  impression  made  upon  her  mind  was  that  he  was  so 
holy  as  to  have  most  intimate  communion  with  God,  such  intimacy 
as  gave  him  most  extraordinary  power,  such  power  as  would  have 
enabled  him  even  to  push  back  death  and  keep  her  brother  alive. 
But  she  did  not  know,  it  would  seem,  of  the  miracles  he  had 
wrought  in  restoring  other  persons  to  life,  and  did  not  imagine 
Buch  a  possibility  as  the  resurrection  of  her  brother.  To  Martha 
Jesus  was  a  divine  personage,  but  not  Deity.  To  the  saving,  "'  II 
you  had  been  here  my  brother  had  not  died,"  she  added,  proba- 
bly after  a  pause  and  a  sob,  "  Even  now  I  know  that  whatever  you 
will  ask  of  God,  God  will  give  to  you."  AVliat  she  expected  him 
to  ask  of  God  is  not  apparent.  She  was  in  the  tunudt  of  a  fresh 
and  great  bereavement,  swayed  by  hopes  and  fears  and  griefs. 
The  spiritual  elevation  of  every  person  who  came  within  the 


500   FROM  FEAST  OF  TABERNACLES  TmTIL  THE  LAST  WEEK. 

circle  of  his  influence  was  manifestly  the  design  of  all  that  Jesiia 
did  and  said.  To  give  back  her  brother  simply,  was  merely  to 
indulge  Martha's  natural  desires  for  a  season,  leav- 
High  aims  of  -^^^  |^^j.  g^-||  ^^^  great  distress  because  her  l)rother 
might  be  snatched  from  her  again  at  any  mo- 
nieut.  Her  suffering,  in  that  case,  would  have  been  such  as 
Wordsworth,  in  his  fine  poem  of  Laodamia,  lias  described  to  have 
been  that  of  liis  lieroine  when  the  shade  of  Protesilaus  was  re- 
stored to  lier  for  a  l)rief  time  and  then  withdrawn.  As  Olshausen 
lias  well  said,  it  was  needful  that  Martlia  should  so  recover  her 
brother  that  it  would  be  impossible  ever  to  lose  him  again,  and  thus 
become  rooted  M'ith  him  in  the  element  of  the  imperishable. 
Jesus  proceeded  not  simply  to  restore  her  brother,  but  to  f  urnisli 
her  with  a  remedy  against  all  forms  in  which  death  could  possibly 
assault  humanity,  bodily  or  spiritually. 

Jesus  said  to  her,  "  Your  brother  shall  rise  again  !  " 
Martha  replied,  "  I  know  that  he  shall  rise  again  at  the  resnr- 
rection — at  the  last  day."  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  she  speaks  of 
the  resuri-ection  as  a  doctrine  currently  received,  and  as  including 
the  restoration  to  life  of  all  dead  men,  simply  in  virtue  of  their 
beino;  men  and  beinjj  dead  :  and  also  that  this  was  to  be  accom- 
plished  for  all  the  race  at  the  last  day.  As  if  she  had  said  :  "  Of 
course,  as  he  has  shared  the  fate  of  all  men  in  dying,  he  shall 
share  the  fate  of  all  men  in  rising." 

But  Jesus  taught  her  another  doctrine  and  advanced  a  most 
prodigious  claim  for  himself.    He  said  :  "  I  am  the  Resurrection 

and  the  Life.     He  who  believes  on  me,  even  if  he 
.Tesus  claims  to     ^.^^.^   ^^.     ^j^^lj   j.^.^      ^^^^|    ^  ^^^^  ^^,^^^  Ij^.^g 

j^j^jj  and  believes  in  me  shall  not  ultimately  die."    He 

removes  from  the  plane  of  natural  causes  both 
life  and  the  resurrection,  and  declares  that  the  power  of  both  re- 
sides in  him  ;  that  he  is  the  dynamical  force  of  life  ;  that  without 
him  no  one  who  is  dead  could  possibly  be  restored  ;  and  that  those 
who  are  alive  and  have  connection  with  him  cannot  finally  per- 
ish. He  represents  himself  as  the  fountain  of  soul-life  and  of 
the  animal  life  that  is  in  man.  He  is  the  life.  He  is  Lifeness 
itself.  H  he  bring  himself  to  bear  upon  the  dead  they  live.  If 
he  bring  himself  to  bear  upon  the  living,  so  long,  through  the 
ages,  as  this  remains,  they  are  not  able  to  die.  He  is  the  Resur- 
rection  for  Lazarus,  and  he  is  the  Life  for  Martha. 


JESUS   ON    HIS   LAST   CIRCriT.  501 

Upon  tliis  he  appealed  to  her  :  "  Do  you  believe  this?" 
Mai-tha  did  not  unequivocally  express  her  faith  in  this  startling 
and  immeuse  claim,  but  she  did  reply,  "■  I  have  reached  the  be- 
lief that  you  are  the  Christ — the  Anointed  One —  „     ,   , 

•^  ,  1155    Martha  s  caution. 

the  Son  of  God  that  was  to  come  into  the  world. 
It  was  a  noble  thing  in  her  not  to  give  hasty  assent  to  what  she 
could  neither  understand  nor  believe.  Jesus  had  uttered  some- 
thing too  deep  for  her,  and  then  startled  her  by  the  sudden  cpies- 
tion,  "  Do  you  believe  all  this  ? "  She  could  not  say  whether  she 
did  or  not,  because  she  was  not  sure  that  she  quite  apprehended 
the  meaning ;  but  she  did  believe  that  he  was  the  Messiah,  and 
was  quite  ready  to  say  that  much.  If  that  meant  what  Jesus 
meant,  then  "  Yes,  Lord ; "  if  not,  then  "  Nay,  Lord ;  not  yet  that 
much ;  but  I  have  believed  and  do  believe  that  you  are  the  Mes 
Biah." 

Having  said  this  she  went  her  way  and  privately  sought  Mary 
not  choosing  to  let  the  Jews  from  Jerusalem  know  that  Jesus  was 
BO  near,  for  she  must  have  known  the  intensity  of 
the  malignant  hatred  of  the  Jews  towards  Jesus. 
She  said  to  Mary  :  "  The  Master  is  here,  and  calls  for  you."  AVhen 
Mary  heard  this  she  arose  quickly  and  came  to  him.  Jesus  had 
not  come  to  the  house,  nor  indeed  into  the  village,  but  was  near, 
perhaps  between  the  house  and  the  burial-place.  When  the  Jews 
who  were  in  the  house,  and  had  been  endeavoring  to  comfort  her, 
saw  Mary  rise  up  hastily  and  go  out,  they  followed  her,  thinking 
that  she  was  going  to  the  tomb  to  weep  there.  When  Maiy 
reached  Jesus  she  fell  at  his  feet — an  act  of  homage  which  Martha 
had  not  paid,  an  expression  of  adoring  love,  perhaps  brought  sud- 
denly from  her  by  the  recollection  that  she  had  been  sitting  in 
the  house  M'hile  her  dear  friend  was  so  near.  She  exclaimed, 
"  Lord,  if  you  had  been  here  my  brother  had  not  died."  In  the 
identity  of  this  speech  with  that  of  Martha,  both  coming  out  in 
the  great  emotion  of  the  first  meeting,  we  sec  what  had  been  the 
tenor  of  their  conversation  in  the  absence  of  the  dear  friend. 
It  was  the  unfortunate  absence  which  occasioned  all  their  trouble. 
The  coniidence  in  Jesus  of  these  two  women,  who  were  so  dif- 
ferent in  temperament,  is  really  aifectingly  beautiful. 

The  outburst  of  Mary  stirred  the  hearts  of  the  Jews  who  had 
come  to  mourn  with  her,  and  they  wept.  When  Jesus  saw  thia 
deep  emotion  he  was  vehemently  agitated.     The  language  of  the 


502        FEOM   FEAST   OF   TAJ3EKNACLES    UNl'IL    THE   LAST   WEEK. 

original  history  (Jolm  xi.  33)  intimates  a  complex  mental  condi 
tion,  a  combination  of  grief  and  anger,  "  he  grew  wroth  in  liia 
spirit  and  disturbed  himself  !  "  Ilis  sympathies 
The  grief  of  the  ^^.^^.^  intense.  He  loved  Maiy.  He  could  not  en- 
dure to  see  her  suffer  so  keenly.  These  were  rea- 
sons for  tears  ;  but  why  should  he  be  angry  ?  That  is  not  so  easy 
to  answer.  Neither  Mary  nor  the  Jews  had  done  anything  on  this 
occasion  to  arouse  his  indignation.  It  is  absurd  to  suppose  that 
the  mere  death  of  Lazarus  had  produced  this  state  of  feeling,  or 
that  he  had  -any  regrets  for  his  own  absence  when  Lazarus  died  ; 
because  he  believed  that  he  was  about  to  raise  him  from  the  dead, 
and  he  had  said  to  his  disciples  that  he  was  glad  he  was  not  present 
at  the  death,  because  he  knew  that  it  was  for  the  glory  of  God. 
AVe  cannot  very  clearly  discern  good  reason  for  his  anger,  but  he 
was  angry.  It  may  be  that  an  intense  perception  of  all  the  wrong 
that  sin  was  working  in  the  race  came  upon  him,  and  the  discords 
and  jangles  of  the  world  broke  on  his  sensitive  soul  with  a  force 
that  excited  him  violently.  If  this  be  not  the  explanation,  we  do 
not  know  what  is;  but  it  is  quite  clear  that  the  historian  de- 
scribes him  as  angered. 

Lie  said,  "  Where  have  you  laid  him  ?  "     They  replied,  "  Lord, 
come  and  see." 

Jesus  wept. 

On  the  way  to  the  sepulchre  the  company  noticed  that  manly 
tears  were  silently  flowing  down  the  checks  of  Jesus,  like  a  shower 
of  soft  rain  after  a  thunder-clap.  Something 
Jeli^^  ^^®^  °^  had  angei-ed  him.  Now  he  was  weeping.  Some 
of  the  Jews  said  to  others,  "  See  how  he  loved 
him."  And  then,  recollecting  the  case  of  the  blind  man  in  Jeru- 
salem, Avhom  Jesus  had  restored  to  sight,  they  said,  "Could  not 
this  man,  who  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  have  caused  even 
that  this  man  should  not  have  died  ?  "  It  must  be  noticed  that 
this  remark  shows  that  the  restoration  of  the  blind  man  had  been 
settled  as  a  fact  in  the  popular  opinion  of  Jerusalem.  The  spec- 
tators saw  in  Jesiis  unmistakable  signs  of  affection  for  Lazarus. 
Ho  had  shown  gi-eat  power  in  the  case  of  the  blind  man  ;  did  hig 
ability  to  save  stop  at  that  limit  ?  In  that  case  he  had  been  criti- 
cised for  doing  too  nmch ;  here,  for  doing  too  little.  The  anger 
of  Jesus  rose  again,  and  exploded  in  a  groan  rather  than  in  a  ver- 
bal reply  to  their  foolish  gainsaying. 


JEStfS   ON  HIS  LAST  CrRCUTT.  503 

They  came  to  the  tomb.  It  was  a  cave.  A  stone  lay  against 
it.  Jesus  said  to  them,  "  Take  the  stone  away."  Martha  shrank 
from  the  exposure  and  expostuhated :  "  Lord,  al- 
ready he" — she  said  with  instinctive  shuddering  e  grave, 
and  painful  reluctance — "stinketh;  for  he. has  l)cen  buried  four 
days."  Here  was  a  conflict  between  her  faith  in  the  friendly 
power  of  Jesus  and  her  natural  desponding  disposition.  She  did 
not  know  that  putrefaction  had  begun  ;  the  word  "  for "  shows 
that  she  had  merely  inferred  it  from  the  length  of  time  her 
brother  had  been  in  the  tomb.  Jesus  reassured  her.  "Did 
I  not  say  to  you  that  if  you  would  believe  you  should  see  the 
glory  of  God." 

Then  they  removed  the  stone.  Jesus  lifted  up  his  eyes  and 
said,  "Father,  I  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  heard  me.  And 
I  know  that  Thou  hearest  me  always ;  but  because  of  the  mul- 
titude which  stand  around  I  said  this  that  they  may  believe  that 
Thou  hast  sent  me."  This  remarkable  speech  seems  to  be  the 
utterance  of  a  sentiment  of  internal  spiritual  communion,  and  not 
a  prayer  in  the  form  of  petition,  although  Jesus  did  make  such 
prayers.  This  was  no  "show-prayer."  It  was  a  Eucharist,  a 
thankssivinir,  such  as  was  in  his  heart,  and  he  chose  to  utter 
it  that  the  people  hearing  it  might  believe  that  he  was  the  Sent 
of  God,  the  Christ,  the  Messiah,  or  at  least  perceive  that  he 
believed  himself  to  be  such.  The  raising  of  the  dead  was  the 
experiinentum  crucis,  the  final  and  indisputable  test  and  proof 
of  Messiahship. .  He  accepted  it  as  such.  He  had  raised  the 
dead  at  least  twice  before,  in  the  cases  of  the  daughter  of  the 
nobleman  and  the  son  of  the  Nain  widow,  but  never  under  cir- 
cumstances like  these,  in  which  the  deceased  was  an  adult,  had 
been  dead  and  buried  now  the  fourth  day,  and  spectators  from 
Jerusalem,  the  seat  of  ecclesiastical  authority  and  of  enmity  to 
Jesus,  were  present  in  a  crowd  sufficient  to  examine  all  the 
phenomena  of  the  miracle,  and  to  detect  collusions  and  tricks. 
They  were  certain  that  Lazarus  was  dead.  It  could  not  have 
been  an  arrangement  upon  the  part  of  these  young  women  and 
Jesus.  His  whole  character  M'as  such  that  not  only  would  he  not 
have  entered  into  any  such  arrangement,  but  if  they  had  desired 
to  glorify  the  great  Teacher  by  getting  up  a  pseudo-miracle,  he 
would  never  for  the  sake  of  friendship  have  yielded  himself 
unwillingly  to  be  part  of  such  a  scheme.     Moreover,  the  grief  of 


604        FROM   FEAST   OF   TABEKNACLES   UNTIL   -niE   LAST   WEEK. 

Martha  and  Mary,  as  well  as  that  of  Jesus,  was  not  feigned.  If  it 
had  been,  the  Jews,  who  liad  three  days  for  observation,  would 
have  detected  it.  They  were  so  thoroughly  convinced  of  the 
death  of  Lazarus  that  they  themselves  wept  with  Mary  and  ad- 
mired the  tenderness  of  the  friendship  of  Jesus. 

It  was  the  crisis  of  Jesus.  He  stood  before  the  opened  toin]>, 
and,  with  a  loud  voice,  cried,  "  Lazarus,  come  forth."  Then  he 
who  had  been  dead  came  forth,  in  just  such 
e  raises  aza-  p|jg]j{.  j^g  corpses  were  customarily  laid  away  in 
the  grave,  namely,  with  narrow  strips  of  linen 
wrapped  about  each  limb,  so  that  while  motion  was  obstructed 
it  was  not  impracticable,  and  with  a  handkerchief  tied  about 
liis  head.  So  thoi'ough  was  the  restoration  that  he  needed  no  aid 
to  obey  the  command  of  Jesus,  but  w^alked  forth  into  the  pre- 
sence of  the  assembly.  Jesus  simply  said,  "  Loose  him,  and  let 
him  go."  That  is,  take  away  whatever  encumbers  him  and  let 
liim  go  home. 

One  cannot  fail  to  notice  the  absence  of  all  parade  and  mura- 
blincj  and  incantation,  as  if  this  were  the  work  of  a  magician. 
The  history  is  beautiful  on  the  side  of  the  human  passions,  and 
sublime  on  the  side  of  the  simple  exercise  of  power  in  doing 
"udiat  only  God  has  always  been  supposed  to  be  capable  of  per- 
forming. There  is  no  indulgence  of  curiosity,  no  telling  of  tales 
brought  back  from  the  prison-house  of  the  sepulchre,  no  marvels, 
no  self-gratulation  upon  the  part  of  Jesus,  no  sense  of  exhaustion, 
as  if  he  had  poured  vital  force  from  himself  into  his  dead 
friend.  The  veil  is  dropped  over  any  conversation  Jesus  might 
have  had  with  his  dear  friend,  and  the  most  delicate  silence 
preserved  as  to  tlie  display  of  feeling  upon  the  part  of  Lazarus 
and  liis  sisters  at  his  restoration,  and  any  loving  thanks  they  may 
have  heaped  upon  tlieii-  benefacto]-.  Even  tradition  does  not 
venture  upon  repeating  to  us  anything  Lazarus  may  have  been 
represented  as  saying  of  his  sensations  in  dying,  his  experience  of 
being  dead,  and  his  emotion  upon  the  return  of  the  soul  to  its 
seat  in  the  body,  and  the  reattachment  of  the  cords  of  life  which 
had  been  snapped.  Tradition  only  tells  us  that  Lazarus  asked 
Jesus  if  he  should  die  again,  and  when  informed  that  there  still 
lay  before  him  the  inevitable  fate  of  humanity,  he  never  smiled 
a2:ain.  But  there  is  no  foundation  for  that.  It  is  the  unnatural 
fancy  of  some  gloomy  mind. 


JESCS    ON    HIS   LAST   CIRCUIT.  505 

History  tells  us  nothing  more  of  Lazarns,  In  the  beginning  of 
the  second  century  many  of  those  Avhom  Jesus  had  both  healed 
and  raised  from  the  dead  were  still  alive,  according  to  Quadiatus 
in  Eusebius  (//.  E.^  iv.  3).  From  this  great  miracle  the  village 
of  Bethany  took  the  name  of  Lazarus,  and  to  this  day  is  called 
El-Azariyeh  or  Lazariyeh. 

Of  the  Jews  who  witnessed  tlie  miracle  there  were  two  classes, 
those  Avhom  this  proof  of  Messiahship  won  to  Jesus,  and  those  who, 
overwhelmed  for  a  season  by  this  display  of  power, 
which   seemed  to  be  omnipotence,  nevertheless  °     ^* 

had  no  intellectual  or  spiritual  good  from  the  spectacle,  but  went 
home  chatting  about  it,  or  went  to  the  priestly  party  repeating 
it,  and  asking  them  what  they  thought  about  it.  Whether  in  mere 
gossip  or  through  hostility,  these  people  told  the  Pharisees  what 
Jesns  had  done. 

The  Sanhedrim  was  forthwith  assembled  to  consider  the  state 
of  affairs.  Early  in  his  public  career  the  Jews  of  Jerusalem 
had  sought  to  kill  Jesus  as  a  Sabbath-breaker 
(John  V.  IG,  IS).  Subsequently,  in  Galilee,  the  ^J^^^btd^^^'^ 
Pharisees  had  conspired  with  the  Ilerodians  to 
destroy  him  (Mark  iii.  6).  The  Sanhedrim  had  gone  so  far  as  to 
decree  exconnnunication  of  any  one  who  should  confess  Jesus 
as  the  Messiah  (John  ix.  22).  Officers  had  once  been  sent  to 
arrest  him  (John  vii.  25),  and  the  people  generally  believed  that 
the  party  in  power  M'ould  never  rest  until  Jesus  should  be  put  out 
of  the  way.  Is^evertheless  the  Sanhedrim  had  never  formally 
decreed  his  death.  But  this  raisins;  of  Lazarus  brouo-ht  matters 
to  a  head. 

When  the  council  assembled,  the  first  thing  apparent  to  them 
all  was  their  ntter  helplessness,  so  feeble  is  political  power  when 
opposed   to   moi-al   force.     The   nnarmed  Jesus, 
having  no  authority— civil,  military,  or  ecclesias-      "^^^^    acknow- 

,.,  ..  1T11  -1  •,  ledge  his  miracles. 

tical — was  gammg  such  hold  upon  the  populace 
that  they  could  put  no  arguments,  no  authority,  no  intlueiico 
before  the  people  to  counteract  him.  They  acknowlerhjod  hl^ 
miracles.  The  greatest  learning  and  the  greatest  authority  in  the 
law,  quite  as  capable  of  detecting  a  trick,  and  quite  as  Milling  to 
expose  a  fraud  as  modern  minds,  admitted  that  Jesus  did  "many 
miracles."  They  did  not  deny  what  such  nndtitudes  declared  tliey 
had  witnessed,  namely,  his   raising  of   the  dead.      Their  uttei 


506        EKOM   FEAST   OF   TABEENACLES   UNTIL   THE   LAST   "WEEK 

spiritual  stupidity  is  seen  in  that  they  felt  tliemselves  bound  to 
kill  Jesus  rather  than  believe  on  him.  The  latter  should  have 
been  the  rational  conclnsion,  but  "  state  reasons "  prevailed. 
They  should  have  said:  He  has  done  these  great  things  as  re- 
ported, or  he  has  not;  it  is  so  important  a  matter  that  we  may 
well  afford  to  put  out  our  utmost  resources  to  settle  that  ques- 
tion. If  he  has  done  these  things,  then  he  is  the  Messiah,  and 
we  must  hail  him  as  such :  if  he  has  not,  we  must  take  all  possi- 
ble pains  to  demonstrate  to  the  poj^ular  mind  that  all  this  is  noth- 
ing, and  then  truth  will  prevail.  Instead  of  which  they  admitted 
that  Jesus  did  perform  many  miracles,  and  therefore  resolved  to 
kill  him !  As  if  that  were  the  way  to  meet  an  acknowledged 
miracle ! 

They  said  among  themselves,  "If  we  let  him  thus  alone  all  will 

believe  on  him:  and  the  Romans  will  come  and  take  away  both  our 

place  and  our  nation."     This  was  the  utter  rejec- 

They  reject  him   ^-^^^^  ^^  j^^^^^  ^^  ^j^^j^.  ^gggi^h.    In  their  opinion  he 

did  not  have  the  force  to  push  himself  against  the 
Roman  power  and  overthrow  it.  He  was  not  to  be  a  conqueror ; 
and  if  not  a  conqueror  he  must  not  be  allowed  to  go  so  far  forward 
as  to  make  himself  a  party,  and  excite  the  Roman  power  to  take 
such  measures  as  should  lead  to  a  popular  uprising,  which  might 
be  a  suthcient  excuse  for  the  total  extinction  of  the  Hebrew 
nationality'.  That  was  their  great  state  reason.  They  did  not  see 
that  if  Jesus  had  the  power  to  work  these  great  miracles  their 
simple  acknowledgment  of  the  fact  could  do  no  harm ;  and 
then,  in  any  event,  he  that  could  raise  the  dead  could  repel 
the  Romans ;  and  that  if  the  whole  affair  were  a  delusion  it 
would  shortly  die  out,  and  need  not  be  kept  alive  by  the  notice  of 
the  Sanhedrim. 

One  of  the  members  of  this  Council  was  Josephiis  Caiaphas.  In 
John  xi.  40,  he  is  called  "  high-priest  of  that  year."  The  (office 
of  high-priest  had  fallen  so  low  that  it  had  lost 
aiap  as.  i^g^rly  all  that  respect  and  almost  awe  which  it 
had  formerly  inspired.  Josephus  tells  us  {Antiq.,  xviii.  2,  2)  that 
Valerius  Gratus,  the  fifth  governor  of  Juda?a,  took  the  high-priest- 
hood from  Ananus,  also  called  Annas,  and  transferred  it  to 
Ishraael,  whom  he  soon  removed,  substituting  Eliezar,  a  son  of 
Ananus  ;  that  the  next  year  he  made  another  change,  conferring 
the  office  on  Simon,  who  held  it  only  a  year,  when  it  was  given 


JESUS    ON   HIS   LAST   CIKCUTT. 


507 


to  Joseplins,  siiriiamed  Caiaplias  (not  Josepluis  the  liistorian),  who 
held  It  throiicrh  the  public  ministiy  of  Jesns.  It  M-ill  be  readily 
perceived  liow  the  Pontificate  fell  into  disrepute,  and  that  the 
description,  "of  that  year,"  was  the  mode  of  expressing  the  popu- 
lar contempt  for  the  incumbents  of  that  office.  At  the  time  of 
this  history  the  more  con- 
sei-vative  and  orthodox  still 
held  to  Ananus  as  the  law- 
ful high-priest,  although  Ca- 
iaplias enjoyed  the  office  by 
political  favor. 

In    tlii:-;    meeting   of   the 
Sanhedrim,    this    Caiaphas 

said.  "  You     ,^. 
,  His  prophecy, 

know  noth- 
ing, nor  consider  that  it  is  ex- 
pedient that  one  man  should 
die  for  the  people,  and  that 
the  whole  nation  perish  not." 
•John  says  that  he  did  not 
speak  that  of  himself ;  but 

that    holding,  however  un-  Hioe-r«iEST. 

righteously,  this  high  and  holy  office,  the  spirit  of  prophecy  still 
lingering  about  the  breastplate  which  contained  the  C/nm  and 
Thummhn—WxQ  Lights  and  Rights  of  God— spoke  through  Caia- 
phas, prophesying  that  "  Jesus  was  about  to  die  for  the  nation, 
and  not  for  that  nation  only,  but  also  that  he  should  gather  to' 
gether  in  one  the  children  of  God  who  were  scattered  abroad." 
The  voice  of  Caiaphas,  according  to  John,  spoke  what  the  mind  of 
Caiaphas  did  not  comprehend.  His  saying  settled  the  question. 
The  death  of  Jesus  was  decreed.  It  M-as  only  needful  to  deter- 
mine  how  to  compass  his  destruction. 

Jesus  was  aware  of  the  deadly  intent  of  the  ruling  party,  and 
so  retired  to  a  place  called  Ephraim  in  the  commoirversion',  but 
spelt  Ephrem  in  the  Codex  Sinaiticus,  and,  I 
think,  there  can  now  be  little  doubt,  identical  with 
Ephron.  It  lay  in  the  wild  uncultivated  region, 
hill-country  N.  E.  of  Jerusalem,  lying  between  the  central  t-^wna 
and  the  Jordan  valley.  We  are  indebted  to  the  late  Dr.  Eobin- 
son  for  the  recovery  of  this  place,  and  its  identification  with  the 


Ei^hrorL     Joba 


508        FKOM   TEAST   OF   TABERNACLES   UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

modern  village  of  Taiyibeh.  It  is  nearly  twenty  miles  north  of 
Jerusalem,  and  stands  on  a  conical  hill,  upon  the  top  of  which  is 
an  ancient  tower,  affording  a  wide  prospect  of  the  wilderness  along 
the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  of  the  mountains 
beyond.  To  this  place  Jesus  retired  for  a  few  weeks.  It  gave 
him  a  retreat  from  the  multitudes,  a  respite  from  his  angry  perse- 
cutors, aud  an  opportunity  to  instruct  his  disciples  more  thorough- 
ly in  the  principles  of  his  religion.  There  may  have  been  another, 
reason.  All  his  words  and  actions  show  that  he  knew  that  his 
end  was  apiu-oaching,  and  that  his  death  would  be  violent.  Be- 
tween this  moment  of  retreat  and  that  last  fatal  conflict  he  might 
adopt  some  method  to  indulge  the  Messianic  wishes  of  the  friendly 
portion  of  the  people,  yielding  himself  in  some  way  publicly  to 


their  natural  desire  to  honor  him.  For  all  this  he  must  have  a 
season  of  quiet,  in  which  he  could  nndergird  his  soul  for  its  last 
struggle,  and  in  which  he  could  bo  train  his  disciples  that  when 
he  should  be  seized  and  executed  they  should  not  sully  his  dignity 
aud  embitter  his  last  nionieuts  by  any  fanatical  and  useless  out- 
break.    Just  such  a  rctieat  did  Ephrem  afford. 

Here  he  could  not  have  remained  longer  than  a  few  weeks,  as 
he  nmst  have  entered  Ephrem  late  in  February  or  early  in  Marcli, 
and  the  Passover  occurred  on  the  7th  of  April.  It  is  not  probable 
that  he  went  into  neighboring  villages,  as  he  knew  that  the  au- 
thorities were  taking  measures  to  arrest  him.  His  dis(;iples  were 
with  him,  and  this  last  opportunity  to  be  together  apart  from  the 
people  would  be  filled  with  profitable  intercourse.     He  was  quite 


JESUS   ON   niS    LAST   CIRCUIT.  509 

soon  enough  to  emerge  into  a  splendid  publicity  wliich  should 
precede  a  terrible  death. 

It  Avas  now  the  intention  of  Jesus  to  enter  Jerusalem  in  the 
most  conspicuous  manner.     Being  near  the  line  of  Samaria  he 
seems  to  have  crossed  and  gone  through  Galilee 
to  the  valley  of  Jordan.  Samaria     and 

A  „    1  .  ,  ,  Galilee.  Luke  xvii. 

As  lie  was  passing  along  the  border-line  of 

these  two  countries,  and  was  entering  a  certain  village,  there  met 
him  ten  men  who  were  lepers.     This  common  misery  had  made  a 
bond  of  union.     It  must  have  been  an  affecting 
sight  to  see  ten  men  driven  from  good  society,    j^^^^^  ^^"^  ^"^^^^ 
excluded  from  their  own  houses,  standing  in  a 
body,  forlorn  and  stricken,  as  if  banned  by  man  and  branded  by 
God.     They  lifted  up  their  feeble  and  hoarse  voices  and  cried  to 
him,  because  the  law  would  not  allow  them  to  approach  the  un- 
tainted nearer  than  four  ells.     (Levit.  xiii.  46,  and  Nuinl).  v.  2.) 
'i'heir  cry  was,  "  Jesus,  Euler,  compassionate  us."     It  was  not  the 
word    translated   in   the   common  version    as  Master,  meaning 
Teacher,  nor  that  other  word  translated  Lord.     The  views  of  these 
men  were  not  clear,  nor,  so  far  as  they  went,  '-'orthodox."     One 
was  a  Samaritan.     They  simply  knew  that  this  was  the  man  who 
had  exercised  great  power  beneficently,  and  that  they  were  the 
men  who  greatly  needed  his  help.     They  called  him  "  commander" 
or  "chief."     He  looked  at  them  across  the  distance,  and  simply 
said  "  Go,  show  yourselves  to  the  priests." 

According  to  the  law  (Levit.  xiii.  2)  the  priest  was  to  declare 
when  a  man  had  recovered  from  the  leprosy,  but  the  priest  could 
not  heal  the  leper.  So,  when  Jesus  gave  this  direction  to  the 
lepers  it  implied  that  in  their  going  the  healing  would  come  to 
them.  They  seemed  to  feel  the  authority  of  that  tone.  Like  a 
platoon  of  soldiers,  at  the  word  of  their  commander,  they  wheeled 
and  marched.  As  they  went  they  were  cleansed.  One  of  them, 
on  perceiving  that  he  was  healed,  ran  back  rejoicing  and  glorify- 
ing God,  and  fell  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  and  thanked  him.  ^  "And 
he  was  a  Samaritan,"  adds  the  honest  historian.  He  was  a  heretic 
111  his  religious  views,  but  fall  of  thankfulness  for  the  great  favor 
bestowed  on  him.  His  "  orthodox  "  fellow-sufferers,  avIio  had  re- 
ceived the  same  gift  of  health,  coolly  went  awav,  and  never  came 
back  with  thanks.  It  moved  Jesus  deeply.  lie  said,  evidently 
with  strong  emotion,  «  Were  not  the  ten  cleansed  ?     Cut  where 


510        FROM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES   UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

are  the  nine?  "Were  there  none  found- returning  to  give  glory  tc 
God  except  this  stranger  ? "  lie  said  to  him,  "  Arise,  go  your 
way  :  your  faith  has  saved  you." 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  faith  of  these  ten  men  was  the 
psychical  basis  of  the  operation  of  Jesus,  and  that  Jesus  always 
looked  for  a  spiritual  improvement  to  follow  a  bodily  healing ; 
but  it  seems  to  have  done  so  in  the  case  of  one  of  the  men.  When 
that  man  openly  acknowledged  the  benefit,  it  was  confirmed  to 
him  with  an  enlaro-ement  of  the  advantag-e.  It  is  also  to  be 
noticed  how  greatly  the  popularity  of  Jesus  had  decayed.  Not 
long  ago  the  cleansing  of  one  leper  would  raise  the  whole  country 
side  into  a  fervid  excitement,  now  the  sudden  healing  of  ten  men 
in  a  body  creates  no  enthusiasm.  It  was  a  dark  day  in  the  public 
life  of  Jesus. 

Somewhere  on  this  journey,  we  know  not  exactly  where,  some 

Pharisees  asked  Jesus  when  the  kingdom  of  God  should  come. 

This  seems  to  have  been  a  taunt.     His  fortune? 
Luke  xvii.  ,  ,  ...  .  -r-, 

seemed    rather    wannig   than    improving.       lor 

months,  indeed  for  years,  John  the  Baptist  and  Jesus  had  been 

predicting  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and,  so  far  as  these 

observers  could  see,  there  was  no  change  in  the  aspect  of  affairs, 

ecclesiastically  or  civilly.     His  reply  was,  "  The  kingdom  of  God 

does  not  come  with  observation :  neither  shall  they  say  '  Lo  here ! 

or.  There  ! '  for  behold  the  kingdom  of  God  is  (already)  among 

you."     This  question  and  reply  show  how  entirely  unable  to  the 

very  last  the  countrymen  of  Jesus  were  to  comprehend  his  chai-- 

acter  and  mission,  and  to  divest  themselves  of  sensuous  ideas  of 

the  Messianic  appearance  and  rule.     Jesus  taught  them  that  that 

kingdom  was  not  a  matter  of  external  display  and  brilliancy ; 

nevertheless,  as  he  said  to  his  disciples  immediately  after,  when 

it  came  men  should  not  inquire  whether  it  had  come  and  where, 

because  it  should  be  as  apparent  as  the  lightning ;  but  it  should 

.  be  in  the  souls  of  men. 

Turning  then  to  his  disciples  he  said : 

"  Days  wall  come  when  ye  shall  desu-e  to  see  one  of  the  days  of  the  Son  of 

Man,  and  yet  shall  not  see  it.     And  they  shall  say  to  you,  '  See  here,'  or,  '  See 

there :  '  do  not  go  away  nor  follow  them.     For  as  the 

lightning  lightens  out  of  one  part  under  heaven,  shines 

to  the  other  under  heaven,  so  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be  in  his  day  :  but  first, 

he  must  suffer  many  things,  and  be  rejected  by  this  generation.     And  as  it  waa 


JESUS   ON   HIS   LAST   CmcUIT.  51J 

bu,kl,ug:  but  tUe  day  that  Lot  went  out  of  MomTrlccU^f .  V  ^ 
..one  fou,  l,c,,vca  and  destroyed  them  all.  e2  ,"sTl  ,  •  e  ,  ",'"■ 
ivlien  tlio  Sou  of  Mau  is  revealed      In  tl,„  ,1  ■  ''"  ''"-' 

->«  .pod.  in  .i.e  „„„,,  u:r,i;.t  c::eit  :  t  ';';r "::::r"::;;' r' 

Tlieso  revelations  of  troubles  seem  to  have  shocked  the  disci- 
ples     TJiej  ask  111  surprise,  «  Whei-e,  Lord  ? " 

IIis  answer  is  a  proverb.  "  AVherever  the  body,  there  also  will 
the  eao-Ies  be  gathered  together." 

booh  th-?r^'  V  ^"^'  ''^^f  preconceptions  and  read  sincerely  any 

torv  how  fl„.  ,1  w  ""«'''gs-     It  IS  a  curiosity  ,ii  mental  his- 

bci   al      t.     I    T      "'  "^/f"^"''-'"'  «"■  l-"  supposed  t„  I.avo 

huma  ,    f  "■"■'  "*  ''"'"'■    ^"y  ^"-"''l"  catastrophe  i„ 

iiunian  liistorv  can  lu^t  na  -n-oii  i.^^  ^  ^        ,  ^ 

mind  of  Jesns.         ^  ^"  '"''''""'^^  '"  '"'^•<-'  '«'^"  "'  "'e 

Let  us  pnt  onrselves  in  their  plaees,  knowing  nothino-  of  Catho 
1.C  and  Protestant,  and  mediaeval-scholastic,  a'ul  rnod'em  er    'S 
comments  and  theories,  and  listen  to  Jesns.     The 
disciples   had   heard   the  Pharisees   when  they      The  Parousia  of 
taunted  him  with  the  question  of  the  establish     """^°"">"'™- 

l;u;.=^,ini  of  thXU^  ?-  =:;rir  ™"^,J: 

outbutsts  of  human  passion.    Wl.eu  we  recall  that  the  Goetae, 


512        FROM   FEAST    OF   TABERNACLES    "UNTIL   THE   LAST  WEEK. 

Bliort]y  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  by  means  of  false 
promises  of  miracles,  led  many  away  into  the  wilderness  to  perish, 
M  e  can  see  reason  for  this  warning.*  lie  told  them  of  his  own 
suffering  and  rejection,  and  then  predicted  a  Kevelation  of  himself 
at  some  time,  a  Parousia  of  the  Son  of  Man,  whatever  that  might 
mean.  But  there  is  a  mystic  air  to  this  whole  speech.  In  general 
it  seems  to  teach  that  coming  events  do  not  cast  their  shadows 
before,  that  when  any  stupendous  crisis  in  the  world's  affairs  oc- 
curs there  is  little,  if  any,  outward  previous  manifestation.  It  is 
like  a  dry  rot  in  a  house,  which  reveals  itself  only  when  it  has  so 
eaten  away  the  substantial  supports  that  the  M'hole  edifice  comes 
to  its  fall.  The  flood  was  such  a  crisis.  The  destruction  of 
Sodom  was  such.  Up  to  the  uioment  of  the  first  plash  of  rain,  up 
to  the  moment  of  the  first  hurtling  of  sparks  in  the  hot  atmosphere, 
in  the  one  case  and  in  the  other,  men  and  women  went  about  their 
usual  pleasures  and  businesses  as  if  nothing  extraordinary  were  on 
the  eve  of  occurring.  So  shall  it  be  at  the  Parousia  of  the  Son 
of  Man,  M'hatever  and  whenever  and  wherever  that  may  be. 
And  men  need  not  speculate  on  that.  They  can  never  know  It. 
It  has  no  harbingers.  It  is  not  in  the  field  of  such  events  which 
can  be  prognosticated.  Men  should  simply  be  always  at  their 
posts,  always  doing  their  duty,  and  always  right  at  heart.  The 
Revelation  of  the  Son  of  Man  is  a  crisis,  in  the  sense  of  a 
judgment  and  discrimination.  It  shall  separate  death  from  life, 
the  dead  from  the  living.  Life  is  preservative.  The  birds  of 
prey  do  not  attack  the  living  but  the  dead.     Therefore  keep  alive. 

It  seems  that  Jesus  had  in  his  mind  the  idea  of  some  display 
of  himself  M'hich  should  be  of  universal  interest.  But  who  can 
tell  all  he  meant? 

Because  of  the  troubles  that  were  coming  upon  the  woi-ld  he 
spake  this  parable  to  his  disciples,  to  teach  them  not  so  much  the 
duty  as  the  necessity  of  prayer,  and  that  men  should  not  be  faint- 
hearted,    lie  said : 

"There  was  a  certain  judge  in  a  certain  city,  who  feared  not  God  neither 

regarded  man.     And  there  was  a  widow  in  that  city,  and  she  came  to  liim 

saying,  'Avenge  me  of  my  adversary.'     And  lie  would  not 

ara  eo      e    n]us    f^,,.  ^  time  :  but  afterward  he  said  within  himself,  '  Though 

Judge.  _         ^  ^ 

I  fear  not  God  nor  regard  man,  yet,  because  this  widow 
troubles  me  I  will  avenge  her,  lest  by  her  continual  coming  she  toiment  me.' 

*  See  Josephus,  Ant.  xx.  8,  6.  Com-  I  and  Acts  v.  3G,  37. 
pare  Josephus,  De  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  13,  14,  | 


JESUS   ON   niS   LAST   CIRCDTr.  513 

Hear  wliat  the  unjust  judge  says.  And  shall  not  God  avenge  His  chosen,  who 
cry  day  and  night  to  Him,  even  though  He  delay  long  with  them?  I  tell  you 
that  He  will  avenge  them  speedily." 

To  interpret  a  parable  it  is  ne(;essary  to  know  what  is  the 
pivot  of  instruction  on  whicli  it  revolves.  And  then  it  is  not 
necessary  to  find  a  doctrine  in  all  the  lisjhts  and 
shades  of  the  picture,  in  all  the  folds  of  the  drapery 
of  the  statue,  of  a  parable.  It  has  exercised  sorely  the  ingenuity 
of  some  commentators  that  the  good  God  should  be  likened  to 
an  unjust  judge.  Xo  such  thing  is  done.  The  parable  is  intended 
to  teach  not  the  duty,  not  the  beauty,  not  the  profit,  but  the  ab- 
solute necessit}'  of  prayer ;  and  not  the  prayer  which  consists 
merely  of  expressions  of  formal  petitions,  but  the  prayer  which  is 
the  real  and  constant  desire  of  the  soul.  That  only  is  true  prayer. 
It  may  be  "  always."  It  may  sometimes  break  forth  into  words 
of  devotion  and  even  agonies  of  spiritual  wrestling  ;  but  men 
must  alioays  pray,  and  that  constant  spiritual  pressure  brings 
help.  The  illustration  is  from  an  unjust  judge,  whose  injustice 
the  connnentators  desire  to  modify,  thus  destroying  the  whole 
force  of  the  parable.  Tlie  stronger  the  judge  and  the  more  un- 
just, the  poorer  and  the  weaker  the  suppliant,  the  more  impressive 
is  tlie  lesson  of  Jesus ;  for  God  is  not  compared  to  this  judge,  but 
set  in  contrast  with  him.  The  badness  of  the  judge  is  shown  in 
that  he  was  impious  and  inhuman — he  feared  not  God,  he  had  no 
regard  for  man.  Not  that  he  even  said  this  to  himself,  much  less 
admitted  it  to  other  men,  but  the  soliloquy  represents  his  prevail- 
ing strain  of  feeling.  Ilis  petitioner  is  represented  in  the  utmost 
helplessness.  AVe  have  all  learned  the  destitution  of  Oriental 
widowhood.  This  suppliant  was  a  woman,  a  widow,  poor  and 
persecuted.  The  judge  had  no  disposition  to  help  her,  and  no 
reason  in  the  world  to  do  so,  except  that  by  the  continuance  of 
her  prayer  she  should  be  a  torment  to  him.  In  the  exaggeration 
of  selfishness  he  uses  a  word  which  signifies  tO'  make  one  black 
and  bine  about  the  eyes.  She  will  overcome  him  by  her  impor- 
tunity. He  grants  her  request,  not  because  it  is  just,  not  because 
he  pities  her,  but  because  of  his  selfislmcss,  to  save  himself  from 
annoyance.  The  argument  of  Jesus  is  this :  If  constant  prayer 
can  prevail  against  the  selfishness  of  an  unjust  human  being,  how 
certainly  it  will  find  answer  in  the  heart  of  the  good  God  and 
Father. 

33 


514        FEOM   FEAST    OF    TABEENACLES    UNTIL   THE   LAST   "WEEK. 

Immediately  upon  delivering  this  parahle  Jesus  added,  "But 

when  the  Son  of  Man  comes,  will  he  iind  the  faith  npon  earth?" 

It  is  an  e\|)ression  of  despondency.     It  seems  to 

n  xpression  o  jj^^iimate  that  wheu- the  Parousia  of  which  he  wa? 
speaking  shall  take  place,  when  the  S(,tn  of  JMan 
shall  reveal  himself,  he  may  find  faith  in  his  coming  so  rare  that 
the  world  shall  not  be  prepared  for  it.  The  history  of  t-he  race 
shows  that  humanity  is  never  expectant  the  moment  before  the 
fall  of  some  great  influence  npon  its  history. 

lie  spoke  another  paraljle,  that  of  the  Pharisee  and  Publican, 
which  Luke  reports  in  this  immediate  connection,  and  which  the 
Harmonists  generally  assign  to  this  time  in  the  cai-eer  of  Jesus. 
Whenever  spoken,  I  can  see  a  reason  why  Luke  should  ]"eport  the 
two  parables  together,  as  they  ai-e  didactically  connected,  theii- 
teachings  being  of  the  same  subject.  This  particular  parable 
must  be  assigned  to  this  general  period  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  as  it 
would  naturally  be  suggested  by  the  thousands  of  pilgrims  now 
going  up  to  the  temple  for  worship.  But  it  does  seem  that  it 
would  be  more  appropriate  where  there  were  Pharisees  to  hear  it, 
than  to  be  told  to  his  disciples  alone ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
is  true  that  he  had  seen  in  his  own  family  of  disciples  certain  dis- 
plays of  dispositions  of  which  this  parable  is  a  corrective.  Because 
I  cannot  satisfy  mj'self  of  any  better  place  for  the  insertion  of 
the  parable,  I  give  it  here. 

It  was  intended  to  teach  humility  in  prayei',  as  the  j^ai-able  of 
the  Unjust  Judge  was  to  id'Af^'Ai 2)ersistence.   The  parable  is  this :  — 

"  Two  men  -went  up  into  the  Temple  to  Jjray,  tlie  one  a  Pliarisee  and  the 

other  a  tax-gatherer.     The  Pliarisee,  standing,  i)rayed  these  [words] :   '  God,  I 

.    thank  Thee  that  I  am  not  as  the  rest  of  men,  extortioners, 

Parable  of  the  Phan- 

■ee  and  the  Publican,  unjust,  adulterers,  or  even  as  this  tax-gatherer.  I  fast  twice 
in  the  week.  I  give  tithes  of  all  that  I  get.' — And  tlie 
tax-gatherer,  standing  afar  off,  would  not  even  lift  up  eyes  to  heaven,  Init 
smote  on  his  breast,  saying,  'Be  merciful  to  me,  the  sinful  one.'  I  tell  yon 
this  man  went  down  to  his  house  justified  l)eyond  that  one  :  for  every  ont 
who  cxalteth  himself  shall  be  humbled ;  and  he  who  humbleth  himself  shall 
be  exalted." 

Luke  says  that  this  ])arable  M'as  levelled  against  those  who 
trusted  in  themselves  that  they  were  i-ighteous,  and  despised 
others.  It  is  a  graphic  lesson.  The  Pharisee  went  into  the  Tem- 
ple.     He  stood  to  pray.      That  was  \}o  evidence  of  pride.      Thf 


JESUS   ON    HIS    LAST   CIRCUIT.  515 

Jews  generally  stood  when  they  prayed,  and  the  exceptions  were 
■when  they  became  excitedly  devout,  so  that  to  kneel  would  have 
beeu  rather  a  display  of  ostentation.  The  tax-gatherer  also  stood. 
In  sc\eral  Greek  editions  occur  words  which  in  the  common 
English  version  are  translated  "  with  himself,"  which  some  have 
connected  with  the  standing  as  indicative  of  the  "Separatists,"  "he 
stood  hij  himself r  St.  Bernard  alludes  to  this  apparently  proud 
isolation  in  prayer.  But  the  words  do  not  occur  in  the  oldest 
texts,  and  are  doubtless  an  interpolation.  There  was  no  intention 
to  ridicule  the  man  nor  to  exaggerate  Pharisaism,  but  to  contrast 
it  with  the  simplicity  of  faith,  and  teach  what  Jesus  from  the 
beginning  nntil  this  the  closing  period  of  his  ministry  constantly 
insisted  upon,  the  superiority  of  simple  faithfulness  to  one's  con- 
victions over  all  devotion  to  mere  forms  of  worship, — so  that  men 
might  feel  how  much  better  it  is  to  be  the  Penitent  than  the 
Puritan. 

This  self-complacent  worshipper  addressed  God  in  terms  of  thank- 
fulness which  soon  show  themselves  to  be  the  thin  veil  covering 

his  pride.     lie  separated  himself  from  all  man- 

1  •     1      Tr  1  II     ii  1  -1  The    Pharisee's 

Kind.    He  was  one  class,  all  otlier  i)coplc  another; 

prciyer. 
and  he  was  better  than  all  others,  whom  he  pro- 
ceeds to  classify  as  extortioners,  unjust,  and  unclean, — and  then  as 
his  030  fell  upon  the  tax-gatherer,  wliose business  he  regarded  as  the 
"sum  of  all  villanics,"  he  added — "or  even  as  this  tax-gatherer?" 
And  having  purged  himself  of  all  charges  that  might  bo  brought 
against  his  moral  character,  he  proceeds  to  glorify  himself  to  God 
in  vaunting  his  discharge  of  religious  duties,  and  even  the  per- 
formance of  works  of  supererogation.  "  I  fast  twice  in  the  week." 
Moses  had  appointed  only  an  aimual  fast,  the  great  day  of  atone- 
ment (Levit.  xvi.  20-31 ;  Numb.  xxix.  7).  But  this  man  superadded 
two  private  weekly  fasts.  "  I  give  tithes  of  my  whole  income." 
The  law  tithed  only  the  products  of  the  earth  and  the  offsjM-ing 
of  the  cattle  (Nund).  xviii.  21;  Dent.  xiv.  22;  Levit.  xxvii.  30) 
But  he  was  determined  to  exceed  even  the  requirements  of  the 
law,  so  he  tithed  all  that  came  to  liim  in  his  business.  lie  dwells 
fondly  on  these  things,  showing  that  he  was  doing  them  not  for 
the  glory  of  God,  but  for  his  own  pleasure.  He  had  no  sins  to 
confess.  lie  had  no  worship  to  offer  God.  He  had  contempt  for 
bis  fellow-men,  even  for  his  fellow-woi-shippers. 

But  the  tax-gatherer  stood  afar  off.     lie  had  as  much  rijrht  tc 


516        FKOM   FEAST   OF   TABEKNACLE8   UNTIL   THE    1.AST   WEEK. 

tlie  Temple  as  the  Pharisee,  for  he  was  neither  lieatheii  ncr  prose 

Ivte.     llis  reverence  for  God's  liolincss  and  holy  places  was  such 

that  it  was  enough  for  him  to  stand  even  in  the 

The  publican'8  ^^^^.^^  ^f  ^he  holy  Temple.     Pei-haps  he  saw 

prayer.  ^  ,.         .  ,  , 

the  Pharisee  stanan)g  m  a  reserved  but  conspicu- 
ous place,  and  almost  envied  his  fellow-worshipper  the  holiness 
which  made  him  worthy  of  such  a  position,  siud  felt  that  he  him- 
self was  not  fit  to  breathe  the  same  air  with  that  man  of  God.  All 
sights  about  him  and  all  thoughts  of  himself  conspired  to  humili- 
ate him.  lie  would  not  so  much  as  lift  up  his  eyes  to  heaven. 
llo  called  himself  "tue  sinner,"  by  a  word  which  means  hardened 
in  sill.  Jesus  did  not  depreciate  the  Pharisee.  lie  gave  him  his 
full  dues.  But  God  is  represented  to  have  sent  such  a  comfort 
into  the  breast  of  the  publican,  that,  being  forgiven,  he  left  the 
Temple  a  happier  man  than  the  Pharisee,  whose  only  comfort  was 
in  his  self-complacency. 

It  is  supposed  that  now  Jesus  left  Galilee,  crossing  the  Jordan 

into  Perea.     His  plan  seems  to  have  been  to  join  himself  to  the 

great  caravans  of  pilgrims  thronging  the  Jordan 

Final  departure    valley  ill  their  progress  to  the  Holy  City  from  all 

thew  xix  •  Mark    *^^^  towns  about  the  Sea  of  Galilee.     If  we  may 

X.  I'ely  upon  Josephus,  the  multitudes  that  attended 

this  feast  were  enormous.     He  tells  that  at  one 

Passover,  by  actual  count,  256,500  paschal  lambs  were  slain.    The 

smallest  number  of  worshippers  which  the  law  allowed  to  each 

lamb  was  ten,  which  would  make  the  number  of  participants  in 

this  feast  to  have  been  at  least  2,505,000.     It  seems  incredible ; 

but  if  allowance  be  made  for  exaggeration,  still  the  number  must 

have  been  immense ;  and  the  roads  that  led  to  Jerusalem  must 

have  been  thronged  for  several  days  before  the  feast  and  after. 

It  was  on  this  tour  that  the  subject  of  divorce  was  brought  to 
the  attention  of  Jesus.     He  found  the  Pharisees  everyvvhei-e  his 
Divorce.  enemies,  and   everywhere  ready  to   enti-ap   him. 

This  makes  this  interview  deeply  interesting, 
since  the  case  of  Herod  Antipas,  who  had  put  away  his  wife  and 
taken  a  married  woman  to  his  bed  during  the  life  of  her  husband, 
made  it  politically  dangerous  for  any  teachci-  to  discuss  the  law 
of  marriage  in  the  days  and  under  the  government  of  Herod.  If 
Jesus  should  utter  stringent  sentiments  and  lay  down  strict  rules 
of  morality  on  the  subject  of  marriage  and  di\orce,  he  should 


JESUS    ON    IirS    LAST    CIRCUIT.  517 

probably  meet  a  fate  similar  to  that  of  Jolm  Baptist ;  but  if  his 
utterances  should  indicate  laxity  of  sentiment  he  should  lose  the 
confidence  of  the  more  moral  and  pious  class  of  the  commu- 
nity. 

In  the  reply  of  Jesus  the  attention  of  the  reader  is  called  to 
the  fact  that  he  does  not  answer  as  a  judge  or  a  legislator.  He 
Avill  not  take  up  personal  cases  for  decision.  He  will  not  lay 
down  a  canon  for  ecclesiastical  discipline.  He  speaks  as  a  moral 
teacher,  and  only  as  such. 

The  importance  of  the  utterances  on  this  occasion,  and  the 
moral  ]x>wer  of  Jesus  over  mankind,  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  we 
have  a  bare  statement  of  his  views  spoken  authori- 
tatively as  a  moral  teacher  should  speak,  who  has  ^^  jesus 
the  i-ight  to  speak,  and  yet  those  few  words  have 
exerted  a  greater  power  over  the  whole  course  of  human  history 
and  destiny,  over  literature,  over  political  and  social  and  domestic 
progress,  than  all  the  words  of  any  other  one  man  since  the  world 
Jjegan  !  Is  not  that  a  sober  historical  statement  ?  Let  any  man 
reflect  upon  monogamy,  the  sacredness  of  marriage,  the  purity 
of  the  domestic  circle,  and  this  lifting  of  the  family  to  a  position 
which  it  never  held  in  Greek  or  Latin  or  Hebrew  civiliz:ation, 
from  which  it  has  had  such  power  over  the  destinies  of  the  State 
and  the  progress  of  religion, — and  then  let  there  be  allowed  to 
Jesus  only  such  influence  as  he  is  plainly  entitled  to  have  acknowl- 
edged,— and  who  has,  by  so  few  words,  sent  his  influence  so  widely 
and  so  deeply  down  into  the  heart  of  man,  and  down  into  the 
centuries  ? 

Certain  Pharisees  of  the  school  of  Ilillel  came  to  Jesus  with 
the  question,  "  Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  to  put  away  his  wife  for 
every  cause  ? " 

Let  us  l(X)k  at  what  the  Mosaic  law  of  divorce  really  was.  It 
is  recorded  in  Deuteronomy  xxiv.  1-4. 

"\yhcii  a  man  liatli  taken  a  wife,  and  married  lier,  and  it  come  to  pass  tliut 
Bhe  find  no  favor  in  his  eyes,  l^ecause  lie  has  found  some  uncleauness  in  her. 
then  let  him  write  her  a  bill  of  divorcement,  and  give  it  in 
her  hand,  and   send  her  out  of    his  house.      And  when      '^^'^  ^^°''^^''  '''"'  "' 

Qivorco. 

ehe  is  departed  out  of  his  house,  she  may  go  and  be  another 
man's  wife.     And  if  the  latter  husband  hate  l»er,  and  write  her  a  bill  of  di 
vorcemeut,  and  give  it  in  her  hand,  and  send  her  out  of  his  liouse ;  or  if  the 
latter  husband  die,  which  took  her  to  be  his  wife  ;  her  former  husband,  which 
went  her  away,  may  not  take  her  again  to  be  Ids  wife,  after  that  she  is  defiled.'' 


518        FKOM   FEAST    OF   TABERNACLES   UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 


It  is  to  be  noticed  that  provision  is  made  for  the  hnsband  to 
put  away  the  wife,  but  not  for  the  wife  to  put  aAvay  the  hiisl)and. 
Slie  liad  no  relief,  unless  her  husband  committed  adultery  with 
anotlier  married  woman,  and  then  elsewhere  the  law  of  Moses 
provided  that  he  should  be  put  to  death.  Again,  there  is  great 
uncertainty  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  "  some  nncleanness." 
This  Avas  a  notorious  sul)ject  of  controversy  between  the  schools 
of  Shannnai  and  Ilillel  in  the  days  of  Jesus.  The  former,  it  is 
generally  thought,  taught  that  it  meant  an  act  of  lewdness  on  the 
part  of  the  wife  ;  but  this  could  hai'dly  be,  as  that  was  punishable 
with  death,  "Winer,*  however,  asserts  that  the  Gemara  represents 
the  view  of  Shammai  as  less  strict:  "Even  pul)lic  violations  of 
decorum  might  furnish  ground  for  divorce  a(;cording  to  his  doc- 
trine." Josephus  represents  the  views  of  Ilillel.  lie  says  {Antiq.j 
iv.  8,  23),  "  lie  who  wishes  to  be  separated  from  his  wife  for  any 
reason  whatever — and  many  such  arc  occiuTing  among  men — ■ 
nmst  affirm  in  Avritins;  his  intention  of  no  lone^cr  cohabitinf>-  with 
her."  Knobel,  in  his  Commentarij  on  Deuteronomy^  says,  ^''ErvatJi 
dabar  [in  tlie  common  version  translated  'some  nncleanness']  is 
used  of  human  excrement  in  Deut.  xxiii.  13,  and  is  properly  a 
shame  or  disgrace  (Is.  xx.  4)  from  anything ;  that  is,  anything 
which  awakens  the  feeling  of  shame  and  repulsion,  inspires  aver- 
sion and  disgust,  and  nauseates  in  contact — for  instance,  a  bad 
breath,  a  running  sore,"  etc.  He  adds,  "In  the  time  of  Christ 
[Jesus]  the  expression  was  in  controversy.  The  school  of  Sham- 
mai took  it  as  being  the  same  with  Dabar  ervath  [a  thing  of  nn- 
cleanness or  disgust],  and  understood  it  of  unchaste  demeanor  and 
shameless  lewd  behavior.  The  school  of  Ilillel,  which  the  Eab- 
bins  follow,  explained  it  as  something  disgusting,  or  any  other 
caused     This  was,  of  course,  giving  the  largest  license.f 

To  the  question  from  the  Pharisees,  whether  a  man  might  put 
away  his  wife  for  any  cause  whatever  that  seemed  to  him  sufficient, 
Jesus  makes  the  following  reply:  "Have  you  not  read  that  he 


*  Quoted  in  President  Woolsey's  very 
valuable  Essay  on  Div&ixe. 

f  In  the  Tract.  Gittin,  fol.  90,  it  is  ex- 
pressly said,  "  Even  if  she  had  only  over- 
Balted  his  soup ;  "  nay,  with  shameless 
license,  ' '  even  if  he  should  find  a  fairer 
one,  in  whom  he  has  more  pleasure."  The 
repeated  rule  in  the  Talmud  runs :  IlUlel 


loosens  what  Shammai  binds,  Josephus 
shows  the  laxity  of  the  times  by  coolly 
telling  us  that  his  first  wife  left  him ; 
and  that  he  put  away  the  second,  al- 
though the  mother  of  three  children 
by  him,  that  he  might  take  the  third 
— Stie3: 


JESUS  ON  mS  LAST  cmcuiT.  519 

who  made  them  from  the  beginning  made  them  male  and  female, 
and  said, '  On  this  account  shall  a  man  leave  father  and  mother,  and 
sliall   cleave  to  his  wife,  and  they  two  shall  be  „,       .  .    ,  , 

The  onginal  law. 

one  llcsh  5      bo  that  they  are  no  more  two,  i)ut  one 

flesh.    What,  therefore,  God  hath  joined  t<igether,  let  no  man  put 

asunder." 

The  Pharisees  retorted  with  this  question  :  "AVTiy  therefore  did 
Moses  command  to  give  a  bill  of  divorcement  and  to  put  hei 
away  ? " 

Jesus  replied,  "  Moses,  because  of  your  hard-heartcdness,  suf- 
fered you  to  put  away  your  wi\es :  but  from  the  beginning  it  was 
not  so.  But  I  say  to  you,  Wliosoever  sluiU  put  nway  liis  wife,  ex- 
cept for  fornication,  and  shall  niai-ry  another,  committeth  adultery." 

It  is  noticed  tliat  frequently  after  a  ])ublic  discourse,  Jesus  was 
questioned  by  his  disciples  as  to  his  meaning.  For  obvious  pru- 
dential reasons  they  refrained  from  asking,  in  the  presence  of  the 
captious  enemies  of  their  Master,  questions  the  answers  to  whicli 
would  relieve  their  perplexities.  On  this  occasion  when  tliey 
were  in  private,  the  disciples  reviewing  his  reply  to  the  Pharisees 
said  to  him :  "If  thus  it  is  the  defect  of  the  man  with  the  wife,  it 
does  not  profit  to  marry!"  lie  said,  "All  receive  not  this  saying, 
but  those  to  whom  it  has  been  given.  There  are  eunuchs  that  are 
born  so  from  the  womb  of  their  mother,  and  there  are  eunuchs 
who  M-ere  made  eunuchs  by  inen,  and  thei-e  are  eunuchs  who  made 
themselves  for  the  sake  of  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens.  lie  who 
is  able  to  receive  it,  let  hiin  receive  it." 

Now  if  we  recall  what  Jcsns  said  on  this  subject  in  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount,  we  shall  have  before  us  all  his  teaching  on 
this  important  subject.  "  I  say  unto  you.  That  whosoever  shall  put 
away  his  wife,  except  for  the  cause  of  fornication,  causeth  her  to 
commit  adultery ;  and  whosoever  shall  marry  the  divorced  com- 
mitteth adultery." 

The  first  thing  to  notice  is  that  Jesus  criticises  the  Mosaic  law 

as  not  being  perfect,  as  not  absolute,  as  not  perpetual.     It  was  an 

(  xpodient.     It  was  the  strictest  schoolmaster  the 

1  111  T"!  i    •       /■•       T         Jesus   criticises 

l»tH>])le   could  endure.      iliere  are  certam  fixed    „     ,^ 
'     .       .  .      ,  .    ,     .  .  the  Mosaic  hiw. 

principles,  certain  high  ideals  in  Monotheism,  to 

which  Moses  did  not  reach.     Put  lie  did  the  best  that  could  ba 

done  for  them  with  that  people.    Jesus  ascends  above  Moses.    He 

goes  up  to  the  origin  of  the  race.     He  announces  what  God  did 


520         FROil    FEAST    OF    TAIJEKXACLES    UNTIL    THE    LAST   WEEK. 


and  wliat  God  intended.  The  Fatlicr  of  all  made  man  to  be 
M'edded.  The  oldest  history  of  creation  says :  "  God  created  man 
in  his  own  hnage,  in  the  imaf^e  of  God  created  lie  him,  male 
and  female  created  lie  them,"  (Gen.  i.  '27.)  It  is  observable 
that  it  does  not  say  that  God  created  them  a  man  and  a  woman, 
but  "  masculine  and  feminine,"  after  the  image  of  the  God,  who 
is  at  once  both  masculine  and  feminine.  It  i-equires  the  unic^n  of 
the  masculine  and  feminine  to  make  oneness  in  humanity  as  it 
does  in  divinity.  God  would  be  only  a  half-God,  therefoi-c  no 
God,  if  lie  were  either  masculine  only  or  feminine  only.  There 
is  no  completeness  in  any  man  or  wouum.  The  two  are  required 
to  make  one.  The  tie  between  husband  and  wife  is  closer  than 
that  between  parent  and  child.  In  the  beginning  there  was  a 
single  pair.  The  devotion  of  the  one  to  the  other,  the  absolute 
necessity  of  each  to  the  other  for  personal  relief  and  comfort, 
and  for  the  propagation  of  the  race,  and  the  indissolubleness  of 
tlie  union  thus  contracted,  was  demonstrated  by  their  very  posi- 
tion in  the  universe.  They  could  never  part.  Whichever  did  any- 
thing that  made  any  separation  between  them  .committed  a  wrong. 
That  represents  the  normal  condition  of  the  estate  of  wedlock. 

When  men  and  women  multiplied,  and  there  arose  a  multipli- 
cation of  possibilities  of  violating  the  original  law,  the  most  that 
Moses  seemed  to  do  was  to  put  in  form  certain  ar- 
rangements for  regulating,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
irregularities  which  had  sprung  up  in  society. 
Hard-hearted  men  would  put  their  wives  away.  Moses  intei'posed 
in  behalf  of  the  woman.  Jesus  goes  back  to  first  principles,  and 
thence  deduces  the  law  of  divorce.  1.  The  married  pair  are  one 
in  fiesh  and  heart  and  life  ;  and  neither  should  do  anything  which 
shall  weaken  or  soil  this  blessed  union.  2.  No  man  shall  divorce 
his  wife  unless  he  know  her  to  have  first  violated  the  law  of 
chastity,  otherwise  he  wrongs  her  and  drives  her  to  do  wrong. 
3.  If  to  that  unlawful  putting  away  he  superadd  the  marrying  of 
another  M'oman,  he  commits  adultery  with  that  second  woman."" 


The  true  law  of 
divorce. 


*  The  statement  in  Mark,  who  is  as 
remarkable  for  his  attention  to  details 
as  he  is  for  his  lack  of  attention  to 
chronological  order,  is  :  "  Whosoever 
shall  put  away  his  wife,  and  marry  an- 
other, committeth  adultery  against 
7ier."     The  original  Greek  is  ctt'  avrr/v^ 


and  this,  I  believe,  refers  to  the  second 
wife  ;  and  the  classical  use  of  this  pre- 
position with  the  accusative,  I  think, 
justifies  my  interpretation.  Of  course, 
at  the  same  time,  he  is  an  adultorei 
quoad  his  former  wife. 


JESUS    ON   niS   LAST   CIRCUIT.  521 

4.  The  woman  wlio  is  separated  fi-om  lier  husband  for  her  own 
fault  is  an  aduUercSs  afresh,  if  she  niai'ry  a2:;ain.  A  form  of  mar- 
riage oaunot  annul  the  wron^  of  the  traii.-^action.  5.  If  the  hus- 
band be  innocent  and  the  wife  iijuilty,  a  divorce  may  ensue,  the 
husband  may  marry,  but  the  wife  may  not.  A  second  marriage 
would  be  but  a  continuance  of  her  sin.  These  live  particulars 
seem  to  reside  in  the  orij^-inal  law  of  marriaii-e,  as  stated  bv 
Jesus. 

Dr.  Woolsey  {Essay  on  Divorce,  p.  59)  sums  up  this  teaching 
very  clearly  in  the  following  sentence  :  "  The  general  principle, 
servins:  as  the  m-oundwork  of  all  these  declarations,  is,  that  leijal 
divorce  does  not,  in  the  view  of  God,  and  according  to  the  correct 
rule  of  morals,  authorize  either  husband  or  wife  thus  separated  to 
marry  again,  with  the  single  exception  that  when  the  divorce  oc- 
curs on  account  of  a  sexual  crime,  the  innocent  party  may,  without 
guilt,  contract  a  second  marriage." 

Whether  these  views  of  Jesus  were  fundamentally  right,  we  are 
not  now  to  discuss.  This  is  what  he  taught.  Tliis  teaching  has 
through  ages  controlled  the  opinions  of  the  best  minds,  and  thor- 
oughly changed  domestic  life  from  what  we  know  it  to  have  been 
in  Greece,  and  Home,  and  Palestine,  in  the  times  of  Jesus,  to  what 
we  know  it  is  in  the  best  parts  of  America  and  Eui-ope  to-day.  It 
is  noticeable  that  wherever  these  views  have  prevailed  there  has 
been  a  better  state  of  societ}'  in  every  other  particular,  and  that 
departure  from  these  principles  has  marked  social  decay,  all  legis- 
lation not  conformed  to  these  principles  having  the  effect  of  rap- 
idly damaging  the  moral  tone  of  society.  No  society  is  so  good 
as  that  in  which  a  divorced  man,  unless  he  be  parted  froin  his 
wife  for  reasons  not  implying  immorality  on  his  part,  is  held  as 
an  acknowledged  adulterer ;  and  in  which  a  divoi-ced  woman, 
unless  she  be  parted  from  her  husband  by  reason  of  his  inconti- 
nence, is  treated  as  an  unfortunate  woman. 

What  Jesus  said  to  his  disciples  on  the  objection  which  they 
started  and  the  inference  which  they  made  that  marriage  was  un- 
profitaljle,  it  must  be  admitted  is  a  passage   of 
difficultv.     Marriage  is  the  normal  condition  of     ,  Objections   by 

•  '^  T     •        1  ^""^  disciples. 

man.     ihat  we  know,     it  is  always  honorable. 

No  celibacy  is  equal  to  chastity  in  marriage.  But  there  may  be 
celibates.  Jesus  speaks  of  three  kinds,  those  who  arc  such  by 
nature,  by  compulsion,  and  by  choice.     1.  Some  have  congenital 


522        FKOM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLT"^    UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

disqualifications  ;  tlicv  arc  horn  with  physical  defects  which  make 
it  iihpi-acticablc  for  tliciu  to  inany.  2.  Thei-e  ai-e  those  who  liavc 
been  inutilated  by  men ;  and  this  M'as  a  lai-o-o  class  in  the  days  of 
Jesiis.  In  our  day  tlie  servants  who  guard  the  liarems  in  the  East 
are  eunuchs,  and  tlie  Roman  Church,  it  is  said,  makes  eunuchs 
for  the  benefit  of  sac^red  art,  those  who  sing  the  Miserere  at  the 
Sistiue  Cliapel  at  Rouie  i-etaining  the  peculiar  characteristics  of 
tlieir  voices  at  the  ex])ense  of  their  manhood.  In  the  class  of 
forced  celibates  also  luay  be  I'eckoned  those  whom  "society,"  the 
artificial  rules  of  couvcutional  life,  exclude  from  such  a  union  as 
nature  demands  aud  God  sanctions.  3.  Those  who  decline  mar- 
riage for  the  sake  of  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens,  a  phi-ase  by 
which  Jesus  always  seems  to  set  forth  his  woi'k  in  the  ^vorld,  be- 
cause he  believed  that  his  work  Avas  founded  on  the  principles 
which  maintain  the  luxrmonies  of  the  universe,  and  that  his  work 
promulgated  and  expanded  those  principles.  For  the  sake  of 
promoting  this  great  work,  if  he  can  reuuiin  chaste,  in  some  ex- 
ceptional circumstances,  a  man  may  remain  in  celil)acy.  Other- 
wise marriage  is  ])etter.  No  man  dare  be  a  celibate  for  his  own 
ease  and  convenience.  Tlie  rule  is  that  it  is  better  to  marry.  It 
must  be  a  mournftd  excejition  which  justifies  a  man  to  abstain. 
Such  an  exception  occurred,  perhaps,  in  the  case  of  Paul.  Such 
a  celibate  was  Jesus. 

But,  of  course,  in  this  case  Jesus  spoke  figuratively.  History 
gives  us  a  horrible  instance  of  these  words  having  l)een  taken  h't- 
erally.  Origen,  in  the  mistaken  excess  of  his  ardent  youthful 
zeal  for  the  cause  of  Jesus,  so  nmtilatcd  himself  that  lie  was  dis- 
qualified for  marriage.  This  act  was  ])ropci'ly  condenmed  by  the 
ancient  church,  and  for  it  he  was  cxcomnumicated  from  the 
dnn-ch  of  Alexandria.* 

The  li1)eral  rule  of  Jesus  comes  out  at  the  close  of  the  inter- 
view. You  are  not  to  ado])t  celibacy  as  a  rule.  You  are  not  to 
teach  it  as  a  docti'ine.  You  are  not  to  enforce  it  on  otliers. 
*'  Let  hinr  receive  it  who  is  alJe  to  i-eceive  it."  But  let  him  bo 
sure  he  is  able.  You  cannot  l)e  sure  in  respect  of  another,  there- 
fore yon  must  not  lay  so  grievous  and  nmiatural  a  burden  on 
another. 


*  On  the  whole  subject  of   marriage  i  compare  Schaff's   History  of  Vie  Apo»- 
and  celibaey  in  the    New  Testament,  |  toUc  C/ntrch,  %  112,  pp.  448-454. 


CnAPTER  Y. 


GOING   TO   JEIiUSALEM. 


It  was  about  tliis  time  that  the  blessing  of  little  chikli-eii  must 
have  taken  place.  As  tlie  Passover  approached  the  people  knew 
that  tlic  time  of  his  departure  for  Jerusalem  \vas  jgsus  blesses  lit- 
drawing  near.  It  reveals  to  us  much  of  the  char-  tie  children, 
acter  and  behavior  of  Jesus  during  this  trying  Matt,  xix.,  xx. ; 
and  depressing  period  of  his  life,  ^>  learn  that    ^^--^yl^   ^-    ^^^ 

.1     xviii 

the  mothei-s  of  the  country  were  so  impressed 
with  his  sanctity  and  benignity  that  they  brought  their  young  chib 
dreu,  even  their  babes,  to  him,  that  he  might  merely  put  his  hands 
upon  them  and  pray  over  them.  Put  the  disciples  were  becoming 
rigorists.  It  is  painful  to  see  how  rapidly  men — who  at  first  take 
advanced  ground,  become  pioneei'S  hi  moral  progress,  and  make 
themselves  the  differentia  of  their  age — do  begin  to  lapse  into 
blindest  conservatism  so  soon  as  they  consolidate  their  oj-ganiza- 
tion  ;  do  begin  to  have  certain  ideas  of  dignity  ;  do  suppose  that 
they  are  improving  their  state  and  position  by  as  great  a  remove 
as  possible  from  naturalness.  In  this  case  the  disciples  probably 
felt  a  fresh  accession  of  dignity,  as  their  Master  was  manifestly 
about  to  make  a  public  display  of  himself,  and  their  hopes  of  a 
Messianic  inauguration  probably  begau  to  be  augmented. 

The  disciples  offered  to  forl)id  these  mothers  as  obtrusive.  It 
was  below  the  dignity  of  their  Master.  They  had  nothing  to  say 
when  the  Pharisees  were  holding  him  to  the  discussion  of  such 
profound  and  important  questions  as  the  divorce  law.  They  felt 
that  that  was  employment  worth}'  his  noble  chai'acter  and  mission ; 
but  that  he  should  be  asked  to  waste  his  time  on  babes  seemed  to 
them  past  endurance.     So  they  rebuked  these  revering  mothers. 

Put  Jesus,  in  turn,  rebuked  the  disci})les.  He  had  other  views 
and  another  temper.  lie  was  much  displeased  at  the  conduct  of 
his  friends.  It  was  cutting  him  off  from  that  portion  of  the  com- 
munity least  offensive  to  his  simple  and  pure  nature.     It  showed 


524        FROM  FEAST   OF   TABERXACLES    UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

npon  their  part  such  stubborn  acUicrence  to  their  prejudices  ir 

favor  of  a  sensuous,  civil,  political  Messiahship,  such  wrong  viewa 

of  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens,  as  though  its  insignia  should  be 

the  trappings  of  worldly  pomp,  that  Jesus  was  much  displeased, 

and  said  to  them,  "  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  to  me,  and 

forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens.     I 

most  assuredly  say  to  you,  "Wliosoever  shall  not  receive  the  kingdom 

of  God  as  a  little  child,  he  shall  not  enter  into  it."     And,  having 

taken  them  in  his  arms,  he  blessed  them,  placing  his  hands  upon 

them. 

The  whole  picture  is  simple,  natural,  beautiful,  and  sublime. 

The  discourse  on  marriage  crimes  stands  as  a  dark  background 

to  this  brilliant  tableau  of  a  great  Teacher  lifting 
A  beautiful  scene.  •    r-      -      •    ^      i  •  *"   •  ^i      i? 

up  miants  nito  his  arms,  coming  near  the  roun- 

tains  of  humanity,  airing  his  soul  in  the  free  atmosphere  of  unso- 
phisticated childhood.  It  was  an  occasion  seized  to  make  a  lesson 
for  his  disciples.  They  were  thinking  of  a  throne,  a  court,  them- 
selves as  Hebrew  princes  in  the  regenerated  theocracy,  and  that 
princes  and  their  king  should  not  be  interrupted  in  their  converse 
by  the  prattle  of  babes.  Jesus  taught  them  that  he  knew  noth- 
ing of  any  such  kingdom ;  that  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens,  which 
he  preached,  and  which  was  also  the  kingdom  of  God,  was  made 
nj)  of  such  people,  not  of  children  merely,  not  that  the  kingdom 
was  theirs  exclusively,  but  that  no  one  could  enter  and  enjoy  that 
kingdom,  which  is  as  wide  as  all  the  heavens,  covering  the  uni- 
verse, who  did  not  have  childlikeness  of  disposition ;  that  so  far 
from  children  having  to  grow  into  manhood  in  order  to  enter  the 
fruition  of  God's  kingdom  it  was  absolutely  essential  that  men 
Bhould  shed  the  hard-shell  of  their  rigid  manhood  and  come  back 
to  the  unsuspicious,  open-eyed,  natural  sensitiveness  of  childhood ; 
and  thus  have  the  utmost  enjoyment  of  all  that  God  has  made. 

About  this  time,  as  he  was  on  his  journey  out  of  the  country, 

a  certain  ruler  came  running  and  kneeled  to  him,  and  said,  "  Good 

Teacher,  what  good  thing  shall  I  do  that  I  may 

The  neh  ruler.    jjijiQ^it  perpetual  life  ?  "     He  seems  suddenlv  to 

Matt.  xix.  ;  Mark     ,  r-  i^  xi  -^       Ji  •    •        ^i      •      i.        I- 

T  ,        ...        have  lelt  the  necessity  or  receivmo;  the  instruction 
X.  ;  Luke  xvui.  J  _      o 

of  Jesus  before  he  left  the  neighborhood.  Jesus 
replied,  "  Why  do  you  call  me  good  ?  No  one  is  good  but  one, 
that  is  God.  You  know  the  commandments :  Do  not  kill ;  do  not 
commit  adultery ;  do  not  steal ;  do  not  bear  false  witness ;  defraud 


GOING    TO   JERUSALEM.  525 

not;  honor  your  father  and  your  mothci",  and  you  sliall  love  your 
neighbor  as  yourself."  lie  answered,  "Teacher,  all  these  tilings 
have  I  observed  from  my  youth  up."  Jesus  looked  on  him  and 
loved  him,  and  then  spoke  the  words  that  tested  him,  "One  thing 
is  yet  wanting  to  you :  if  you  will  be  perfect,  go  sell  M'hatever 
you  have  and  ^ve  to  the  poor,  and  you  shall  have  treasure  in 
heaven ;  and  come,  follow  me."  lie  was  very  rich,  and  the  saying 
sent  him  away  very  sorrowful. 

This  is  a  peculiarly  interesting  case,  as  exhibiting  a  phase  of 
human  nature  worth  studying,  and  as  giving  fresh  insight  into  the 
character  of  Jesus.  This  person,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  ruler 
of  the  synagogue,  had  led  a  life  of  scrupulous  external  morality, 
but  failed  to  have  quiet  of  spirit  and  satisfaction  of  soul.  lie 
had  probably  watched  the  course  and  studied  the  character  of 
Jesus.  lie  had  occasional  deep  longings  and  high  aspirations,  but 
he  did  not  have  most  thorough  earnestness  in  the  pursuit  of  tho 
highest  good, — nay,  had  a  kind  of  self-conceit  and  Hippantness  in 
talking  of  the  most  sacred  things,  both  which  came  out  in  his  ad 
dress  to  Jesus,  "  Good  Teacher,  what  nnist  1  do  to  inherit  perpet 
ual  life  ? "  To  which  Jesus's  reply  seems  to  be  a  check  ;  as  if  he 
had  said :  You  seem  to  talk  of  goodness  very  lightly.  Goodness 
is  the  loftiest  tiling.  Xo  one  is  absolutely  good  but  God.  Do  you 
recognize  God's  goodness  in  me,  or  do  }ou  address  me  with  an 
empty  compliment?  "Ashe  would  not  have  himself  called  Mes- 
siah in  the  wrong,  or  at  least  easily  misinterpreted,  sense  in  which 
the  word  was  then  often  used,  so  neither  [would  he  have  himself 
in  a  mistaken  way  called]  Good  Master."  (Lange.)  lie  gives  the 
young  man,  however,  no  space  for  reply,  but  proceeds  to  answer 
the  question  by  directing  him  to  the  commandments  of  the  Moral 
Law.  The  young  man  avowed  that  he  had  strictly  kept  all  the 
commandments  all  his  life.  This  he  may  have  said  with  an  accent 
of  pride,  but  there  was  a  painful  tone  in  the  question,  "  What  yet 
do  I  lack?"  which  moved  the  compassion  of  Jesus.  The  young 
man  may  have  unduly  plumed  himself  u])on  his  legal  righteous- 
ness, but  he  was  certainly  candid. 

It  was  in  kindness,  then,  not  in  severity,  that  Jesus,  whose  spir- 
itual insight  into  men  even  his  enem'3s  must  acknowledge,  showed 
the  young  man  the  depth  of  his  own  heart  and  his  lack  of  total 
earnestness.  lie  was  rich.  Jesus  submitted  him  to  a  violent  test, 
namely,  the  selling  of  all  his  pro})erty,  its  distribution  to  the  poor 


526        FROM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES    UNTIL   THE   LAST   AVEEK. 

and  his  following  a  Teacher  who  had  no  world]y  gain  or  glory  to 
offer.  Jesus  did  not  here  enact  a  law  for  all  his  followers.  lie 
never  enacted  laws.  lie  simply  tauglit  the  great  fundamental 
principles  of  morality,  from  which  each  mail  must  make  a  I'ule 
for  himself.  lie  saw  that  the  tempei-ament  of  the  young  man 
made  it  quite  easj'for  him  to  render  his  life  exemplary  of  all  out- 
ward morality,  while  a  latent  spirit  of  self-indulgence  weakened 
his  whole  character.  The  sorrow  the  young  nuxn  felt  demon- 
sti'ated  the  correctness  of  the  estinuxte  Jesus  had  formed  of  him. 
"Wlien  he  found  just  what  he  lacked  he  was  not  willing  to  })ay 
the  price  of  perfection.  IJeing  troubled  at  that  saying  he  went 
away  grieved,  for  he  had  great  possessions, 

Jesus  nuxde  a  lesson  for  his  disciples.     lie  turned  to  them  and 
Baid,  "AYith  what  difficulty  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into 

the  kingdom  of  God."     This  saying  astonished 
Difficulty  of  the   j^j^  tliscii)les,  and  Jesus  saw  the  impression  which 

his  words  had  nuide.  They  recollected  that  riches 
were  a  part  of  the  blessings  pnniounced  undej-  the  old  dispensa- 
tion, and  their  Jewish  ideas  exaggerated  the  temporal  prosperity 
which  ought  to  visit  the  children  of  the  kingdom  under  the  new, 
the  Messianic,  dispensation,  which  they  wei'e  fondly  hoping  was 
about  to  be  inaugurated.  Jesus  said,  "  Children,  how  difficult  it 
is  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  God.*  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  enter 
through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God."  Here  he  speaks  of  the  natural  difficulty  all 
men  encounter  in  coming  out  of  a  gross  worldly  life  into  a  spir- 
itual and  lofty  mode  of  existence,  a  difficulty  intensified  in  the 
case  of  the  rich,  because  their  hearts  grow  large  and  their  bur 
dens  are  packed  bulkily  upon  them,  so  that,  to  use  a  proverbial 
expression,  it  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a 
needle  than  for  such  a  person  to  divest  himself  of  his  love  for 
these  material  possessions,  to  cease  to  be  gross  and  sensuous  so  as 
to  become  fine  and  spiritual,  to  enjoy  a  kingdom  whose  greatnesses 
and  glories  and  happinesses  are  wholly  spiritual. 

At  this  saying  the  disciples  wei-e  astonished  out  of  measure 
and  said, "Who  then  can  be  saved ? "     If  it  be  this  temper  which 


*  lu  the  common  version  (Mark  x.  24) 
the  reading  is,  "Children,  how  hard  it 
is  [for  them  that  trust  in  riches]  to  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God."     The  words 


included  in  brackets  do  not  occur  in  the 
original  in  the  oldest  MSS.  The  trans- 
lation I  have  made  in  the  text  is  of  tha 
Sinait.  Cod.  in  loco. 


GOING    TO   JERUSALEM.  527 

destro3's  a  rnaii  tlie  rich  will  be  lost ;  and  all  men,  poor  as  Avell  as 

rich,  will  bo  found  to  be  en<j;rossed  with  the  world  and  tilled  witli 

worldlincss.  Matthew  and  MaVk  say  that  Jesus,  "  looking  on  thcin,'" 

made  his  rci)ly.     How  often  the  lookinir  of  Jesus 

1,1  1  .  .         ,        T      ^  1     i.         Who     can     be 

IS  mentioned  by  these  historians!      it  seems  that    gj^ygjv 

they  M'ould  supplement  the  words  they  repeat  by 

intiiiKitini;'  that  there  was  something  in  the  eyes  and  looks  of  Jes;is 

wliich  was  illustrative  and  explanatory  of  the  sentences  lie  uttered. 

And  most  [)robably  there  was.     If  that  could  bo  reproduced  witli 

his  words  what  light  it  would  probably  shed  npon  all  his  most 

j^rofound  sayings.     The  rejdy  was,  "With  men  it  is  impossible,  but 

not  Avith  God ;   for  M'ith  God  all  things  are  possible ; "  which 

Beems  to  tea(;h  tliat  no  man  has  power  of  himself  to  spiritualize 

his  natui-e,  but  that  God  is  able  to  do  that  for  any  man. 

The  impulsive  Peter  was  hereby  excited  to  propound  this  ques- 
tion :  "  Lo  !  we  have  left  all  and  followed  3'ou  :  what  therefore 
shall  be  to  ns  ?"  It  is  a  little  difhcult  to  understand  the  tempei 
in  which  this  (picstion  was  asked.  Peter  compared,  and  perha})s 
conti-asted  himself — for  the  personal  "  I  "  is  concealed  under  the 
modest  "we" — Avith  the  rich  young  man  who  had  been  con- 
founded by  the  test  which  Jesus  applied  to  his  character.  How 
far  Peter's  renunciation  of  the  conifoils  of  home  Avas  ])roof  of  his 
devotion  to  the  spiritual  life  he  may  have  been  ;it  a  loss  to  de- 
termine. Or,  if  giving  up  worldly  wealth  was  all,  then,  in  view 
of  their  sacriiices,  what  might  they  not  expect?  For  the  apostles 
Avere  not  totally  impecunious.  Peter  had  his  house,  John  and 
James  had  servants,  Matthew  had  a  lucrative  oflice  and  was  able 
to  give  a  feast  to  his  fi-iends.  Antl  even  if  they  had  been  mere 
fishers,  with  a  hut  by  the  lake  and  a  net  on  the  shore,  a  poor  man's 
heart  often  clings  more  tenaciously  to  his  little  than  a  rich  man's 
heart  to  his  much. 

Jesus  answered, "  I  most  assuredly  say  to  you,  that  you  who  have 
followed  me  in  the  Palingenesia,  when  the  Son  of  Man  shall  sit 
on  his  glorious  throne,  yon  shall  also  sit  uj)on  twelve  thrones 
judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel:  and  eveiy  one  who  lius  foi- 
Baken  brethren,  or  sisters,  or  fathei",  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children, 
or  lands,  on  account  of  my  name  and  the  gospel's,  shall  receive  a 
hundredfold  now  in  this  time,  and  in  the  age  to  come  lifje  per- 
petual." 

The  "Palingenesia"  is  translated  "  the  regeneration"  in  the 


528         FROM   FEAST    OF    TABERNACLES    UNTIL    THE    LAST   "WEEK. 

common  version.     It  means  "  the  renovation,"  "  the  renewed  ex- 
istence."    It  shows  wliat  Jesus  believed  would  be  his  influence 

„,    ^  ,.  upon  the  world,  that  his  life  would  infuse  such 

The  Palmgene-  ,.   ,  r         •  i  •  i 

gjjj^  powerrul    transforming  elements  nito  humanity 

that  the  world  should  be  rencAved,  as  since  his  time 
It  manifestly  has  been.  He  began  a  new  a3on,  a  fresh  age.  It  is 
also  to  be  noticed  that  incidentally  Jesus  gives  his  authority  to 
nuniogamy  as  he  had  on  the  divorce  question  very  clearly  rendered 
it.  He  does  not  say  "  wives,"  as  he  says  "  children,"  but  "  wife," 
as  he  says  "  mother."  lie  promises  them  a  manifold  return  for 
all  their  sacrifices.  His  saying  about  the  twelve  apostles  on  the 
twelve  thrones  judging  the  twelve  tribes  is  enigmatical.  Unless 
he  furnished  a  private  explanation  it  must  have  puzzled  them  to 
the  close  of  their  lives.  If  he  did  give  such  private  interpreta- 
tion they  have  failed  to  record  it,  and  nothing  has  occurred  in  the 
histoiy  of  the  world,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  to  fulfil  the  prediction 
of  these  words.  It  is  quite  easy  to  give  a  mystical  interpretation, 
but  the  plain  apostles  would  not  have  understood  that.  The  only 
reasonable  ground  that  I  see  is  to  say  that  this  is  an  unfulfilled 
prophecy.  There  is  a  general  trutli,  well-known  to  the  students 
of  hnman  society,  that  he  who  makes  the  most  sacrifices  for  his 
race  has  the  gi'catest  moral  influence  over  them,  and  this  al)stract 
truth  is  embedded  in  the  concrete  forms  of  speech  which  Jesus 
here  employs.  There  is  also  this  truth,  that  they  who  have,  in  all 
ages  since  his  death,  devoted  themselves  to  Jesus,  and  received  all 
his  words  into  loving  breasts,  have  gained  in  spiritual  influence 
and  enjoyment  much  more  tlian  tliey  have  lost  of  power  and 
pleasnre  in  surrendering  tiioir  visible  material  properties  for 
their  religious  principles. 

Immediately  Jesus  added,  as  if  to  check  Peter's  presumption, 
the  saying,  "  IJut  many  first  shall  be  hist,  and  last  first."  There  is 
nothing  mercenary  in  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens.  No  man  need 
faiK^y  that  he  can  do  what  will  entitle  him  to  promotion.  It  was 
a  bad  footing  on  whicli  Peter  set  his  question,  "  Wliat  shall  we 
lutce  f  what  shall  be  to  us  f  "  It  was  the  question  of  the  hireling's 
heart. 

In  illustration  of  his  saying  Jesus  furnished  the  following 
parable : 

"  Tlie  kingdom  of  the  heavens  is  like  unto  a  man,  a  householder  fa  human 
householder],  who  went  out  with  the  dawn  to  hii-e  laborers  into  his  vineyard: 


GOING   TO   JEEUSALE&l.  529 

and  having  agreed  witli  the  laborers  for  a  denarius  [15  cents*]  the  day,  he 
sent  them  into  his  vineyard.     And  going  out  about  the  third  hour  [nine 
o'clock  A.M.]  he  saw  others  standing  idle  in  the  market-place,  and  said  to  them, 
'Go  you  also  into  my  vineyard,  and  wliatsoever  may  1)C  just 
I -will  give  to  von.'    And  they  went.    And  again  going  out      •^'^'"'^^^'^  °^  ^^^  ^^ 

,     '  o  o        o  borers. 

about  the  sixth  and  ninth  hour  [noon  and  three  o'clock 
P.M.]  he  did  in  like  manner.  And  about  the  eleventh  liour  [near  the  close  of 
day]  he  found  otliers  standing,  and  saith  to  them,  '  Why  stand  you  here  all 
the  day  idle  ? '  They  say  to  him,  '  Because  no  man  has  hired  us.'  He  says  to 
them,  '  Go  you  also  into  the  vineyard.'  Now  when  the  evening  was  come  the 
lord  of  the  \nneyard  says  to  his  overseer,  'Call  the  lal)orers  and  pay  the  hire, 
beginning  from  the  last  unto  the  first.'  And  they  who  came  about  the  eleventh 
hour  received  each  a  denarius.  And  the  first  having  come,  supposed  that  they 
should  receive  more;  but  they  received  each  a  denarius.  But  having  received 
it,  they  murmured  against  the  householder,  saying,  '  These  last  have  made  but 
one  hour,  and  thou  makest  them  equal  to  us,  who  have  bonie  the  burden  of 
the  day  and  the  scorching  heat.'  But  he  answering,  said  to  one  of  them, 
*  Friend,  I  do  you  no  wrong.  Did  you  not  engage  with  me  for  a  penny  ? 
Take  what  is  yours  and  begone.  But  I  will  give  to  this  last  even  as  to  you. 
Is  it  not  lawful  for  me  to  do  what  I  will  with  mine  own?  Is  your  eye  evil 
because  I  am  good  ? '     Thus  the  last  shall  be  first,  and  the  first  last." 

Here  is  the  piciture  of  a  scene  wlucli  to  tins  day  can  be  witnessed 

in  Oriental  lands.     Laborers  take  their  spades  and  assemble  in  the 

market-place.     Emplo^-ers   go  and  bargain  with 

as  many  and  such  as  they  need.     There  may  be 

•^  "^  •'  scene. 

both  laborers  and  hii-ers  M'ho  come  late.  These 
will  meet.  In  this  paral)le  the  owner  of  the  vineyard  went  several 
times  in  one  day.  Each  time  he  hired  as  many  as  were  present. 
Those  whom  he  found  at  noon  were  not  present  at  sunrise,  and 
those  whom  he  found  an  hour  before  sunset  had  not  arrived  at 
noon.  When  there  was  a  whole  day's  work  the  householder  made 
a  bargain  with  the  laborers ;  when  there  was  but  one  hour  of  work 
he  promised  what  was  fair,  and  they  trusted  him.  The  trouble 
was  in  the  settlement.  He  gave  what  he  chose  out  of  his  own 
means  to  the  last  comers.  He  chose  to  give  for  an  hour's  lal)or 
what  was  usually  considered  at  that  time  fair  pay  for  a  whole 
day's  work.  This  did  not  in  any  way  interfere  with  the  rights 
of  the  others.  AVhen  their  time  for  settlement  came  they  seemed 
to  think  that  if  a  denaj^ius  was  right  pay  for  one  hour,  at  least 
Beveral  denarii  would  come  to  those  who  had  been  working  twelve 
hours.     But  the  reasoning  was  unsound.     The  laborers  of  an  hour 

*  See  the  representation  of  a  denarius  on  p.  4G4. 
34 


530        FEOM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES   UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

received  their  denarius  in  part  as  pay  and  in  part  as  gratuity.  In 
fact  there  was  no  bargain  with  them ;  there  was  with  those  iirsl 
who  had  labored  longest. 

The  lessons  seem  quite  plain,  if  we  have  no  system  of  theology 
to  bolster.  1.  The  kinc-dom  of  heaven  is  one  of  moral  irovern- 
ment,  in  which  there  is  proprietorsliip  upon  one 
side  and  work  on  the  other.  2.  All  who  are 
willing  may  find  work  to  do  in  this  kingdom.  All  are  called. 
8.  There  will  certainly  be  pay  and  rewards  to  all  \A\o  work. 
4.  Both  the  rewards  and  the  pay  will  be  distributed  on  grounds 
of  perfect  justice  and  discriminating  mercy.  No  one  will  be 
injured  by  what  is  given  to  another.  Whatever  imperfections  of 
work  or  frailty  of  temper  may  be  in  any  laborer,  he  will  recei\e 
the  full  amount  of  any  payment  stipulated  in  the  covenant.  There 
will  be  justice  to  all,  and  grace  to  such  as  can  appreciate  it.  The 
first  laborers  were  manifestly  mercenary,  and  worked  for  the 
money,  and  evidently  with  such  a  temper  as  they  exhibited  they 
could  not  have  done  their  work  well.  There  must  have  been 
something  in  the  last  laborers  which  so  won  the  approval  of  their 
emplo^^er  that  he  was  willing  to  pay  them  as  though  they  had 
done  a  whole  day's  work.  lie  called  up  first  those  who  had  come 
in  last.  lie  paid  them  liberally  as  liberal  workers.  lie  then 
called  up  those  whom  he  had  engaged  first.  lie  paid  them  justly 
according  to  covenant.  lie  showed  them  his  approval  of  the  others, 
and  perhaps  for  that  purpose  had  paid  them  first.  And  thus  the 
first,  because  of  their  technical  spirit,  became  last;  and  the  last, 
who  trusted  their  employer,  and  wrought  heartily  without  a  bar- 
gain, became  first.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  such  that  they  gain 
most  who  trust  God  most ;  but  every  man  is  fully  paid  for  all 
service ;  and  they  who  trust  God  most  boast  themselves  least,  and 
make  no  merit  of  their  works. 

Pursuing  their  way  to  Jerusalem,  Jesus  took  occasion  for  the 

third  time  to  forewarn  his  disciples  of  his  approaching   death. 

♦  Nothing  seemed  to  take  him  at  unawares.     lie 

A  thii-d  warning,    ^^ithdrew  his   twelve   chosen   friends   from   the 

jc  •  Lukexviii        crowd  and  communed  with  them  confidentially, 

saying  to   them,   according  to   Mark's    record  : 

"Beheld,  we  are  going  up  to  Jerusalem:  and  the  Son  of  Man 

fihall  be  betrayed  to  the  chief  priests  and  scribes :  and  they  shall 

condemn  him  to  death ;  and  shall  deliver  him  to  the  Gentiles  tc 


GOrt^G   TO   JEKrSALEM.  531 

mode  and  to  scourge  and  to  crucify ;  and  the  third  day  he  shal] 
be  raised." 

It  is  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the  force  of  preconceived 
opinions  that  tlie  disciples  of  Jesus,  bcinp;  filled  -with  expectations 
of  an  early  display  of  Messianic  glory,  could  not  coniprcheud 
Avords  so  explicit  as  these.  They  were  mystic  utterances  which 
they  tilled  with  the  light  of  their  own  hopes.  It  was  the  thii-d 
aimouncement,  made  by  him  to  his  disciples,  of  his  impending 
fate.  The  words  contain  no  ambiguity.  The  Jewish  ecclesiastical 
power  was  to  seize  him,  and  to  deliver  him  to  the  Roman  civil 
authorities.  lie  was  to  be  mocked,  and  scourged,  and  crucified. 
Could  more  unambiguous  words  have  been  used  ?  And  yet  they 
could  not  understand  them.  IIow  much  less  could  they  under- 
stand, "  and  the  third  day  he  shall  be  raised  ?  "  Perhaps  it  Avas 
this  that  helped  to  make  the  Avhole  statement  nnijitelligible. 
There  was  to  be  a  "  raising,"  an  elevation,  and  he  is  the  Messiah. 
"  There  is  something  awful  to  come  between  this  hour  and  that 
elevation,  something  he  calls  scourging  and  crucifying :  but  how 
can  we  know  what  he  means  ?  "     Perhaps  that  is  what  they  said. 

A  singularly  interesting  illustration  of  their  state  of  mind  ia 
furnished  by  an  incident  which  now  took  place.  Jesus  had  left 
Ephrem  to  join  the  crowds  going  to  Jerusalem. 
The  church  had  put  a  ]u-ice  on^  his  head.  He  ,^''^°  *°  *^''™* 
was  going  to  deliver  himself  to  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities.  He  evidently  intended  to  do  this  in  a  dignified  man- 
ner. And  before  going  to  Jerusalem  he  prepared  to  yield  him- 
self to  the  Messianic  liopes  and  desires  of  the  people.  He  would 
see  what  they  would  do  with  In'in  as  Messiah,  He  could  not  have 
taken  this  course  in  the  early  portion  of  his  career,  for  then  tliere 
would  have  broken  forth  a  i)rodigious  popular  uprising  which  the 
Roman  powei-  would  have  su])pi-essed,  and  in  the  collision  Jesus 
would  have  been  crushed.  This  would  have  occurred  befoi-e  he 
had  planted  his  princii)les  in  any  body  of  men  who  should  have 
been  committed  to  their  propagation.  The  circumstances  were 
altered.  If  he  were  sacrificed  his  work  would  live  :  and  lie  felt 
sure  that  he  should  even  now  be  sacrificed.  This-he  t(;ld  his  twelve 
chief  followers,  among  whom  were  liis  cousins  James  and  John. 

Somehow  the  mother  of  the  two  sons  of  Zebedce,  Sak^ne, 
aunt  of  Jesus,  joined  the  cavalcade  going  towards  Jericho.  The 
Bons  probably  had  an  interview  with  their  mother,  who  was  a 


532        FKOM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES   UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

woman  of  the  heroic  mould.  They  themselves  were  fierj,  impet 
nous,  ambitious  men.  Tlie  question  of  precedence  had  been 
mooted  among  tlie  disciples.  The  great  Teacher,  in  whom  as  the 
Messiah  thej  all  had  growing  faitli,  had  predicted  some  awful 
trouble  which  he  was  to  encounter.  Kow  was  the  time  for  James 
and  John  to  sc^-cui-e  a  pledge  of  the  highest  posts  of  honor  when 
he  should  come  into  his  glory.  Salome  was  his  aunt.  She  had 
been  known  and  loved  by  Jesus  from  his  infancy.  She  had  lately 
contributed  of  her  substance  and  time  to  his  comfort.  Her  two 
sons  were  hie  cousins.  They  had  been  his  steadfast  adherents, 
and  almost  constant  companions.  They  were  men  of  ability  and 
great  force  of  character,  lie  himself  had  called  them  Boanerges. 
Sons  of  Tliunder.  Now,  in  his  hour  of  depression,  if  they  and 
their  mother  should  unite  in  a  petition  which  showed  their  willing- 
ness to  encounter  wdth  him  the  powers  of  darkness,  would  he  not 
be  moved  to  pledge  them  the  highest  places  in  his  kingdom  ? 

Could  anything  more  clearly  than  this  disclose  the  sensuous, 
Messianic  ideas  of  the  warmest  friends  of  Jesus? 

They  came,  Salome  and  James  and  John.     The  mother  paid 

homage  to  Jesus  in  a  manner  which  showed  that  she  had  a  peti- 

ti(jn  to  prefer.      "  What  do  you  wish  ?  "  asked 
The    ambitious     t  ir  i  //o.i,i 

,.    .  J  Jesus,     iter  reply  was  :  "  Say  that  these  my  two 

sons  may  sit,  one  on  your  right  hand,  and  one  on 
your  left,  in  your  kingdom."  The  request  was  painful  to  Jesus. 
He  foresaw  that  he  was  to  be  crucified.  The  unconscious  request 
of  this  mother  was  that  her  two  sons  might  be  crucified,  one 
on  his  right  and  the  other  on  his  left,  as  it  fell  to  two  thieves 
subsequently.  Jesus  answered :  "  You  know  not  what  you  ask. 
Are  you  able  to  drink  the  cup  that  I  am  about  to  drink,  or  to  be 
baptized  with  the  baptism  with  which  1  am  baptized  ?  "  The 
bold  answer  of  the  confident  lu'others  is  :  "  We  are  able."  Jesus 
knew  that  they  must  suffer  for  his  sake,  and  so  he  tenderly  added: 
"You  shall  indeed  drink  of  my  cup,  and  be  baptized  with  the 
baptism  that  1  am  ba])tizod  with ;  but  to  sit  on  my  right  hand 
and  on  my  left  is  not  mine  to  give,  but  for  whom  it  has  been 
prejmred  by  my  Father." 

When  the  ten  heard  of  the  effort  which  James  and  John  had 
made  to  secure  glorious  posts  in  the  kingdom  they  were  very  an- 
gry. Matthew  truthfully  and  candidly  admits  his  own  fault  in 
the  premises,  while  recording  that  of  his  brethren.     The  fact  is 


GOING   TO   JEETJSALEM.  533 

that  they  all  desired  the  primacy  in  the  kingdom  whicli  tlicy 
vainly  fancied  was  about  to  be  set  up  in  the  M'orld.  Jesus  cor- 
rected their  views  and  their  temper  at  tlie  same  moment,  whilo 
he  pacified  tliem  toward  the  two  brothers,  by  calling  the  whole 
company  of  twelve  to  liim  and  saying:  "  ^'ou  know  tliat  the 
rulers  of  the  nations  rule  imperiously  over  them,  and  the  great 
men  oppress  them.  It  shall  not  be  so  among  you  :  but  whosoever 
may  wish  to  be  great  among  you,  let  him  be  your  waiting-man 
[servant]  ;  and  whosoever  may  wish  to  be  chief  among  you  shall 
be  slave  of  all.  As  the  Son  of  ]\ran  came  not  to  be  served,  but 
to  serve,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many."  This  extin- 
guishes all  churchly  pride  and  nips  the  bud  of  any  hierarchy 
among  them.  It  is  the  enunciation  of  a  general  principle,  wide 
as  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens.  In  the  little  eartldy  kingdoms 
and  churches  men  get  their  power  by  tradition  or  prescription, 
and  the  temptation  is  to  be  overbearing  and  oppressive.  But  a 
man  comes  to  be  important  as  he  is  useful.  He  rules  most  men 
who  makes  himself  necessary  to  most  men.  That  is  a  fact  which 
no  delegated  or  usurped  authority  can  suppress  forever,  how 
much  soever  it  may  seem  to  do  so  for  a  season.  Call  him  slave 
or  beggar,  if  the  man  liave  rendered  himself  essential  to  the 
happiness  of  the  largest  number  of  the  people,  he  is  their  king. 
Jesus  rests  his  own  claim  to  greatness  in  that  he  makes  the 
heaviest  possible  sacrifice  for  the  greatest  possible  good  of  the 
largest  possible  number. 

The  cavalcade  of  pilgrims  to  the  Holy  City  having  crossed  tlie 
Jordan  approached  Jericho.     In  this  vicinity  occurred  the  givino- 
of  sight  to  two  blind  men.     The  narrative  of  this 
cure  is  related  by  Matthew,  Mark,  and   Luke,       Jericho.    Mat- 

whose  stories  so  curiously  cross  one  another  as  to    *^®T  ^^' '   ^^''^^ 

,  .  1      •,        T»r      1  ,  ^-5  Lukexviii, 

create  great  perplexity.  Matthew  says  there  were 

tioo  blind  men,  Mark  and  Luke  say  ojie,  the  former  giving  the 
afflicted  man's  name  as  Bartimteus,  meaning  Son  of  Timreus. 
Luke  represents  the  cure  to  have  been  made  as  Jesus  was  enter- 
ing, and  Matthew  and  Mark  as  he  was  leaving  Jericho. 

That  the  reader  may  see  the  several  solutions  of  these  dis- 
crepancies, I  copy  the  excellent  classification  of 
them   made   by  Andrews,  inserting  in   brackets        '-The  bUnd  men. 
the   names   of   several    authors   who   have   held      °"^°°^ 
each  particular  view. 


534        FKOM   FEAST    OF   TAI5EKNACLES    UNTIL    THE   LAST   "WEEK. 

"1.  Tliat  three  blind  men  were  healed;  one  mentioned  by  Luke,  as  ha 
ai^proached  the  city  ;  two  mentioned  l:>y  Matthew  (Mark  speaks  only  of  one), 
as  he  was  leaving  tlie  city.  [Kitto,  Augustine,  Morrison.]  Some  [O.siandcr] 
make  four  to  have  been  healed. — 2.  Tliat  the  cases  of  healing  were  two,  and 
distinct;  one  being  on  his  entry  into  the  city,  the  other  on  his  departure. 
[Lightfoot,  Ebrard,  Krafft,  Tischendorf,  Wiesler,  Greswell,  Buclier,  Lex, 
Neander.]  According  to  this  solution,  Matthew  combines  the  two  in  one,  and 
deeming  the  exact  time  and  place  unimportant,  represents  them  as  botli  occur- 
ring at  the  departure  of  Jesus  from  tlie  city. — 3.  That  two  were  healed,  and 
both  at  his  entry;  Ijut  one  being  better  known  than  the  other,  he  only  is  men- 
tioned by  j\Iark  and  Luke.  [Doddridge,  Newcome,  Lichenstein,  Friedlieb.] 
— 4.  That  one  of  the  blind  men  sought  to  be  healed  as  Jesus  approached  the 
city,  but  was  not;  that  the  next  morning,  joining  himself  to  another,  they 
waited  for  him  by  the  gate,  as  he  was  leaving  the  city,  and  were  both  healed 
together,  Luke,  hi  order  to  preserve  the  unity  of  his  narrative,  relates  the 
healing  of  the  former,  as  if  it  had  taken  place  on  the  afternoon  of  the  entry. 
[Bengel,  Stier,  Trench,  Ellicott.  See  modifications  of  this  view  in  McKnight 
and  Crosljy,  and  another  m  Lange  on  Matt.  xx.  30.] — 5.  That  only  one  Avas 
healed,  and  he  when  Jesus  left  the  city.  Matthew,  according  to  his  custom, 
uses  tlie  plui'al  where  the  other  Evangelists  use  the  singular.  [Oosterzee  on 
Luke ;  Da  Costa.] — 6.  Tliat  Luke's  variance  -with  Matthew  and  Mark,  in  regard 
to  place,  may  be  removed  by  intei-j)reting  (xviii.  35)  '  as  He  was  come  nigh  to 
Jencho,'  ev  tw  eyyi^eiv  civrnv  as  ''Iipixco,  in  the  general  sense  of  being  near  to 
Jericho,  but  without  defining  whether  he  was  approacliing  to  it  or  departing 
from  it.  Its  meaning  here  is  determined  by  Matthew  and  Mark:  he  was 
leaving  tlie  city,  but  still  near  to  it.  Luke,  like  Mark,  mentions  only  the 
more  prominent  person  healed.  [Grotius  on  Matt.  xx.  30;  Clericus,  Diss.,  ii., 
Canon  G;  Pilkuigton,  cited  in  Townsend  v.  33;  Robinson,  Jarvis,  Owen.]" 
Newcome  {liar.,  275)  holds  that  Jesus  spent  several  days  in  Jericho,  and  that 
his  departure,  mentioned  by  Matthew  and  Mark,  was  for  a  temporary  puipose, 
the  blind  man  being  healed  as  he  was  returning.  ]\IcKniglit's  theory  is  (Uar., 
ii.  93)  that  there  were  two  Jerichos;  that  ns  he  left  one  he  cured  one  blind 
man,  and  as  he  left  the  other  lie  cured  the  second  blind  man.  Paulus  (iii. 
44)  holds  that  the  procession  was  so  great  that  the  front  ranks  were  leaving 
the  city  as  that  portion  in  which  Jesus  was  was  entering  it." 

The  reader  has  before  him  the  original  record  and  the  various 
theories,  and  nni^^t  choose  what  seems  most  satisfactory  to  him.  I 
believe  that  two  were  healed,  but  that  one,  for  some  reason,  was 
more  consjncuous  than  the  other,  or  afterward  came  to  be  well 
known  to  the  apostles,  and  therefore  the  account  of  his  cure  alone 
is  preserved  by  ]Mark  and  Luke.     His  story  is  simply  this. 

He  was  sitting  l)y  the  road-side,  plying  his  business  as  a  beggar, 
when  he  heard  that  in  the  vast  procession  of  }>ilgrims,  which  waa 
sweeping  ])ast  him  with  its  bustling  noise,  was  the  famous  Teachei 


GOING   TO   JERUSALEM.  535 

and  Ilealer,  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  lie  began  at  once  to  cry  out, 
"  Jesus,  Son  of  David,  have  niercv  on  me !  "  It  will  now  be  jier- 
ccived  how  at  eveiy  step  the  Messianic  spirit  rises 
aniongthe  people.  AVe  should  naturally  expect  ^^"^^  ^'''''''^^^■ 
this  when  we  recollect  that  the  church  had  set  a  price  upon  the 
head  of  Jesus,  aud  yet  he  was  publicly,  deliberately,  and  with 
d'g"itj5  going  up  to  the  head-quarters  of  his  enemies  after  he  had 
performed  such  miracles  as  made  liis  friends  feel  that  no  enemies 
could  crush  him. 

^Yhen  Bartimaeus  made  his  cry,  which  was  an  acknowledgment 
of  the  Messianic  dignity  of  Jesus,  those  nearest  bade  him  keep  his 
peace  and  make  no  disturbance.  This  injunction  was  not  made, 
as  so  many  seem  to  think,  to  repress  his  acknowledgment  of  Jesus 
as  the  Messiah.  The  populace  had  not  yet  turned  against  Jesus. 
They  rather  sided  with  liiiu  as  against  the  ecclesiastical  party  • 
but  as  there  seemed  to  be  in  the  confluence  of  events  a  current  of 
festivity,  they  did  not  choose  to  have  the  lofty  gayeties  of  the 
occasion  depressed  by  the  unmannerly  cries  of  a  beggar.  But 
they  could  not  repress  Bartimaius.  The  more  they  tried  to  silence 
him,  the  more  he  cried,  "  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me."  His 
voice  reached  the  ear  of  Jesus,  who  stood  still  and  said,  "Call 
hnn."  There  is  a  touch  of  naturalness  in  the  narrative.  As  soon 
as  Jesus  spoke  complacently,  those  very  men  became  very  kind  to 
the  beggar  they  had  just  now  rebuked,  and  said,  "  Be  of  good 
courage  ;  rise  ;  he  calls  you."  How  success  begets  success !  Tliis 
little  history  is  constantly  reproduced  in  society.  Men  of  such 
force  of  character  as  disturb  the  public  are  suppressed  if  possible. 
If  they  be  persistent  enough  to  begin  to  succeed,  that  same  public 
takes  great  delight  in  assisting. 

As  soon  as  Bartimasus  knew  that  Jesns  called  him,  he  arose, 
flung  aside  his  loose  and  probably  ragged  garment,  and  leaping 
up  came  to  Jesus.  Jesus  said  to  him,  "  AVliat  will 
you  that  I  should  do  to  you?"  He  answered,  ^^'''' ^^"'^^  ^™- 
"Babboni  [My  Master]  that  I  might  receive  my  sight !  "  The 
contrast  between  the  ambitious  and  foolish  prayer  of  James  and 
John  and  the  humble  and  wise  prayer  of  this  beggar  is  striking. 
He  knew  his  greatest  necessity.  He  was  humble^he  was  believ- 
ing, he  asked  the  most  needful  thing.  Jesus  neither  questioned 
nor  criticized  him,  but  simply  said,  "  Go  your  way :  your  faith 
has  healed  you."     It  was  a  mere  breath,  a  few  words,  and  with- 


536        FKOM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES   UNTIL   THE   LAST    WEEK. 

out  touch,  the  siglit  came  instantly  back  to  Bartiniffiiis.     It  ^\'aa 

enough.     lie  left  all  and  joined  the  procession  going  into  Jericho. 

This  permitting  himself  to  be  publicly  hailed  as  the  Messiah 

,    .,        T   ,       being  followed  with  a  sti-ikiiiiT  and  sudden  miracle 
Jericho.     Luke  Y  /•  i    i     r  •  .  .       . 

xix.  •  Matt.  XXV.     ^pcul}'^  periornied  before  an  immense  multitude, 

excited   the  people  to  a  great   pitch,  and   they 

shouted  praises  to  God  on  their  way  into  Jericho. 

The  city  of  Jericho,  the  site  of  which  is  now  occupied  by  a 

miserable  village  of  huts,  was  a  place  of  considerable  historical 


-Tl 


m 


and  commercial  importance.  It  was  iimnediately  opposite  the 
spot  in  the  Jordan  which  was  crossed  by  the  Israelites  when  they 
took  possession  of  the  promised  land.  Ilei'e  they  found  much 
spoil.  It  was  situated  in  a  beautiful  i)lain.  Its  name,  which  sig- 
nifies "Fragrance,"  indicates  that  it  was  in  the  midst  of  a  growth 
of  finest  plants.  In  fact,  there  bloomed  the  palm-tree  and  the 
balsam  "  in  the  midst  of  a  luxuriant  and  fragrant  vegetable  king- 
dom." It  afterwaids  became  the  favorite  residence  of  priests, 
who  loved  its  shades  for  contemplation,  and  of  Roman  ofhcers, 
whose  presence  was  rerpiired  by  the  richness  of  the  neighborhood, 
and  by  its  being  on  the  road  of  travel  and  of  trade  from  the  East. 


GOING    TO   JERr  SALEM. 


537 


Zaccliseus. 


Pilgrims  from  the  Perea  side  of  the  Jordan  came  through  Jericho 
on  their  way  to  Jerusalem, 

Among  the  residents  of  Jericho,  at  the  time  of  the  visit  of  Jesns, 
was  Zacchaeus.  lie  was  a  Jew.  His  Hebrew  name,  notwith- 
standing its  Greek  termination,  shows  that.*  He 
was  an  officer  of  the  Roman  Empire,  whether  an 
actnal  farmer  of  the  revenue,  a. puhlicamis,  or  only  a  comptroller, 
who  received  what  was  collected  by  the  jportitore><  and  then  paid 
it  over  to  the  farmer-general,  we  cannot  tell.  The  Koman  law 
provided  that  such  farmer-general  should  be  a  Eoman  knight,  but 
Josephus  says  that  sometimes  Jews  obtained  the  office,  as  was 
tlierefore  possible  in  the  case  of  Zaccliseus.  At  any  rate  he  had 
a  lucrative  ]ilace  in  the  customs,  and  Jericho  was  an  important 
])ost  by  the  general  reason  of  its  situation,  and  the  particular  rea- 
son of  there  being  then  a  heavy  tax  on  dates  and  balsam. 

This  man  desired  to  see  Jesus.  It  is  remarkable  that  as  Jesug 
had  achieved  what  his  countrymen  regarded  as  the  bad  reputation 
of  being  the  "Friend  of  Publicans,"  Zacchaius,  one  of  the  very 
chief,  had  never  beheld  his  person,  although  he  had  repeatedly 
been  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jericho.  Moved  by  curiosity,  and 
perhaps  by  still  higher  motives,  as  the  subsequent  history  would 
justify  us  in  supposing,  he  determined  to  put  himself  in  a  position 
to  see  the  distinguished  traveller  as  he  passed.  Zacchasus  was  so 
short  that  he  could  not  see  because  of  the  great  crowd.  His  desire 
to  behold  Jesus  conquered  his  sense  of  dignity.  So  he  ran  ahead 
of  the  crowd  and  climbed  up  into  a  svcamore-tree.  It  is  to  be 
remembered  that  tliis  is  not  like  the  tall,  close,  slender  tree  of  our 
American  river-bottoms.  In  Palestine  it  is  a  great  tree,  with 
large  trunk  and  far-spreading  arms,  and  planted  near  roads  and 
in  the  open  places  where  several  paths  meet.  The  arms  grow 
across  the  road,  giving  excellent  opportunity  for  seeing  any  one 
passing  beneath.  Hammocks  are  sometimes  swung  in  them,  and 
a  score  of  girls  and  boys  may  be  seen  playing  among  the  limbs 
of  this  ample  tree.f 

As  Jesus  passed  and  looked  np  he  saw  Zacchaeus,  and  somehow 
knew  his  name,  and  surprised  him  with  the  sudden  address,  "Zac- 
chaeus, make  haste  and  come  down ;  for  to-day  I  must  stay  at  your 


*  The  name  is  found  in  its  Hebrew 
form  in  Ezra  ii.  9  ;  Nehemiah  vii  14 ; 
and  3  Mace.  x.  19. 


f  For  a  description  and  a  picture  of 
this  tree,  see  Thomson's  Land  and  Book, 
u.  23. 


538        FKOM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES    UNTIL    THE   LAST   WTSEK. 

liousc."  The  freedom,  the  kindness,  the  cordiality  of  Jesus  won 
Zacchreiis  instantaneously.  lie  almost  fell  from  the  tree,  and 
with  demonstrations  of  joy  received  Jesus  as  his  guest. 

On  the  way  to  the  house  thei-e  were  some  disaffected  Jews  who 
criticised  this  conduct.     Uninvited,  he  had  invited  himself  to  be- 
come the  iruest  of  a  sinner.     Every  man  connected 
His  conversion.  •  i       i  1 1        •  i-     i  "  i  pi 

witJi  the  collection  oi  the  revenues  was  hateful 

in  the  eyes  of  the  Jews,  and  if  one  of  their  own  nation  accepted 
such  a  post  he  was  regarded  as  specially  despicable.  It  was  said 
by  some  one  in  the  crowd,  "He  has  gone  to  be  guest  with  a  man 
that  is  a  sinner."  Zacciifeus  heard  it,  and  knew  that  he  was  a 
sinner,  and  confessed.  He  stood  in  face  of  the  crowd  and  said 
to  Jesus,  "  See,  Lord,  the  half  of  my  possessions  I  give  to  the 
poor  ;  and  if  I  have  taken  anything  from  any  man  by  extortion  I 
wnll  restore  him  fourfold."  There  was  something  most  honest, 
deliberate,  and  ready  in  this  outspoken  confession.  According 
to  the  law  (Numbers  v.  0)  a  man  who  had  wronged  another  and 
confessed  it,  was  to  restoi-e  the  stolen  property  and  add  twenty 
per  cent,  of  its  value.  This  man  knew  that  he  had  wronged 
others,  but  his  quick  calculation  told  him  that  he  could  give  half 
his  property  to  the  poor,  restore  all  his  ill-gotten  gains,  and  pay 
the  injured  party  thi-ee  hundred  per  cent.,  and  yet  have  all  he 
now  cared  to  retain,  since  he  had  now  the  transcendent  h(^nor  of 
entertaining  Jesus  as  a  guest  in  his  house.  Speaking  both  to 
Zacclmeus  and  of  him,  Jesus  said,  "  This  day  has  salvation  come 
to  this  house,  inasmuch  as  he  also  is  a  Son  of  Abraham.  For  the 
Son  of  Man  has  come  to  seek  and  to  save  what  was  lost."  It  was 
a  most  noble  and  free  act  on  the  part  of  Jesus.  He  rose  above 
caste  and  prejudice  and  political  partisanship.  His  quick  eye  saw 
the  good  in  Zacchseus,  a  germ  of  sweet  richness  kept  from  its 
growth  by  the  difhculties  of  his  position  and  the  prejudice  of  his 
people.  Jesus  suddeid}^  so  warmed  it  that  it  sprung  at  once  into 
vigorous  growth.     Wide-hearted  Jesus ! 

We  know  nothing  more  of  Zacchsieus  positively.  There  is  a 
tradition  that  he  became  a  disciple  of  Peter,  and  subsequently 
Bishop  of  Csesarea.  But  there  is  no  historical  proof  of  this,  so 
far  as  I  am  aware. 

It  may  have  been  in  the  house  of  Zacichseus,  or  just  as  they 
started,  or  soon  after,  that  Jesus  uttered  the  Parable  of  the  Pounds, 
in  order  to  correct  the  perversely  wrong  \iews  of  his  friends  in 


GOING    TO   JERUSALEM.  539 

the  inultituclo,  ^vho,  saelurr  thej  were  approaching  the  Holy  City, 
looked  now  for  tlie  immediate  inani!;nration  of  Iiis  ]\Iusi>ianic 
reii^ni.  This  expectation  of  worldly  dis])hiy  may  have  l)een  kindled 
hy  the  phrase,  "  The  Son  of  Man  is  come  to  seek  and  save  that 
which  M-as  lost."  They  believed  a  contiiet  would  come  between 
Jesus  and  the  Church,  and  that  Jesus  Avould  ti-iumph  and  would 
set  np  "  the  kingdom  of  God  "  at  once.     This  is  the  parable : 

"  A  certain  nol)leman  went  into  a  far  country,  to  receive  fcn-liiniself  a  kini,'- 
doni,  and  retmn.     And  having  called  ten  of  his  own  slaves,  he  gave  them  ten 
mime,  and  said,  '  Trade  till  I  come."     But  his  citizens  hated 
liini,  and  sent  a  message  after  him,  saying,  '  We  will  not    Parable  of  the  roun.is. 
have  this  man  to  reign  over  us.'     And  it  was  so  on  his  return,  ha\ing  received 
the  kingdom,  tliat  he  commanded  those  slaves  to  whom  he  had  given  the 
money  to  be  called  to  him,  that  he  might  know  what  they  had  gained  by 
trading.     Tiien  came  the  first  and  said,  'Lord,  your  mina  has  gained  ten 
minas.'     And  he  said  to  him.  '  "Well !  good  slave !  because  you  have  been  faith- 
ful in  a  very  little,  have  authority  over  ten  cities.'     And  the  second  came  and 
said,  '  Lord,  your  mina  luis  gained  tive  niin.ne.'     And  he  said  to  this  man,  '  Be 
you  also  over  live  cities.'     And  the  other  came  and  said,  'Lord,  behold  your 
mina,  which  I  have  kept  laid  up  in  a  napkin  ;  for  I  feared  you,  Ijecause  you 
are  an  austere  man.     You  take  up  what  you  did  not  lay  down,  and  reap  what 
you  did  not  sow.'     lie  said  to  him,  '  Out  of  your  own  mouth  vdll  I  condenni 
you,  wicked  slave.     You  knew  that  I  am  an  austere  man,  taking  up  what  I 
laid  not  down,  and  reaping  what  I  did  not  sow.     Wherefoi-e  tiien  did  you 
not  give  my  money  into  the  bank,  that  at  my  coming  I  might  have  required 
it  with  intere.«t?'     And  he  said  to  those  Avho  stood  by,  'Take  from  him  the 
mina,  and  give  to  him  that  has  ten  minfe.'     And  they  said  to  him,  'Lord,  he 
has  ten  min;c.'     '  I  say  that  to  every  one  who  hath  shall   be  given,  and  from 
him  \vho  hath  not,  even  what  he  has  shall  be  taken  away.     But  mine  enemies, 
those  who  would  not  that  I  should  reign  over  them,  bring  hitlier,  and  slay 
them  before  me.' " 

This  parable  is  very  far  from  being  identical  with  that  of  the 
talents,  as  we  shall  see  when  we  come  to  study  the  latter.  That  a 
writer  professing  to  discharge  the  functions  of  criticism  shonld 
see  in  this  an  awkward  amalgamation  of  two  other  parables, 
namely,  of  the  Talents  and  of  the  Unfaithful  Husbandmen,  is  a 
conspicuous  display  of  the  power  of  a  preconceived  theory  over 
critical  acmnen.  {Sh'a.n&s,'s  Zffe  of  J<'sus,  I  351.)  The  parables 
have  a  few  things  in  common,  but  the  points  of  instruction  are 
totally  different.  Here  Jesus  is  surrounded  by  two  classes  of  per- 
sons, one  a  multitude  representing  the  Jewish  ]ieople,  and  the 
other  his  little  band  of  disciples.     This  paralde  of  the  pounds  ia 


540        FROM   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES    UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

intended  to  teach  a  lesson  to  both,  as  both  were  more  or  less  look- 
ing for  the  setting  np  of  a  kingdom  which  should  overthrow 
Rome. 

The  formal  portion  of  the  parable  is  taken  from  the  then  well- 
known  circumstances  in  the  career  of  Archelaus,  the  son  of  Ilerod 
the  Gi-eat.     (See  the  note,  page  59.)     Jesus  dis- 

'      .    ,   ,  tiiiiruishes  between  the  servants  of  the  kina:  and 

case  or  Archelaus.  =>  _  ,  _  o 

the  rel^ellious  subjects  of  the  kingdom,  and  has  a 
lesson  for  each.  The  latter  will  reject  their  king.  The  Jews  will 
reject  Jesus  for  their  s])iritual  as  they  had  rejected  Archelaus  for 
their  civil  sovereign.  The  result  will  be  their  destruction  and  the 
establishment  of  Jesus  in  his  kingdom,  lie  meant  to  tell  them 
that  so  far  from  the  setting  np  of  a  kingdom  of  temporal  power, 
he  was  to  Ije  rejected  by  them  ;  but  that  this  rejection  would  not 
harm  him,  but  would  destroy  the  Jewish  nation,  which  very  soon 
subsequently  proved  to  be  true  in  history. 

lie  intimated,  also,  that  his  was  to  be  a  reign  of  spiritual  in- 
fluence, and  therefore,  instead  of  putting  arms  into  the  hands  of 

his  servants  he  gave  them  small  proi)erties,  which 
Adapted  to  the    ^^        \vere  to  uso,  Calmly  working,  negotiating, 

condition   of    the  ,  ,.  ., '  t       -,      ,        if  o      i 

and  tradmg  until  the  Lord  should  come,  bucn 
conduct  on  their  part  would  be  the  best  possible 
protest  against  the  rebellious  subjects,  because  it  would  show  that 
these  servants  had  such  perfect  faith  in  the  return  of  their  master 
and  king  that  they  quietly  persisted  in  trade,  so  as  to  have  ac- 
complished all  that  was  possible  before  his  return.  lie  taught 
his  disciples  that  Ihey  who  had  the  faith,  the  industiy,  and  the 
endurance  to  do  this  should  receive  a  reward  proportionate  to 
their  success,  but  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  small  sum  put  in 
their  hands  to  trade  with.  If  we  understand  even  the  Attic 
mi}ia  as  the  money  here  designated,  the  sum  did  not  exceed  $15 
gold,  equal  in  its  purchasing  capabilities  in  that  age  to  many  times 
§15  this  day,  but  still  being  only  one-sixtieth  of  a  talent.  lie 
that  made  it  tenfold  M'as  created  ruler  over  ten  cities,  and  he  that 
made  it  fivefold,  over  five  cities.  As  Von  Gerlach  well  says, 
"  Ten  minai  would  scarcely  purchase  a  home ;  and  the  superabun- 
dant recompense  of  grace  is  ten  cities." 

This  interpretation  is  consistent  with  the  whole  narrative,  and 
with  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  uttered,  and  the  state 
of  mind  of  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed.     As  far  as  practi- 


disciples. 


GOING   TO   JERUSALEM.  541 

cable  it  corrected  all  their  misappreliensions  before  their  arrival  iu 
Jerusalem. 

The  Passover  was  approaching.  Many  had  gone  up  fi-om  the 
country  to  Jerusalem  to  make  ceremonial  purification  f<jr  the  great 
festi\al.  These  persons  hoped  to  find  the  marvelhms  Teacher  in 
the  Holy  City.  They  made  inquiry  among  themselves,  saying: 
"  "Wliat  think  you ;  that  he  will  not  come  up  to  the  feast? "  Thid 
special  form  of  the  impiiry  is  recorded  by  John,  who  states  as  a 
reason  for  it  that  the  church  authorities  had  given  directions  that 
if  any  should  discover  where  Jesus  was,  information  should  be 
given  at  once  that  the  church  might  seize  him. 

"  Six  days  before  the  Passover  Jesus  came  to  Bethany."  This 
note  of  time  assists  us  in  adjusting  the  chronologic  connection  of 
events.     It  does  not  fix  with  precision  the  exact       „    ,  „  . 

day  of  the  arri\al  in  Pethany.  That  will  depend  ^ay,  31st  March, 
upon  the  mode  of  calculation  of  each  reckoner,  and  Saturday,  1st 
(See  Andrews,  p.  31)0-398.)  The  six  days  may  April,  a.d.  30. 
include  both  the  Passover  and  the  day  of  arrival,      .^     ;  ,    '  •/, 

"^  XIV.  ;  Jonu  xu.  1. 

or  include  the  former  and  exclude  the  latter, 
or  include  the  latter  and  exclude  the  former,  or  exclude  both. 
Kobinson,  including  both  days,  makes  his  arrival  on  Saturday; 
Strong,  by  the  same  computation,  fixes  it  on  Sunday — Pobinson 
putting  the  Passover  on  Thursday,  and  Strong  on  Friday.  Gres- 
well  agrees  with  Pobinson,  and  Luthardt  with  Strung,  but  reach 
these  several  conclusions  by  other  processes.  The  language  of 
Moses  is,  "  In  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  first  month  at  even  is  the 
Lord's  Passover."  (Levit.  xxiii.  5.)  The  first  month  is  Kisan, 
and  six  days  before  the  l-ith  must  have  been  on  the  8th  of  Kisan. 
Put  when  did  the  l*lth  Kisan  fall  ?  on  Thursday  or  Friday  ?  In 
this  case  my  opinion  agrees  with  that  of  the  great  majority  of 
reckoners  in  fixing  the  Passover  on  Thursday  ;  and,  n(jt  including 
the  Passover,  the  date  of  the  arrival  will  be  Friday. 

The  correctness  of  this  conclusion  is  favored  by  the  consider- 
ation that  Jesus  would  not  unnecessarily  travel  fifteen  miles  from 
Jericho  to  Bethan}-  on  the  Sabbath,  nor  is  it  possible  that  he  jour- 
neyed part  of  the  way  on  Friday  and  then  finished  the  journey 
after  sunset  of  Saturday,  the  Sabbath,  as  between  the  two  towns 
was  a  wilderness  with  no  stopping-place,  and  the  road  is  exceed- 
ingly bad ;  and  moreover,  he  was  with  a  cavalcade  of  ]>ilgriins 
pushing  towards  the  Holy  City.     It  would  seem  that  he  probablj 


542        FROM   FEAST   CF   TABERNACLES    UNTIL   THE   LAST   WEEK. 

reached  Jericho  in  the  evening  of  Thursday,  7  ISTisan  (30th 
March),  remained  all  night  with  Zacch?eus,  made  the  whole  jour- 
ney to  Bethany  the  next  day,  reaching  the  place  that  evening 
before  the  beginning  of  the  Sabbath.  He  knew  that  it  was  to  be  a 
week  of  conflict  and  anguish,  and  he  would  naturally  desire  to  be 
with  his  friends  of  Bethany,  refreshing  himself  in  their  quiet 
home. 

It  was  soon  reported  in  Jerusalem  that  Jesus  was  at  the  house 
of  Lazarus,     Great  crowds  began  to  stream  out  to  the  little  vil- 
lage, which  was  less  than  a  Sabbath-day's  jour- 
Crowds  flock  to    j^e    frojnthe  city.     There  was  a  double  induce- 

66C  Iiini 

ment :  they  might  see  Jesus,  and  at  the  same  time 
gaze  upon  Lazarus,  who  had  had  the  strange  experience  of  being 
raised  from  the  dead.  This  combined  attractiveness  of  Jesus  and 
his  friend  Lazarus  incensed  the  church,  and  an  ecclesiastical 
council  was  held  to  compass  the  death  of  both,  because  Lazarus 
was  living  proof  that  Jesus  possessed  the  strange  power  of  raising 
the  dead,  and  those  who  saw  them  both  together  believed  on 
Jesus.  It  was  decided  to  destroy  both  men  after  the  Passover. 
They  had  not  then  calculated  upon  the  assistance  of  Judas,  whose 
co-operation  hastened  the  consummation  of  their  plans. 

The  Sabbath — Saturday,  April  1 — was  spent  in 
Last  Sabbath  of    ^^^^     ^^j^^  ^^  ^j^^  j^^^^^^  ^^  Lazarus.     It  was  the 

Jgsus 

last  Saljbath  in  the  career  of  Jesus,  and  it  was 
appropriate  to  spend  it  with  the  beloved  family  of  Bethany. 


PART   VII. 

THE  LAST  WEEK. 

FEOM   APRIL  1    TO    APRIL    8,    A.D.    30. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  FTEST  DAY — FEOM  SATURDAY  EVENING  TO   SUNDAY  EVENINO. 

Sunday  morning  came.  The  Sabbath  had  ended.  Jesus  and 
his  followers  took  up  their  journey  to  Jerusalem.  It  was  a  gay 
time  in  the  national  calendar.  The  crowds  of 
pils^rims  going  up  to  the  great  feast  received  ac-  between  Beth- 
cessions  every  hour.  When  the  party  or  Jesus  ^^^  Paim-Sun- 
reached  a  village  called  Bethphage,  which  means  day,  April  2.  Matt. 
House  of  Figs^  the  site  of  which  it  seems  not  ^^i- ;  ^^^^'^  ^i-  > 
possible  now  to  identify,  but  which  lay  some-  -^"^^  ^^''■''  '^°^ 
where  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  Jesus  sent  forth 
two  of  his  disciples,  saying,  "  Go  into  the  village  over  against  you, 
and  immediately  you  shall  find  an  ass  tied,  and  with  her  a  foal 
whereon  never  man  sat ;  having  loosed  them,  bring  them  unto  me. 
And  if  any  one  say  anything  to  you,  you  shall  say,  '  The  Lord  has 
need  of  tliem,'  and  immediately  he  will  send  them." 

The  disciples  went  on  their  errand  and  found  a  colt  tied  outside 
a  door  at  a  cross-roads.  AVlien  they  connncncod  to  untie  it  tlie 
owners  said,  "AVliat  are  you  doing,  loosing  tliat  colt?"  AVlien  tlio 
disciples  repeated  the  words  of  Jesus,  the-objcctors  said  no  more, 
but  let  them  take  it  away.  It  would  seem  that  the  dam  followed 
tLe  foal.  It  was  natural  that  they  should  keep  togethel-.  Tlic 
presence  of  the  ass  kept  the  colt  quiet.  On  the  latter  the  disciples 
of  Jesus  spread  their  garments,  and  he  sat  on  them,  and  thus  rode 
forward  down  the  Mount,  in  the  midst  of  the  cavalcade.     Tho 


544 


THE   LAST   WEEK. 


historian  Matthew  says  that  in  the  doing  of  this  was  f  ulfined  what 
was  spoken  through  the  prophet,  "  Tell  tlie  daughter  of  Zion,  see 
your  King  comes  to  yon,  meek,  and  sitting  upon  an  ass,  even  upon 
a  foal,  an  offspring  of  a  beast  of  burden."  * 

AVliy  Jesus  should  have  done  this  is  a  question  which  naturally 
arrests  us  at  this  point.     It  is  manifest,  from  the  whole  tenor  of 
the  history,  that  he  felt  that  his  hour  was  now  about 
Jesus  riding.      ^^  ^^^^^^     jj^  expected  to  stand  no  more  by  the 
Sea  of  Galilee,  or  walk  the  streets  of  Capernaum,  Bethsaida,  and 
the  other  places  which  had  been  his  haunts.     He  addressed  him- 
self as  to  a  last  conflict  with  his  foes.     They  had  laid  a  price  upon 
his  head.     He  did  not  intend  to  evade  their  vigilance,  but  he  in- 
tended not  to  throw  himself  recklessly  into  their  hands.     There- 
fore he  alwavs  left  the  city  in  the  evening,  spending  the  night  in 
a  neighboring  village,  and  returning  to  the  Temple-service  in  the 
niorntng.     But  he  would  avoid  no  responsibility  of  his  position. 
He  rod"^  into  Jerusalem.     There  should  be  no  pomp,  and  there- 
fore no  blooded  steed  with  rich  caparisons  and  insignia  of  royalty 
should  carry  him.     An  ass's  colt  should  testify  at  once  his  poverty 
and  his  dignity.     He  went  in  so  lifted  up  that  all  the  people  might 
Bee  him,  and  "  the  church"  should  perceive  that  he  was  not  afraid 
of  his  fate.  , 


*  Strauss  (.Life  of  Jesus,  ii.  291)  holds  ' 
that  the  "Evangelical  narratives"  of 
this  advance  of  Jesus  to  Jerusalem  "  are 
formed  not  so  much  upon  a  given  fact 
as  upon  Old  Testament  passages  and 
dogmatic  ideas."  In  proof  of  which 
he  cites  Matthew's  account  of  the  two 
disciples  bringing  two  animals,  and 
spreading  the  garments  upon  both,  and 
setting  Jesus  upon  both.  He  accounts 
for  this  by  Matthew's  want  of  sense  and 
misapprehension  of  the  passage  in  Zech- 
ariah  (ix.  9).  Matthew  "paralyzes" 
"the  understanding"  of  Dr.  Strauss 
when  he  seems  to  represent  Jesus  as 
riding  both  animals  at  once!  and  the 
Doctor  recovers  himself  only  when  he 
examines  Zechariah,  where  it  is  written 
in  Hebrew  parallelism — 

"  Lowly— and  riding  upon  an  ass. 
And  upon  a  colt,  the  foal  of  an  ass." 

Matthew  had  read  that,  and  supposed 


that  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  ne- 
ces.'^itated  the  riding  of  two  animals 
at  once,  and  so  he  made  the  history  con- 
form to  his  dogmatic  ideas !  But  no  one 
would  charge  Dr.  Strauss  with  being  so 
poor  a  Hebrew  scholar  as  not  to  be  quite 
familiar  with  the  Hebrew  poetic  forms. 
As  soon  as  he  turned  to  the  text  in  Zech- 
ariah he  knew  that  the  second  line  was 
a  mere  parallelism,  being  equivalent  to 
and  expounding  the  idea  in  the  first  line, 
the  ass  in  the  one  being  identical  with 
the  foal  in  the  other,  the  second  simply 
amplifying  the  first.  Matthew  certain- 
ly was  as  good  a  Hebrew  scholar  as 
Dr.  Strauss,  and  the  writings  of  the  for- 
mer, examined  critically,  show  quite  a.s 
much  common  sense  as  the  latter.  This 
' '  paralyzing  of  the  understanding  "  is  an 
affectation  unworthy  one  who  sets  up 
for  critic  on  the  most  influential  of  aU 
the  productions  of  literature. 


THE   FIRST   DAT.  545 

As  the  cavalcade  descended  tlie  sides  of  the  Mount  of  Olives 
they  met  a  crowd  composed  of  the  friends  of  Jesus,  of  those  who 
had  admiration  of  him,  of  those  whom  curiosity 
and  the  excitement  of  the  occasion  had  drawn  to-  ^^^  ^^°^  ' 
g-ether,  coming  out  to  meet  Jesus,  who  was  reported  to  be  approach- 
ing the  city.  With  the  former  Lazarus  was  undoubtedly  present, 
and  with  the  latter  the  emissaries  of  the  church  party.  The  meet- 
ing of  these  tides  of  people  heightened  the  excitement.  They  cut 
branches  from  the  trees  and  strewed  them  on  the  road.  They 
took  their  very  garments  from  their  shoulders  and  spread  them 
before  the  colt  that  bore  Jesus.  Their  hopes  of  the  setting  up  of 
the  Messianic  kingdom  waxed  warm.  They  shouted,  "  Ilosanna 
to  the  Son  of  David  !  Be  praised  the  King  of  Israel,  coming  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  !  Peace  in  lieaven  !  Hosanna  in  the  high- 
est!" 

Tin's  Messianic  shout  of  joy  was  taken  from  the  Psalm  cxviii, 
25.  The  series  of  Psalms  from  cxiii.  to  cxviii.,  inclusive,  called 
the  Great  Ilallel,  was  usually  chanted  by  the  priests,  the  whole 
multitude  of  worshippers  waving  branches  of  willow  and  palm, 
and  at  certain  intervals  shouting  the  response,  "  O  Lord,  I  beseech 
thee,  send  now  prosperity."  This  was  the  Hallelujah  or  Ilosanna. 
The  children  who  were  old  enough  to  w^ave  the  branches  and  re- 
peat the  words  joined  in  the  responses.  The  willow  wands  them- 
selves came  to  be  called  Ilosannas.  And  so  wlienever  there  wei-e 
occasions  of  happy  excitem^t  and  joyous  anticipation,,  this  pas- 
sage from  the  Psalm  became  its  form  of  utterance. 

There  were  true  hearts  out  of  which  this  cry  of  joy  went  up  in 
utmost  sincerity ;  but  the  mass  of  the  people  were  carried  away 

with  a  wild  kind  of  excitement  which  had  no  sub- 

,,•11       .       £  n  •.■I        rni  r-     , '      i  Great  excitement* 

stantial  basis  or  raith.  I  hey  were  a  festival  pop- 
ulation, the  people  of  the  city  and  the  vicinity,  whose  bread  was 
in  the  maintenance  of  the  sacred  metropolitan  character  of  Jeru- 
salem. x\s  the  mass  of  the  citizens  of  Kome  at  this  day,  artists 
and  artisans,  depend  for  their  livelihood  upon  Pome's  being  kept 
the  centre  of  ecclesiastical  attraction,  and  mio-ht  therefore  regret 
any  movement  which  should  take  the  Papal  throne  from  tlie  city 
or  break  up  a  system  which  by  repeated  festivals  and  processions 
and  spectacular  exhibitions  of  surpassing  ecclesiastical  splendor 
draws  thousands  of  visitors  and  tens  of  thousands  of  dollars  an- 
nually to  Kome,  but  might  favor  any  candidate  for  the  Papacy 
35 


646  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

•who  slioiild  promise  a  vast  increase  of  these  attractions,  so  these 
Jerusalemites  did  this  Sunday  shout  "  Hosanna  "  to  the  young 
Teacher,  after  whom  they  cried,  "  Crucify  him,  crucify  him,"  on 
the  following  Friday. 

Jesus  knew  the  hollowness  of  this  parade  and  of  this  eulogistic 
uproar.  lie  allowed  himself  to  be  addressed  as  Messiah.  If  any 
sinister  political  interpretation  were  given  it,  he 
gr  a  para  .  ^^^jj  appeal  to  his  whole  course  heretofore.  He 
would  try  his  nation.  _  lie  meant  to  be  their  spiritual  leader,  and 
set  them  free  by  making  them  fit  to  be  free,  if  they  would  accept 
such  leadership  as  that.  They  meant  to  make  him  king  of  the 
nation  civilly,  the  royal  successor  of  the  royal  David,  the  Messiah 
who  should  break  the  Roman  yoke,  and  bring  the  nations  to  be 
tributaries  of  the  Holy  People,  planting  the  banners  of  the  Hebrew 
faith  and  polity  on  every  high  place  of  the  earth,  and  making 
Jerusalem  the  World-Metropolis,  He  could  not  induce  them  to 
accept  him  as  such  a  king  as  he  meant  to  be,  and  he  would  not  be 
such  a  king  as  they  desired.  They  could  not  induce  him  to  fulfil 
their  wishes,  and  they  would  not  comply  with  his  requirements. 
This  Palm-Sunday  they  tried  their  experiment,  hoping  to  betray 
him  in  a  moment  of  excitement  into  the  assumption  of  a  position 
from  which  he  could  not  retreat  until  he  had  carried  out  their  de- 
signs. He  spent  the  week  in  one  last  long  effort  to  lift  them  to 
his  plane  of  vision.  They  failed.  He  failed.  The  same  multi- 
tude, when  they  found  they  had  failed,  wheeled  into  line  with 
the  forces  of  the  cnuKcn,  and  increased  the  weight  that  was  flung 
on  the  lofty  and  lovely  young  Dissenter  and  Heretic  to  crush  him 
out  of  the  world. 

The  emissaries  of  the  church  failed  to  understand  the  temper 

of  this  festive  mob,  and  felt  as  if  their  case  was  about  to  be  lost. 

They  said  to  one  another,  each  blaming  his  neigh- 

The  church    |^^^,  ^^^,  incfficienc}^,  as  men  in  such  circumstances 

^  '  are  wont  to  do,  "  Do  you  not  perceive  how  ye  pre- 

vail nothing  ?  Behold  the  world  is  gone  after  him ! "  It  really 
seemed  as  if  the  world  had  gone  after  him.  As  they  looked  upon 
the  mountain  side  it  was  covered  with  an  immense  multitude,  and 
when  these  waved  their  branches  and  shouted  their  song  the  clear 
air  was  filled  with  the  multitudinous  music  ;  and  the  enemies  of 
Jesus,  clad  in  robes  of  priestly  authority,  sitting  in  the  high  places 
of  churchly  power,  plotting  the  murder  of  Jesus,  heard  that  shout, 


THE   FIRST    DAY.  547 

and  shook  in.  their  timorous  pride  as  Jesus  neared  the  city,  sitting 
simple  and  quiet  on  tlie  ass's  colt,  a  pure  personage  without  pre- 
tence, a  good  man  to  be  flung  up  against  the  rock  of  the  church 
by  the  billows  of  the  popular  enthusiasm,  and  left  there  to  perish 
when  that  tide  ebbed,  but  who  now  seemed  to  priest  and  Pharisee 
a  bitter  riddle  of  destiny,  whose  presence  shook  them  with  an 
as: Lie  of  fear  and  inflamed  them  with  a  fever  of  hatred. 

Some  of  that  party  being  with  the  multitude,  and  offended  by 
this  open  acknowledgment  of  his  Messiahship,  said  to  Jesus, 
"  Teacher,  rebuke  your  disciples  : "  which  far  from  doing,  Jesua 
answered,  "  I  tell  you  that  if  these  should  be  silent  the  stones  will 
cry  out ;  "  signifying  by  this  proverbial  ex])rcssion,  "  Do  you  ex- 
pect my  disciples  to  be  harder  than  stones  ?  They  have  followed 
me  through  my  years  of  ministry,  they  have  seen  me  open  the 
eyes  of  the  blind  and  unstop  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  and  cleanse  the 
skin  of  the  leper,  and  raise  the  very  dead,  and  now  they  see  the 
general  people  acknowledge  me  :  are  they  stones  that  tliey  should 
show  no  emotion  ? " 

Then  they  came  in  sight  of  the  city.     From  the  summit  of 

Mount  Olives  the  view  of  Jerusalem  on  the  opposite  heights  is  very 

imposing.     The  Crusaders  broke  into  jubilation 

when  they  first  beheld  it.     But  now  Jesus  looked        ^  *^     °     ^* 

c  rusalem. 

With  profound  sadness  at  its   walls  and  temples, 

and  dwellings  and  towers,  with  its  thousands  of  historical  associa- 
tions, of  kings  and  prophets  and  holy  men,  of  splendid  worship 
and  bitter  bigotry  and  deeds  of  violence,  in  the  days  of  its  gloi-y 
and  the  days  of  its  gloom,  the  city  of  the  Great  King  now  held 
as  an  outpost  of  a  heathen  empire.  It  M'as  his  Father's  House 
on  earth.  It  was  the  repository  of  the  oracles  of  God.  But  now 
it  was  about  to  reject,  to  betray,  and  to  murder  him.  TVliat 
a  city  it  might  speedily  become  if  it  would  but  be  the  first  to 
accept  the  form  of  civilization  he  could  give,  and  the  spiritualized 
forms  of  faith  he  could  impart !  Its  doom  rose  up  before  his  mind. 
This  great  city  was  hastening  to  a  direful  catastrophe  and  knew  it 
not.  The  very  spirit  which  led  the  reigning  party  in  Jerusalem  to 
reject  Jesus  would  precipitate  the  city  into  SHch  acts  as  should 
bring  down  upon  it  the  crushing  arm  of  the  Roman  Empire.  He 
foresaw  all  that.  He  was  "  a  man  that  could  certainly  divine." 
He  beheld  the  Eoman  cohorts  encamped  with  their  engines  of  war 
laying  siege  to  the  city  of  David.    He  saw  the  fagot  and  the  sword 


548  ■  THE   LAST  WEEK. 

carrying  destruction  to  buildings,  and  deatli  to  men,  and  worse 
tlian  death  to  women.  He  saw  the  Roman  eagle  flaunting  in  the 
liolj  place,  and  the  priests  murdered  as  they  attempted  to  flee,  and 
ferocity  and  lust  penetrating  everywhere,  and  soiling  and  tram- 
pling and  ruining  everything  sacred  in  man,  or  woman,  or  temple. 
It  swept  over  the  city  of  the  House  of  God.  His  was  a  great,  en- 
during, tender  nature.  This  outburst  was  no  relieving  shower  of 
sentiment  overflowing  his  eyelids  ;  it  was  the  genuine  expression 
of  manliest  noblest  sorrow  for  a  fall  from  an  eminence  so  august 
to  an  al)yss  so  base,  that  never  in  the  ages  would  Jerusalem  climb 
back  to  the  splendid  exaltation  from  which  she  was  about  to  be 
toj^pled. 

Amid  his  sobs  his  disciples  heard  him  apostrophizing  the  city  in 

these  tear-wet  words.     "  If  thou  hadst  known — in  this  day — even 

thou — the  things  for  peace!     But  now — they  are 

Jesus    apostro-     ,  .  i    ,.  ,i  .      ^  i       -n         i  ^     •^^ 

, .      ,        1         hid  from  thme  eyes  ! — i^or  days  sliall  come  upon 
phizes  Jerusalem.  .   ''  ^  -^  ^ 

thee  when  thine  enemies  shall  cast  a  trench  about 
thee,  and  compass  thee  round,  and  keep  thee  in  on  every  side, — 
and  shall  level  thee  with  the  ground,  and  thy  children  in  thee  :  and 
they  shall  not  leave  in  thee  stone  upon  stone,  because  thou  know- 
est  not  the  day  of  thy  visitation  ! " 

Down  the  slopes  of  the  Olive  Mount,  past  the  Gethsemane  Gar- 
den, over  the  Kedron  Creek,  went  the  Palm-Sunday  procession. 

Serene  and  sad  sat  Jesus  on  the  colt  as  the  singing 
and  Temple  cavalcade,  ascending  to  the  white  walls,  passed 

through  the  gates  into  the  streets  of  Jerusalem, 
rnaking  the  city  to  ring  with  the  gladness  of  their  exuberant  song. 
From  the  lowliest,  Jesus  had  ascended  to  the  highest  place  in  the 
nation.  This  festal  procession  was  becoming  something  like  a 
royal  cortege.  All  the  city  was  moved.  Out  of  the  windows 
peered  priest  and  Pharisee,  and  said,  "Who  is  this?"  And  the 
peo]^le  answered,  "  This  is  the  prophet  Jesus,  from  Nazareth  of 
Galilee."  Perhaps  those  who  answered  were  Galileans  themselves, 
and,  becoming  ])roud  of  the  prophet  that  had  sprung  from  their 
country,  they  made  a  response  which  was  the  very  answer,  whether 
so  intended  or  not,  to  anger  the  hierarchic  party.  But  the  tone  in 
which  the  popular  party  answered  the  priestly  party  sounds  to  me 
like  an  abatement  of  enthusiasm.  They  do  not  cry  out,  "  This  is 
the  King  of  Israel  coming  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  !  Come  down, 
ye  priests  and  Pharisees,  and  render  him  homage."  Jesus  doubt 
less  felt  all  this  abatement  of  popular  zeal. 


THE  rmST  DAY.  549 

Jesus  went  forthwitli  to  the  Temple,  and  made  an  iuspociion  of 
all  things  in  the  holy  place. 

There  were  certain  Greeks,  probably  Jewish  proselytes,  who  had 
come  np  to  the  feast,  and,  with  all  that  intellectual  inquisiti\e- 

ness  which  marked  the  Hellenistic  character,  they 

X  TT  j>       1       1  Greeks  seek  him. 

were  eager  to  see  Jesus.  He  was  a  iresh  phe- 
nomenon of  humanity.  They  seem  to  have  been  people  of  cul- 
ture. They  ^vere  at  least  polite,  and  did  not  intrude  on  the  Great 
Teacher,  but  communicated  their  desires  to  Philip  of  Bethsaida. 
Perhaps  Philip  had  Greek  blood  in  him,  as  his  name  indicates. 
He  certainly  had  modesty.  Although  these  Greeks  represented 
the  most  polished  forms  of  civilization,  they  were,  by  Hebrew 
narrowness,  regarded  as  the  lowest  class  of  worshipj^ers  in  the 
great  Temple.  He  consulted  his  brother  disciple  Andrew,  and 
upon  agreement  they  both  told  Jesus. 

So  far  from  meeting  a  repulse  these  disciples  found  that  the  very 
message  filled  Jesus  with  a  strange  joy.  He  welcomed  the  Greeks, 
and  said  to  them  and  to  his  disciples,  "The  hour  is  come  that  the 
Sou  of  Man  should  be  glorified.  I  most  assuredl}'  say  to  you.  That 
except  a  grain  of  wheat  falling  into  the  ground  die,  it  abides  alone; 
but  if  it  die,  it  bears  much  fruit.  He  wlio  loves  his  life  loses  it, 
and  he  who  hates  his  life  in  this  world  shall  keep  it  unto  perpet 
ual  life.  If  an}^  one  serve  me,  let  him  follow  me  ;  and  where  1 
am,  there  also  shall  my  servant  be.  1£  any  man  serve  me,  the 
Father  will  honor  him." 

The  shouts  of  the  people  did  not  exhilarate  Jesus,  did  not  for  a 
moment  throw  him  from  his  mental  equipoise.     Indeed  Jesus 
seems  grand  in  his  solitary  sadness  amid  this  po- 
pular gladness.     But  the  coming  of  the   Greeks    tiiere\^th  ^^^ 
seems  a  great  delight   to   him.     He   is   thereby 
glorified.     To  say  so  was  disloyalty  and  heresy.     It  was  enough 
tliat  as  proselytes  they  were  bai-ely  admitted  within  holy  precincts. 
Loyalty  to  Hebrew  traditions  demanded  contempt  of  pagans,  and 
loyalty  to  the  church  party  demanded  contempt  for  all  the  world 
that  did  not  live  as  the  Pharisees  directed  and  worship  as  the  priests 
taught.     But  tlie  soul  of  Jesus  was  so  tall  as  to  look  over  the  palo 
of  man's  church;  indeed  to  perceive  that  that  rotten  structure  was 
to  be  by  himself  felled  to  the  ground,  that  the  whole  world  might 
be  let  into  one.    That  was  his  glorification.    It  required  martyrdom 
to  accomplish  it,  and  he  was  going  to  endure  that  martyrdom  and 


650  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

accomplish  that  glorious  bringing  of  all  peoples  into  one.  The 
births  of  life  are  through  the  husks  and  corruption  of  death,  a 
truth  which  finds  forceful  and  beautiful  illustration  in  veo^etable 
reproduction.  The  man  wlio,  like  the  foolish  farmer^  will  not 
sow  his  wheat  because  he  desires  to  save  his  wheat,  will  surely 
lose  it  all.  "  To  hate  "  one's  life  is  a  Hebraism  signifying  to 
"  value  less."  He  who  values  this  present  form  of  life  less  than 
the  life  which  is  perpetual  shall  keep  both  this  and  that.  Jesus 
intended  to  yield  this  petty  Palm-Sunday  triumph,  and  even  the 
apparently  more  substantial  royalty  of  supreme  civil  rule,  so  that 
he  might  live  in  the  lives  of  the  world  and  be  king  over  the 
hearts  of  the  ages.  He  desired  his  disciples  to  follow  his  example, 
and  promised  that  all  who  did,  whatever  earthly  distinctions  they 
might  miss,  should  have  honor  from  God. 

Then  a  great  shudder  j)assed  through  him,  and  he  said,  "  Now  is 
my  soul  troubled :  and  what  shall  I  say  ? "  He  paused.  He  had 
not  been  misled  for  an  instant.  He  knew  where  all  this  would 
end.  The  horror  of  death  came  upon  him.  He  cried  out,  "  Father, 
save  me  from  this  hour."  It  was  a  natural  cr3^  It  was  the 
instinctive  love  of  life.  H  he  had  yielded  and  pressed  that  ques- 
tion, it  would  have  been  that  loving  of  life  which  loses  it.  He 
rallied.  No  ;  he  will  not  sacrifice  the  perpetual  to  the  temporary. 
He  said,  "  But  on  this  account  came  I  to  this  hour.  Father,  glo- 
rify thy  name."  We  do  not  know  what  Jesus  meant  by  "  on  this 
account."  There  was  something  in  his  mind  which  did  not,  per- 
haps could  not,  come  out  in  words.  It  was  a  great  soul  in  a 
frightful  spiritual  storm.  In  his  agitation  the  anguisli  compelled 
the  utterance  of  the  first  prayer.  He  was  strong  enough  to  reverse 
it,  and  to  change  it  instantly  from  "  my  deliverance  "  to  "  thy  glory." 

A  notable  thing  then  occurred.  A  sound  was  heard.  It  seemed 
to  be  a  voice  from  heaven.  Three  interpretations  were  given  to 
it.  Some  said  it  thundered.  Some  said,  "  An 
angel  has  spoken  to  him."  Some  said  there  were 
these  words  spoken :  "  And  I  have  glorified,  and  I  will  glorify." 
It  is  plain  that  all  heard  a  sound.  The  three  interpretations  are 
to  be  explained  on  two  grounds,  the  difi^crenco  in  relative  position 
and  the  difference  in  psychical  condition.  Thus  on  the  more  dis- 
tant it  may  have  produced  only  the  impression  of  an  inarticulate 
heavy  noise  like  thunder ;  on  those  nearer,  the  impression  of  arti- 
culate yet  confused  utterances,  articulate  in  themselves  but  not  dis- 


THE  FIRST   DAT.  551 

tinct  to  the  hearers ;  on  the  nearest,  the  very  syllables  which  are 
repeated  in  the  histoiy.  Or  Jesus  himself  may  have  heard  these 
words,  and  have  given  a  subsequent  explanation  of  them  to  hia 
disciples.  Again,  on  the  supposition  that  these  very  words  wero 
spoken,  there  were  but  few  who  were  so  receptive  as  to  hear 
them,  while  to  others  they  sounded  like  a  voice  in  the  aii',  and  to 
others  like  thunder. 

This  latter  view  of  the  case  seems  to  me  the  more  reasonable. 
That  God  has  spoken  to  man,  all  believe  who  are  not  atheists  or 
the  most  dreary  materialists.  Instances  in  which 
men  of  good  understanding  have  believed  that 
they  heard  voices  are  not  to  be  put  aside  by  our  grossl}^  material 
philosophy  as  the  hallucinations  of  a  diseased  mind.  The  Jewish 
writers  speak  of  the  Bath-Kol,  ^"pTia ,  the  daughter  of  the  voice, 
as  a  kind  of  second  voice,  an  internal  articulation,  addressed  to 
the  inner  sense  by  the  good  God,  and  second  in  authority  only  to 
the  inspiration  enjoyed  by  the  Old  Testament  prophets.  The 
Targum  and  Midrash  represent  it  as  the  actual  medium  of  divine 
connnunication  with  Abraham,  Moses,  David,  Nebuchadnezzar, 
etc.  In  the  history  of  the  early  Christians  we  have  accounts  of 
a  "  voice  or  voices,"  as  in  the  conversion  of  Saul  and  the  vision 
of  Peter.  (Acts  ix.  7,  x.  13,  15.)  Josephus  tells  of  a  "  voice," 
supposed  by  some  to  be  the  Bath-Kol,  which  informed  IIjTcanus 
that  his  sons  had  conquered  Antiochus.  {Ant.,  xiii.  10,  3.)  The 
same  historian  relates  that,  just  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  one 
night  as  the  priests  were  going  into  the  Temple  to  perform  their 
sacred  ministrations,  they  heard  a  multitudinous  voice  saying, 
"  Let  us  go  hence."  ( War,  vi.  53.)  Similar  instances  might  be 
adduced  from  the  records  of  all  succeedino;  ao-es  like  the  "  tolle, 
lege,"  take,  read,  which  Augustine  heard  when  he  was  converted. 
Perhaps  any  finely  organized  reader  of  this  page  will  bring 
from  his  memory  something  similar  in  his  own  experience. 

It  is  scarcely  philosophical  to  call  these  fancies.  Our  modern 
science  instructs  us  that  the  phenomena  which  are  able  to  affect 
objectively  do  exist  subjectively  in  every  man's  constitution. 
Thus  there  is  something  existing  subjectively  in  every  man  -which 
responds  to  the  objective  impingement  of  the  atmosi^heric  waves 
on  the  tympanum.  Now,  unless  one  be  an  atheist,  or,  believing 
in  the  existence  of  God,  believe  that  He  never  desires  to  com- 
municate with  man,  or  desiring  to  communicatej  has  not  left  open 


552  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

to  Himself  every  avenue  of  approach  which  is  free  to  a  man's 
fellow-men,  I  can  see  no  difficulty  in  receiving  the  theory  that 
this  God  can  form  in  a  man,  immediately^  the  very  sensations  and 
perceptions  which  are  produced  mediately  by  his  fellow-men 
who  form  sounds  in  the  brain  of  the  hearer,  through  the  audi 
tory  nerves,  by  waves  of  air  which  the  speaker  sets  in  motion. 
Even  then  each  man's  impression  would  be  measured  by  his  ca|)abi- 
lities  of  reception,  as  in  an  audience  of  a  thousand  there  are  a 
thousand  different  results  produced  by  the  same  speech ;  as  on 
the  exhibition  of  a  picture  to  a  thousand  persons,  a  thousand  dif- 
ferent impressions  have  been  made.  To  any  human  or  divine 
fountain,  whosoever  conies  carries  away  just  so  much  water  as  his 
vessel  holds. 

Jesus  recognized  the  voice.     lie  was  no  fanatic.     Through  his 

whole  history  nothing  is  more  apparent  than  the  absence  of  all 

fanaticism.     He  is  no  trickster.     Nothing  seems 

Jesus  knew  it.  ,,  ,  .  ,  ,.      ,.«  tt-         ^     ^     ^  - 

more  open  than  his  pubhc  lire,  liis  whole  his- 
tory is  like  a  structure  which  is  all  windows.  From  any  side  ono 
sees  all  through.  He  said,  "  This  voice  came  not  on  my  account, 
but  for  you.  Now  is  the  judgment  of  this  world.  Now  shall  the 
prince  of  this  world  be  cast  out.  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from 
the  earth,  will  draw  all  things  unto  myself."  John  says  that  he 
said  this  signifying  what  maimer  of  death  he  should  die.  He  felt 
sure  that  he  was  to  be  crucified.  He  felt  sure  that  that  which 
his  enemies  supposed  would  be  a  wall  between  him  and  the 
world,  keeping  all  men  away  from  him,  namely,  his  death  of 
ignominy,  would  be  a  position  of  elevation  from  -which  he  should 
exert  the  attractive  influence  of  his  great  character  on  the  whole 
world. 

Then  a  voice,  representing  the  skepticism  of  the  multitude, 

said,  "  We  have  heard  out  of  the  law  that  the  Christ  abides  through 

the  ages,  and  how  do  you  say  that  it  is  necessary 

Christ    abides    that  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up?    AVlio  is  this 

ior6Y6r. 

Son  of  Man  ? "     It  seems  clear  from  this  that  the 

name  "  Son  of  Man,"  to  the  apprehension  of  the  common  people, 
was  identical  with  the  Messiah,  the  Christ,  the  Anointed  Saviour 
of  Israel.  Of  him  the  people  had  a  belief,  gathered  from  their 
sacred  writings,  that  he  should  abide  forever,  and  this  they  intei- 
preted  in  a  sensuous  manner.  If  the  reader  will  take  the  pains 
to  consult  the  passages  in  Isaiah  ix.  7,  and  Daniel  vii.  14,  he  will 


THE   FIRST  DAT. 


553 


eee  liow  easy  it  was  for  minds  not  given  to  the  study  of  spiritual 
things,  but  filled  with  violent  national  prejudices,  to  make  an  in- 
terpretation like  that  these  people  placed  on  the  words.  It  is  also 
clear  that  in  some  jjart  of  his  sayings  that  day  Jesus  had  calleil 
himself  the  Son  of  Man.  Especially  were  they  unprepared  now 
to  give  up  so  suddenly  the  hopes  which  the  Palm  procession  had 
so  greatly  kindled.  He,  Jesus,  was  to  be  the  Messiah,  to  remain 
on  the  throne  of  David  forever,  to  administer  a  government  which 
should  have  no  end,  to  subdue  all  peoples  to  the  Hebrew  theo- 
cracy ;  and  now  he  speaks  as  if  he  were  the  Son  of  Man,  on  whom 
is  laid  the  necessity  of  being  crucified.  They  never  suspect  the 
soundness  of  their  own  orthodoxy  nor  the  correctness  of  their  own 
logic,  hy  which,  from  a  perpetual  reign,  they  had  inferred  a  per- 
petual personal  presence  of  the  Messiah. 

Jesus  does  not  resolve  this  question  directly.  He  says  simply, 
"  "Walk  whilst  you  have  the  light,  that  the  darkness  may  not  over- 
take you :  for  he  who  walks  in  darkness  knows  not  where  he  goes. 
As  you  have  the  light,  believe  in  the  light,  that  you  may  be  sons 
of  the  light."  As  if  he  had  said :  You  need  not  perplex  your- 
selves with  questions  whose  solution  one  way  or  another  would 
have  no  benefit  on  your  moral  character.  Do  what  your  present 
duty  enjoins.  Go  forward.  Children  are  obedient  to  their  parents. 
"  Children  of  the  light "  is  a  Hebraism  for  those  who  are  obedi- 
ent to  the  light. 

Thus  ended  Sunday  the  2d  of  April. 

Jesus  went  out  of  the  city  as  the  evening  approached,  and  over 
the  darkening  hills  took  his  way  to  Bethany,  where  he  lodged  that 
night. 


STATEE — ANTIOCHUS    EPIPHANES, 


CHAPTEE  II. 


THE  SECOND  DAY — FROM  SUNDAY  EVENING  TO  MONDAY  EVENING. 

The  second  day  of  the  week  found  Jesus  early  on  the  roadj 
accompanied  by  his  disciples,  going  up  to  Jerusalem.     The  record 

^  ,         T,  xu     is  that  he  was  hungrry.    Why  the  early  morn  should 

Between  Beth-      __  .       *  "^  "^  ^         r 

any  and  Jerusa-  ^^1*1  ^^i^^^  ^o,  when  he  might  have  broken  fast  with 
lein.  Monday,  3d  his  fricuds  iu  Bethany,  is  not  so  very  clear.  He 
April.  Matt,  xxi.;    -^^^^y  have  spent  the  night  in  devotion,  and,  being 

^^    ^'  joined  by  his  disciples  before  sum-ise,  proceeded 

at  once  to  the  city,  kno\\'iiig  that  his  time  was  short,  and  it  be- 
hooved him  to  do  promptly  all  that  he  would  do  before  the  final 
catastrophe. 

As  they  were  going  towards  the  city  he  saw  a  solitary  fig-tree 

on  the  roadside,  at  some  distance  in  advance,  and  was  attracted 

by  its  display  of  leafage.     He  approached  it,  if 

The  banren  fig-    ..    j^^  ^-^^^  ^^^  something  on  it.     There  was 

no  fruit ;  there  was  nothing  but  leaves.  He  said 
to  it,  "May  no  one,  to  the  end  of  this  age,  eat  fruit  of  you!" 
We  shall  see  that  the  next  morning  the  disciples  noticed  that  it 
was  utterly  withered. 

Few  passages  in  the  life  of  Jesus  Jiave  been  so  perplexing  to  hia 
friends,  and  such  an  a]ipai-ent  vantage-ground  to  tliDse  who  either 
dislike  Jesus  or  disbelieve  his  history  as  this.  Tlie  destructive 
critics,  such  as  Dr.  Strauss,  call  it  "a  vindictive  miracle."  This 
author  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  "  it  is  the  only  one  of  its 
kind  in  the  Evangelical  history."  The  friends  of  both  the  his- 
torian and  Jesus  have  felt  that  it  is  a  passage  specially  pressed 
with  difilculties.  It  is  a  flaw  in  the  crystal,  a  muddy  place  in  the 
clear  stream,  an  ugly  cloud  on  the  pure  sky.  And  so  the  com- 
mentators have  endeavored  to  explain  away  what  seems  to  obscure 
the  character  of  Jesus  in  this  act.  But  after  all  attempts  there 
stands  the  fact  that  Jesus  cursed  a  tree,  and  it  withered.  It  waa 
a  miracle.    Was  it  vindictive  ?    If  Jesus  was  angry,  had  he  just 


THE   SECOND   DAT.  555 

cause  to  be  angry  ?  He  had  his  passions.  There  is  no  more  sin 
in  anger  than  in  hunger,  in  the  abstract.  But  was  he  at  all 
angry  ? 

Tlie  trouble  in  the  narrative  is  that  it  is  believed  to  tell  the  f ol  ■ 
lowing  story,  namely :  Jesus  saw  a  fig-tree  in  full  leaf;  he  waa 

huii«--i-y,  and  went  to  it,  hoping  to  be  able  to  gather 

,.      ^^'  ,.  ..if  11  Trouble  in  the 

hgs;  he  was  disappomted ;  he  was  angered;  lie    j^^^jj^^.i^,g 

cursed  the  tree:  under  that  curse  it  withered. 
Tliis  is  not  a  pleasant  picture  of  a  great  and  good  man.  The  dif- 
ficulty is  increased  by  the  statement  of  Mark,  "  for  it  was  not  the 
season  of  figs."  Then  the  tree  could  not  reasonably  have  been 
expected  to  have  figs.  It  is  treated  as  a  free  moral  agent,  being 
only  a  vegetable,  and  is  then  destroyed  for  not  doing  what  it  could 
not  do.  This  seems  a  hard  fate  for  the  tree,  and  unhandsome  con- 
duct in  Jesus. 

To  abate  the  embarrassment,  one  commentator*  proposes  a 
change  in  the  reading  of  the  Greek,  so  that  it  shall  read,  "  whero 
he  was  it  was  the  season  of  figs."  This  has  two  difticulties,  1. 
There  is  no  codex  that  justifies  this  reading  ;  and,  2.  It  was  not  a 
fact.  He  was  in  the  rocky  regions  of  Judcea,  and  it  was  early  in 
April.  Josephus  tells  us  that  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  figs  grew  ten  months  in  the  year ;  but  this  was  not  true  of 
the  vicinity  of  Jerusalem.  Equally  futile  is  the  suggestion  of 
another,  to  read  the  passage  as  a  question :  "  For  was  it  not  the 
season  of  figs?"  Of  course  it  was  not.  Moreover,  that  style  does 
not  appear  in  Mark.  While  he  is  a  graphic  word-painter,  he  has 
no  emotional  rhetoric.  The  same  may  be  said  of  another  f  sug- 
gestion :  "  it  was  not  a  good  season  for  figs."  There  is  no  author- 
ity for  the  reading,  and  it  was  quite  too  early  in  the  year  to  de- 
clare whether  it  was  to  be  a  good  season  or  not.  Another  explan- 
ation is  that  the  "fig  harvest"  had  not  yet  arrived;  that  is,  Jesus 
came  expecting  fruit,  because  the  time  in  which  the  figs  were 
gathered  had  not  yet  come,  so  that  there  could  not  be  the  explan- 
ation that  there  had  been  a  good  crop,  and  that  it  had  been  gath- 
ered. This  is  more  nearly  reasonable  than  the  others.  But  still 
there  is  the  fact,  in  the  natural  history  of  the  fig,  that  it  does  not 
ordinarily  ripen  in  Palestine  until  June.  We  are  told  there  is  an 
early  kind  which  has  been  gathered  as  far  up  as  Lebanon  as  early 

*  nemsius,  Exercit.  Sac,  ed.  1639,  p.  |      f  Hammond,  Annot.  ad  S.  Marc 
116. 


556  THE  LAST   WEEK. 

as  May,  yet  tlie  general  time  of  ripening  is  June.  There  are  otliei 
interpretations',  but  these  will  suffice  as  samples. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  none  of  these  explanations  toucli  the 
root  of  tlie  matter — tlie  destruction  of  an  inanimate  object  because 
it  was  not  in  the  condition  in  which  it  was  expected  to  be  foutid. 

Friends  and  foes  seem  to  agree  on  one  point,  M'hich  Dr.  Strauss 

states  thus :  "  Mark  adds  these  words  in  order  to  explain, — what 

in  the  case  of  a  particular  tree  may  be  easily  ex- 

A  great  mistake.      -,   .       ^  •     n     ,•  it  "        r  ^        ^ 

plained,  even  m  ng-time,  by  disease  or  from  local 

causes, — why  Jesus  found  no  fruit  upon  itP  It  seems  to  me  that 
Mark  did  no  such  thing.  It  was  not  the  absence  of  fruit  but  the 
presence  of  leaves  which  Mark  sought  to  explain.  It  appears  that 
in  the  case  of  the  fig  the  fruit  often  appears  before,  and  generally 
with,  the  leaves ;  the  early  fruit  comes  before  the  leaves,  whicli 
do  not  appear  until  late  in  the  season.*  Indeed,  the  appearance 
of  fig-leaves  is  one  of  the  signs  of  approaching  summer,  as  Jesus 
said  (Matthew  xxiv.  32),  "'When  its  branch  .  .  .  puts  forth 
leaves  you  know  that  the  summer  is  nigh."  If  the  '^ap  in  the 
original  be  translated  "  although "  instead  of  "  for,"  it  seems  to 
me  that  great  help  will  be  afforded  to  the  proper  comprehension 
of  the  passage.  No  man  was  expecting  figs ;  but  as  they  went 
towards  Jerusalem,  in  these  first  days  of  April,  they  saw  a  fig- 
tree  in  foliage,  "  although  it  w^as  not  the  season  of  figs."  If  leaves, 
then  there  should  have  been  fruit,  for  the  fruit  comes  first.  Jesus 
was  not  angry,  but,  as  was  usual  with  Oriental  teachers,  when  he 
found  occasion  to  teach  a  lesson  symbolically,  he  seized  the  occa- 
sion. 

He  blighted  the  tree  not  because  it  did  not  have  fruit,  but  be- 
cause being  fruitless  it  did  have  leaves.     The  tree  stood  a  symbol 
of   the  Jewish  people,  leafy  and   fruitless ;    in 
^       "     advance  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  in  religious 
pretensions,  while  being  at  the  same  time  quite  as  destitute  of 
real  fruit  as  the  Greeks  and  Romans  and  others,  whom  they  re- 
garded as  barbarians  and  pagans.     In  a  special  manner  that  par- 
ticular sect  of  the  Jews  called  the  Pharisees  leafed  out  into  mani- 
fold baptisms,  and  minute  tithings,  and  excessive  fastings,  and 
broadened  phylacteries,  while  the  fruits  of  piety  and  hu-manity 
were  nowhere  to  be  found  in  their  lives.     The  act  of  Jesus  Avas 
not  vindictive,  but  didactic  ;  he  did  no  harm  to  the  tree,  while  he 
*  Hackett's  Illus.  of  Scriftures^  p.  141. 


THE   SECOND   DAT. 


557 


A  grand  truth. 


impressed  a  profound  lesson  upon  liis  disciples  by  what  may  be 
considered  an  acted  Parable  and  Prophecy. 

But  there  is  still  another  consideration  which  seems  to  me  more 
important  than  all  others.  Possessing  power  to  smite  and  tc 
destroy,  and  being  about  to  yield  himself  volun- 
tarily to  death,  a  death  from  which  he  might 
easily  extricate  himself  by  destroying  all  his  enemies,  it  was  im- 
portant that  the  world  should  know  that  he  had  this  power ; 
otherwise  the  grandeur  of  liis  self-sacrifice  would  be  unknown  to 
the  race.  There  were  only  two  ways  in  which  he  could  exhibit 
it,  by  smiting  things  animate  or  things  inanimate.  It  was  in  pur- 
est mercy  that  he  chose  the  latter.  We  now  kno.w  what  he  could 
have  done  M-hen  bound,  and  buffeted,  and  insulted,  and  led  out 
to  be  crucified.  He  could  have  made  Caiaphas,  or  Pilate,  or 
Herod,  or  the  Poman  centurion  the  blasted  result  of  the  exercise 
of  his  power.  To  know  tliat  he  had  this  power,  and  did  not  exert 
it  on  men^  under  the  circumstances,  is  the  grandest  display  of 
mercy  possible  to  man,  and,  let  it  be  said  devoutly,  possible  to 
God.  It  is  worth  more  than  all  the  trees  that  ever  grew.  Plant 
this  stricken  tree  of  Tuesday  beside  the  cross  of  Friday,  and  you 
have  a  suggestion  worth  the  study  of  man  through  all  ages  of  time 
and  of  eternity. 

We  have  seen  that  very  early  in  his  ministry  Jesus  had  entered 
the  Temple  and  rebuked  its  secularization  by  driving  the  profaning 
money-changers  from  the  sacred  precincts.  (See 
p.  126.)  It  does  not  seem  to  have  made  a  per-  ^^  ^j^^  Temple  ^ 
manent  cure  of  the  evil.  The  Temple-market  as 
it  was  called,  taberiice,  where  animals  for  sacrifice,  and  oil,  and 
wine,  and  salt,  and  incense,  were  sold  to  worshippers,  and  the 
uncurrent  and  profane  coin  of  those  who  came  fi-om  distant  coun- 
tries was  exchanged,  had  been  set  up  again  in  the  Court  of  the 
Gentiles.  Again  Jesus  overturned  the  tables  of  the  money- 
changers and  the  seats  of  the  dove-sellers,  and  drove  these  mer- 
chants from  the  House  of  God,  and  forbade  the  carrying  of  uten- 
sils through  the  Holy  House,  as  if  it  were  a  common  edifice." 


*  It  is  supposed  that  operatives  and 
mechanics  on  their  way  to  work  stepped 
in  for  worship,  bringing  their  tools  with 
them  and  setting  them  down  while  they 
prayed,  thus  making  the  Temple  a  com- 
mon-place.    Perhaps  also,  rather  than 


take  a  longer  way  around,  those  who 
were  engaged  about  the  Temple  carried 
utensils  through  the  holy  places.  It 
was  the  general  secularization  of  holy 
things  which  Jesus  rebuked  and  endeav- 
ored to  reform. 


558  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  first  cleansing  of  the  Temple,  at  the 
beginning  of  his  ministry,  was  performed  by  Jesus  as  an  act  of 
zeal  on  his  part  as  a  prophet.  The  learned  Selden  *  and  others 
maintain  the  existence  of  a  zealot-right,  which  justified  one  who 
was  moved  by  sudden  uncontrollable  prophetic  impulse  to  attack 
existing  irregularities  in  the  national  worship.  In  some  such 
spirit  Jesus  seems  to  have  performed  the  first  cleansing.  This 
second  purification  appears  to  be  made  in  character  of  Messiah. 
The  people  were  giving  him  such  a  recognition.  lie  could  not, 
in  such  a  position,  allow  this  profanation  of  the  Temple  of  God. 
It  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  first  purification  excelled  in  violence  of 
act,  and  the  second  in  severity  of  word.  In  both  cases  there  was 
a  majesty  and  moral  force  in  the  very  presence  of  Jesus,  which 
accomplished  the  cleaning  of  the  courts  by  the  quick  disappear- 
ance of  the  merchants.  Freely  combining  and  using  two  jtassages 
from  the  prophetic  writings,  Isaiah  Ivi.  7,  and  Jer.  vii.  11,  he  says: 
"  Is  it  not  written  that  My  house  shall  be  called  a  house  of  prayer 
for  all  the  nations  ?  But  you  are  making  it  a  den  of  robbers."  The 
charge  is  that  The  CnuEcn'  had  become  at  once  narrow  and  pro- 
fane. God's  religion  has  the  spirit  of  universality ;  it  is  a  religion 
for  all  the  nations  ;  theirs  excluded  the  nations,  and  where  Ilaman- 
ity  should  have  been  represented  there  was  a  body  of  thieves. 

These  fine  discriminations  are  characteristic  of  Jesus — discri- 
minations which  escape  ordinary  observation,  but  which,  when 

once  made  by  him,  summon  the  history  of   the 
Fine  discrimina-  i  i    ,       ,  i     •       i  .      .  •  i 

world  to  their  demonstration.     In  every  age  we 

tions.  ^  ... 

can  now  see,  since  Jesus  has  indicated  it,  that 
'  there  is  an  exceedingly  slight  difference  between  a  bigot  and  a 
thief.  He  who  is  unwilling  to  allow  to  his  fellow-man  the 
spiritual  rights  he  has  in  virtue  of  being  a  man,  will  not  long 
hesitate  to  take  from  him  his  material  properties.  And  he  who 
will  cheat  a  saint  will  not  long  hesitate,  when  he  has  an  oppor- 
tunity, to  defraud  a  sinner. 

This  severity  was  followed  by  acts  of  mercy.     Blind  and  lame 

people  came  to  him,  and  he  healed  them  publicly  in  the  Temple. 

The  children  caught  the  general  enthusiasm.    The 

remembrance  of  Palm-Sunday  jubilations  and  the 

sight  of  the  discomfited  merchants,  and  of  the  healed  patients, 

I    *  DeJure  Nat.  et  Oent.,  iv.  6.     The  I  Phinehas,  Numb.  xxv.  11. 
supposition  is  suggested  by  the  act  of  I 


THE   SECOND   DAT.  559 

jwhose  sight  and  activity  had  been  restored,  kindled  the  ardor  of 
the  young,  and  they  sang  around  the  powerful  Teacher,  "  Ilosanna 
to  the  Son  of  David."  It  gave  sore  displeasure  to  the  churchinoii 
to  see  a  man  who  was  not  in  the  succession,  not  of  the  tribe  of 
Aaron,  doing  things  more  wonderful  than  miracles,  and  receiving 
these  Messianic  salutations.  To  the  latter  they  called  his  atten- 
tion, pointing  to  the  children,  and  saying :  "  Do  you  hear  what 
these  say  ?  "  His  reply  was  prompt  and  emphatic  :  '*  Yes  !  IIa\e 
yot(,  never  read,  '  Out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings  Thou 
hast  perfected  praise  ? '  "  (Psalm  viii.  2.)  They  did  not  believe 
that  he  was  the  Messiah  in  any  sense.  The  children  employed 
words  from  the  sacred  writings  which,  -whatever  sense  their  ten- 
der minds  may  have  seen  in  them,  no  man  could  accept  who  did 
not  believe  himself  to  be  the  Messiah  in  some  sense.  Jesus  did 
accept  them. 

More  and  more  the  malignity  of  the  church  deepened  against 
him.  The  scribes  and  cliief  priests  sought  how  they  might  destroy 
him  ;  for  they  feared  him  because  the  people  were  astonished  at 
his  teaching.  During  the  day  he  taught  in  the  Temple.  When 
the  evening  came  he  retired  to  rest  in  Bethany. 


CHAPTEE    III. 


THE  THIRD   DAT — FKOM  MONDAY  EVENING   TO   TUESDAY   EVENING. 


turning  to  Jerusalem 


Bethany  and  Je- 
rusalem. Tuesday, 
3d  April,  ISth  Ni- 
san,  A.  u.  783. 
Matt,  xxi.,  xxii., 
xxiii. ,  xxiv. ,  xxv. , 
xxvi.  ;  Mark  xi. , 
xii,,  xiii.,  xiv.  ; 
Luke  XX.,  xxi. 


The  morning  of  the  third  day  found  Jesus  and  his  disciples  re- 
It  would  seem  to  have  been  dark  when 
they  crossed  the  Mount  of  Olives  the  evening  be- 
fore, so  dark  that  they  had  not  noticed  the  condi- 
tion of  tlie  fig-tree  which  they  had  visited  the  morn- 
ing previous.  But  now  its  appearance  arrested 
their  attention.  The  blight  which  Jesus  shed 
upon  it  seems  to  have  begun  to  take  effect  at  once, 
and  in  twenty-four  hours  such  a  change  had  been 
wrought  tliat  now  it  was  dried  up  from  the  rocts. 
Peter,  calling  the  yesterday  to  remembrance, 
said  to  Jesus :  "  Rabbi,  see ;  the  fig-tree  which  you  cursed  is 
withered  away."  The  solemn  reply  of  Jesus  was  :  "  If  you  have 
faith  in  God,  I  assuredly  say  to  you,  whosoever  shall  say  to 
this  mountain,  '  Be  removed  and  cast  into  the  sea,'  and  shall  not 
be  divided  in  his  heart,  but  shall  believe  that  what  he  says  is 
coming,  it  shall  be  to  him.  On  this  account  I  say  to  you,  All 
things  whatever  you  pray  and  ask,  believe  that  you  have  received, 
and  they  shall  be  to  you.  And  when  you  stand  praying  forgive, 
if  you  have  anything  against  any  one,  that  your  Father  in  the 
heavens  may  also  forgive  you  your  trespasses."  * 

It  is  noticeable  that,  frequent  and  wonderful  as  has  been  the 
exhibition  of  the  powers  of  Jesus,  each  fresh  display  strikes  his 
disciples  with  astonishment.  They  had  seen  the  dead  raised,  and 
now  they  are  astonished  at  the  withering  of  a  fig-tree. 

Jesus  turns  them  from  astonishment  at  the  phenomena  to  con- 
6ider  the  necessary  internal  condition  of  a  powerful  soul  to  be 
that  of  faith  in  God.    A  literal  interpretation  of  his  words  about 


*  In  tlie  common  version,  Mark  xi. 
26,  there  is  added,  "But  if  ye  do  not 
forgive,  neither  vrill  your  Father  which 


is  in  heaven  forgive  your  trespasses." 
But  these  words  do  not  appear  in  the 
original  in  the  oldest  MSS. 


THE   THIRD   DAT. 


561 


removing   mountains   may   be   quite   puzzling,  and    perhaps  we 

can  hardly  satisfy  ourselves  with  the  suggestion  that  he  pointed 

to  the  oj^pctsite  mountain,  on  whicli  the  Tem])le 

stood,  as  meanini!;  that.  1)V  faith,  his  disciples  mio-ht    .  .  g  moun- 

'       _  n  ./  ?  1  »  tains. 

be  sustained  in  such  a  course  as  should  lift  the 
mountain  of  Judaism,  and  fling  it  out  of  tlie  Avay  of  the  progress 
of  true  religion.  But  it  is  quite  natural  to  suppose  that  he  taught 
that  faith  is  supei-ior  to  bodily  strength,  and  that  generally  the 
spiritual  forces  of  the  universe  ai-e  superior  to  the  physical.  And 
this  is  consistent  with  the  spirit  of  the  whole  l)ody  of  his  teaching. 
As  for  the  remainder  of  his  speech,  it  is  a  repetition  of  what  we 
have  had  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

The  people  assembled  at  an  early  hour  in  the  Temple.     Thei-e 
never  had  been  so  exciting  a  Feast  in  the  knowledge  of  the  oldest 
worshi})per,  and  the  occurrences  of  the  previous 
dav  had  increased  the  excitement.     Soon   after    .,    ./^ 

ity  .'' 

the  arrival  of  Jesus,  the  representatives  of  the 
church  party,  the  Iligh-Priest,*  accompanied  by  the  sci-ibes  and 
the  elders,  came  to   him  with  that  same   old    foolish    chui-chlv 
question,  "  l>y  what  authority  are  ^-ou  doing  these  things?  and 


*  In  the  Evangelists  it  is  "chief 
priests."  Lauge  says:  "The  plural  is 
explained  by  the  then  existing  relations 
of  the  high-priesthood.  The  high-priest 
was  supposed  legally  to  enjoy  his  func- 
tion during  life  {see  Winer,  art.  Uohe- 
prieister) ;  and  before  the  exUe  we  read 
of  oulj'  one  deposition  (1  Kings  ii.  27). 
But  since  the  time  of  the  Syrian  domi- 
nation the  office  had  often  changed 
hands  under  foreign  influence;  it  was 
often  a  foot-ball  of  religious  and  politi- 
cal parties,  and  sometimes  even  of  the 
mob.  This  change  was  especiallj^  fre- 
quent under  the  Roman  government. 
Th\is  Amias  (Ananus)  became  high- 
priest  seven  years  after  the  birth  of 
Christ  {JEra  Dion.)  ;  seven  years  later 
Ishmael,  at  the  command  of  the  Roman 
procurator  (Joseph.,  Atitiq.,  xviii.  2,  2) ; 
afterward  Eleazer,  son  of  Aimas ;  a  year 
later,  one  Simon;  and  after  another 
year,  Joseph  Caiaphas,  a  son-in-law  of 
Annas.     Thus   Caiaphas   was   now   the 

36 


official  high-priest ;  but,  in  consistency 
with  Jewish  feelings,  we  may  assume 
that  Annas  was  honored  in  connection 
with  him  as  the  properly  legvUmnte  high- 
priest.  This  estimation  might  be  fur- 
ther disguised  by  the  fact  of  his  being 
at  the  same  time  the  |3D,  or  vicar  of 
the  high -priest  (Lightfoot)  ;  or,  if  he 
was,  the  S't"J ,  president  of  the  Sanhe-; 
drim  (Wieseler).  Compare,  however, 
Winer,  sub  Synedrium.  That,  ia  fact, 
high  respect  was  paid  to  him,  is  proved 
by  the  circumstance  that  Jesus  was 
taken  to  him  fii-st  for  a  private  examin- 
ation (John  xviii.  13).  And  thus  he 
here  appears  to  have  come  forward  with 
the  rest,  in  his  relation  of  colleague  to 
the  official  High-priest.  Moreover,  the 
heads  of  the  tweuty-four  classes  of  the 
priests  might  be  included  under  this 
name.  Probably  the  whole  was  the  re- 
sult of  a  very  formal  and  solemn  ordi- 
nance of  the  Council,  at  whose  heada 
stood  the  high-priests. "^ 


5^2  THE   LAST  WEEK. 

who  gave  you  this  authority  to  do  these  things  ?  "  It  ought  not 
60  much  to  surprise  us  that  the  bigots  of  the  old  narrow  Judaism 
should  ask  these  questions  as  that  the  nonsense  of  propounding 
them  should  have  been  perpetuated  through  eighteen  centuries, 
and  be  in  as  full  force  in  London  and  New  York  to-day,  not  to 
say  in  Home,  as  it  was  in  Jerusalem  in  the  daj^s  of  Jesus.  As  if 
in  all  ages  of  the  world  the  knowing  of  any  truth  does  not  gi\e  to 
liim  that  knows  the  authority  to  proclaim  it.  As  if  in  all  ages, 
the  possession  of  any  moral  power  to  do  good  does  not  give  the 
possessor  the  right  to  exert  that  power.  As  if  the  luminousness 
of  the  intellect  of  Jesus,  and  the  manifest  control  he  held  over 
the  physical  world,  did  not  lift  him  out  of  the  circle  to  which 
these  stupid  and  powerless  churchmen  could  with  any  propriety 
address  such  a  question.  But  tliey  had  just  that  dulness  of  spir- 
itual perception  which  ordinarily  accompanies  narrow  cunning. 
This  latter  trait  appears  in  them.  They  hope  to  give  him  trouble 
by  a  dilenuna.  He  might  put  forth  some  claim  which  would  con- 
flict with  the  acknowledged  canons  of  "  the  church  ;  "  any  claim 
he  could  make  they  supposed  would  do  that ;  or,  if  he  could  show 
no  credentials,  he  would  lose  his  hold  upon  the  people. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  when  the  zeal  of  Jesus  led  him  in  the 
first  instance,  and  in  the  beginning  of  his  ministry,  to  purify  the 
Temple,  the  church  party  demanded  a  "sign."  Now,  for  the 
Bpace  of  three  years,  he  had  been  filling  his  ministry  with  marvels, 
and  signs,  and  wonders,  and  miracles.  It  would  make  them 
ridiculous  to  demand  a  sign  so  near  the  very  spot  where  Lazarus 
was  raised  from  the  dead.  Tiiey  now,  perversely,  demand  his 
"  authority." 

In  their  own  nets  were  their  feet  entangled.     Jesus  submitted 

a  counter-dilemma.     They  claimed  to  be  the  body  set  to  judge 

the  right  of  teachers  and  prophets  to  fulfil  their 

coun  er      -    ^^^j^^j^j^       Jesus   determined   that,  as   they  had 

lemma.  iti 

publicly  challenged  hmi,  they  should  as  publicly 

demonstrate  their  capability  of  sitting  in  judgment  on  such  cases. 
With  that  view  he  submitted  to  them  a  case  well  known  to  them, 
to  him,  and  to  the  multitude  wlio  were  listening — the  case  of  John 
Baptist.  Jesus  said,  "  I  also  will  ask  of  you  one  question,  and 
answer  me,  and  I  will  tell  you  by  what  authority  I  do  these  things. 
The  baptism  of  John — was  it  from  heaven,  or  from  men  ?  Answer 
me !  "     All  the  people  knew  John  ;  so  did  tlie  Sanhedrim. 


THE  TmKD   DAT.  563 

It  was  a  sudden  question  in  the  field  of  theocratic  investigation. 
They  saw  the  dilemma,  and  held  a  short  private  consultation.'^ 
Jesus  silently  awaited  their  answer.  The  multi- 
tude were  too  deeply  interested  to  disperse.  The 
Sanhedrim  had  only  two  courses  from  which  to  elect,  to  retire  and 
leave  the  field  to  Jesus,  or  siiape  some  reply.  It  was  a  question 
which  demanded  a  categorical  answer.  Should  it  be  "  from  hea- 
ven," they  knew  Jesus  would  reply,  "  Why  then  did  you  not  be- 
lie\  c  him  ? "  and  they  recollected  that  John  had  borne  the  most 
emphatic  testimony  to  Jesus.  They  would  thus  acknowledge 
John,  whom  they  had  rejected  ;  but  if  they  did  so,  it  would  deprive 
them  of  all  prestige  and  influence  in  judging  Jesus.  "  The 
Chnrch  "  weighed  consequences,  not  truth;  that  is  the  fashion  of 
"  The  Church  "  in  every  land,  in  all  ages.  But  if  they  should  say 
"  of  men,"  deciding  that  John  had  no  authority  from  heaven,  that 
his  was  a  self-assumed  ofiice,  in  which  he  was  sustained  by  his 
partisans,  who  also  were  without  divine  authority,  then  they  feared 
that  the  people  would  stone  them,  for  the  multitude  held  Jolni  to 
be  a  prophet. 

There  was  no  escape.  They  saw  it,  and  returned  to  Jesus  with 
the  statement,  "  We  do  not  know."  And  Jesus  said  to  them, 
*'  Neither  do  I  tell  you  by  what  authority  I  do  these  things."  If 
tliey  were  not  able  to  determine  from  the  whole  ministry  of  John, 
which  Avas  now  completed,  whether  he  had  God's  favor  or  not, 
Btill  less  wei'c  they  able  to  judge  Jesus  in  the  midst  of  this  excite- 
ment. Their  discomfiture  was  complete.  They  acknowledged 
their  inability  to  exercise  the  functions  of  the  highest  ofiice  in  a 
theocracy,  which  office  they  were  ostentatiously  parading,  and  the 
dignity,  the  authority,  and  the  power  of  which  they  had  brought 
foi-th  to  crush  Jesus.  He  appealed  from  the  highest  church  tri- 
bunal to  the  private  judgment  of  mankind,  and  is  sustained  wher- 
ever there  are  candid  judges. 

IIo,  then  poured  in  upon  these  pretentious  churchmen  a  raking 
broadside  of  parables. 

In  further  reply  he  said,  "  But  what  think  ye  ?  A  man  had  two 
children  :  and  he  came  to  the  first  and  said,  '  Child,  go  work  to- 


*  For  the  report  of  this  consultation 
we  are  probably  indebted  to  Xicodemus, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  Sandedrim, 
and  a  private  friend  to  the  disciples  of  I 


Jesus,  to  whom  he  probably  communi- 
cated what  had  passed  in  thia  consulta- 
tion. 


564  THE   LAST  WEEK. 

day  in  the  vineyard.'     And   he    answering,  said,  '  I  will  not.' 

Afterwards,  having  repented,  he  went.     And  he  came  to  the  other, 

and  said  likewise.    And  he  answering,  said,  '  1  go, 

Parable  of  the    ^-^ .  „  ^^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^_     ^Yh{ch.  of  the  two  did  the 

T«^o  Sons.  ^.^^   ^^    ^^.^   ^^^^^^^  ^  „      ^^^^   answered,   "  The 

hrst."  Jesus  said  to  them,  "  The  tax-gatherei-s  and  the  harlots  go 
into  the  kingdom  of  God  before  yon.  For  John  came  to  yon  in 
tlie  way  of  righteousness,  and  you  believed  him  not ;  but  the  tax- 
gatherei-s  and  the  harlots  believed  him ;  but  you,  when  you  had 
Been,  repented  not  afterward,  that  you  might  believe  him." 

This  was  exceedingly  severe.  These  churchmen  had  expressed 
a  wilHngness  to  serve  God,  as  had  been  shown  in  their  high  moi-al 
professions  and  pretensio]is  of  legal  righteousness.  John  came  an 
earnest  preacher  of  that  very  kind  of  righteousness,  urging  that  it 
be  done  from  the  heart  toward  God.  The  scribes  and  Pharisees 
showed  their  insincerity  by  rejecting  just  such  a  preacher  as  it  is 
evident  they  would  have  hailed  M'ith  joy,  if  they  had  not  been 
hypocrites.  And  when  God  set  the  seal  of  His  sanction  by  the 
conversion  of  the  worst  class  of  men  and  w^omen  in  the  commu- 
nity, even  then  the  church  authorities  rejected  him  who  bore  the 
credentials  of  the  heavenly  Father's  approval  of  his  ministry. 
So  perverse  was  their  hypocrisy,  that  when  the  most  convincing 
proofs  of  their  error  came,  tliey  refused  to  repent  of  the  original 
rejection  of  John. 

In  general  two  classes  of  sinners  are  here  represented,  as  in 
the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  the  one  at  first  outbreaking,  yet 
afterward  repentant  and  obedient,  the  other  pretending  to  obedi- 
ence, going  tlie  full  length  of  obedience  in  speech,  while  disobe- 
dient at  heart  and  in  action.  Publicans  and  harlots  are  the 
former,  hypocrites  and  churchmen  are  the  latter. 

Jesus  continues  his  pungent  appeal  to  the  consciences  of  his 
adve]-saries.     lie  said  :    "  Hear  another  parable :  A  man,  a  house- 
holder, planted  a  vineyard,  and  made  a  hedge 

Parable  of  the  ^ij^^^^.  u  ^^^^j  dii»:£::ed  a  wine-trough,  and  built  a 
Wicked  Husband-  -,  ,       .  ,.  ^  j_     ^  i 

^^^  tower,  and  let  it  out  to  farmers,  ana  went  abroad. 

And  at  the  season  of  fruit  he  sent  a  slave  to  the 

farmei-s,  that  he  might  receive  from  the  farmers  [his  share]  of 

the  fruits  of  the  vineyard.      And  [the  farmers]  having  caught 

him,  beat  and  sent  liim  away  with  nothing.     And  again  he  sent 

to  them  another:  and  him  they  wounded  in  the  head  and  dishou- 


THE   THIRD    DAT.  505 

ored.  And  again  he  sent  another,  and  that  one  they  killed  ;  and 
many  others,  beating  some  and  killing  some.  lie  had  yet  one  be- 
loved son.  He  sent  him  at  last  to  them,  saying,  '  They  will  rever 
ence  my  son.'  But  these  farmei-s  said  among  themselves,  '  This 
is  the  heir ;  come,  let  us  kill  him,  and  the  inheritance  will  be 
ours.'  And  they  took  and  killed  him,  and  cast  him  out  of  the 
vineyard." 

Then  Jesus  put  the  question  :  "  When,  then,  the  lord  of  the  vine- 
yard shall  come  what  shall  he  do  to  tliese  farmers  ? "  From  some 
one  burst  forth  the  reply :  "  He  will  miserably  destroy  those 
wicked  men  and  let  out  the  vineyard  to  other  farmers,  who  shall 
render  him  the  fruits  in  their  season."  Some  one  present  ex- 
claimed :  "  Be  it  not  so ! "  or,  as  the  passage  stands  in  our  com- 
mon version,  "  God  forbid."  Quoting  Psalm  cxviii.  22,  Jesus  said : 
"  Have  you  not  read  this  Scripture  :  '  A  stone  which  the  builders 
rejected  the  same  became  a  head  of  a  corner ;  from  the  Lord  tliis 
came,  and  is  wonderful  to  our  eyes  ? '  " 

The  chief  priests  and  Pharisees  felt  the  keenness  of  the  speech 
against  their  principles  and  practices.  They  were  not  able  to  an- 
swer him,  and  therefore  sought  to  silence  by  killing  him,  a  thing 
they  had  already  decreed  to  do.  They  were  deterred  only  by  a 
fear  of  the  people,  whose  enthusiasm  for  Jesus  was  still  easily  ex- 
cited. 

Jesus  went  forward  with  his  parables,  so  searching  and  so  in- 
structive.    He  said  to  them :  "  Tlie  kingdom  of  the  heavens  is 
likened  to  a  man,  a  kinij;,  who  made  weddincr- 
^feasts  for  his  son,  and  sent  forth  his  slaves  to  call       Parable:  Mar- 

those  who  had  been  invited  to  the  weddinsr-feast :    ^^^^    ^        "^* 

c)  5     boa. 

and  they  did  not  wish  to  come.  Again  he  sent 
other  slaves,  saying :  '  Tell  those  who  have  been  invited,  Behold  I 
have  prepared  my  dinner,  my  oxen  and  my  fatlings  are  killed, 
and  all  things  are  ready :  come  to  the  feast.'  But  they,  making 
light  of  it,  went  away,  one  to  his  farm,  another  to  his  merchan- 
dise. And  the  rest,  having  seized  his  servants,  insulted  and  slew 
them.  And  the  king  was  enraged,  and  having  sent  his  armies  lie 
destroyed  those  murderers  and  burned  their  city.  Then  says  }ie 
to  his  slaves :  '  The  wedding-feast  is  ready,  but  they  wlio  were  in- 
vited were  not  worthy.  Go  you,  therefore,  to  the  outlets  [the 
roads  leading  out  into  the  country],  and  as  many  as  you  find  call 
to  the  wedding-feast.'     So,  going  out  into  the  roads,  those  slaves 


« 

t>ee 


THK  LAST  WEEK. 


gathered  all  whom  they  found,  both  bad  and  good,  and  the  bride- 
chamber  was  full  J  furnished  with  guests.  And  the  king,  coming 
in  to  view  the  guests,  saw  there  a  man  who  had  not  on  a  wedding 
garment;  and  he  says  to  him:  'Friend,  how  did  you  come  in 
here,  not  having  a  wedding-garment  ? '  And  he  was  speeeliless. 
Then  the  king  said  to  his  servants :  '  Having  bound  his  feet  and 
hands,  cast  him  into  the  darkness  which  is  without ;  there  shall  be 
the  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth :  for  many  are  called,  but  few 
chosen.  " 

This  seems  to  be  an  enlarged  repetition  of  a  parable  uttered 
earlier  in  his  ministry  in  the  house  of  the  Pharisee.  (See  p.  485.) 
That  such  a  Teacher  as  Jesus  often  repeated  his  teachings  is  what 
may  reasonably  be  supposed. 

He  represents  the  heavenly  kingdom  in  the  light  of  a  festivity, 
combining  the  two  images  under  which  the  prophets  were  fond  of 
painting    the   reign  of   the  Messiah,  namely,  a 
Wngdom.  feast  and  a  wedding.*      Here  it  is  a  feast  given 

by  a  king  on  a  special  high  occasion,t  the  mar- 
riage of  his  son.  Invitations  are  issued  to  great  numbers  of  per- 
sons. In  accordance  with  Oriental  custom,  at  the  time  specified 
the  second  invitation  is  issued.  An  instance  of  this  appeai-s  in 
the  invitation  of  Esther  to  Haman  to  come  to  a  banquet  on  the 
morrow,  and  the  sending  a  chamberlain  at  the  appointed  hour  to 
bring  him  to  the  feast.  (Compare  Esther  v.  8,  with  vi.  14.)  The 
subjects  of  this  king  had  been  entertaining  feelings  of  rebellion 
against  him,  and  now  that  they  were  able  to  insult  him  through 
his  messengei-s,  they  did  not  let  the  occasion  pass.  Some  treated 
the  invitation  with  contempt,  going,  one  to  his  estate,  which  he 
had  already  acquired,  and  another  to  the  business  which  he  hoped 
would  enrich  him,  showing  how  they  preferred  their  private  inter- 
ests to  the  will  and  pleasure  of  their  sovereign.  Others,  wrought 
up  to  rebellion,  went  so  far  as  to  kill  the  messengei's  of  their  king. 

The  Pharisees  saw  in  all  this  that  Jesus  meant  to  present  a  pic- 
toiial  history  of  the  rebellious  Jews,  and  felt  that  he  was  seveie 
on  them.  But  then  he  began  to  speak  prophetically  by  describing 
the  burning  of  the  city  by  the  enraged  king.  Could  he  be  so 
audacious  as  to  mean  Jerusalem,  holy  Jerusalem,  that  that  top- 


*  Compare  Isaiah  xxv.  C,  Ixv.  13 ; 
Cant.  V.  1,  with  Isaiah  Ixi.  10,  Ixii.  5, 
ftnd  Hosea  ii.  19. 


f  HocJvzeit,  high-time,   in  Germany^ 
still  means  a  marriage-feast. 


THB   THIRD   DAT.  567 

most  of  cities  should  be  so  destro^-ed  ?  It  really  seemed  so.  And 
if  this  festival  was  the  good  time  of  the  Messianic  reign,  did  he 
mean  that  the  Jews  were  to  be  destroj^ed  and  the  Gentiles 
brought  in  ?  It  really  seemed  so.  After  the  destruction  of  the 
city  the  servants  were  ordered  to  go  into  the  "  outlets,"  where  the 
streets  ran  into  the  country,*  and  bring  in  the  outsiders.  Jesus 
thus  added  fuel  to  the  flame  of  the  wrath  of  his  enemies. 

But  another  lesson  is  made  from  this  narrative.  When  the 
house  became  crowded  the  king  went  in  to  survey  the  guests,  and 
found  a  man  without  the  wedding-garment.  He 
addressed  him  in  language  at  once  gentle  and  ^\-  °"  * 
searching.  He  called  him  "  friend :"  but  in  the  ^^^^^ 
Greek  the  "  iiot  having "  is  put  in  a  word 
whicli  suggests  not  simply  the  absence  of  the  wedding-dress,  but 
some  defect  in  the  behavior  of  the  guest  in  allowing  himself  to  be 
present  without  such  a  dress.f  Tlie  speechlessness  of  the  guest 
indicates  that  he  had  not  even  a  specious  apology  to  offer.  The 
narrative  assumes  that  garments  were  at  the  guest's  command, 
and  therefore  that  the  king  himself  had  provided  them.  There 
seems  to  be  no  trace  of  such  a  custom  exactly  in  this  form,  but 
we  do  know  that  splendid  garments  were  reckoned  among  the 
ti-easures  of  Eastern  chieftains  and  kings ;  that  some  of  them  pos- 
sessed inunense  numbers  of  robes ;  that  the  gift  of  costly  i-aiment 
was  a  mark  of  honor ;  and  that  a  mantle  presented  by  a  king  was 
to  be  worn  in  his  presence,  and  that  a  failure  to  appear  therein 
was  considered  offensive.:}:  In  addition  to  what  we  read  in  the  Old 
Testament,  Horace  §  tells  us  that  LucuUus  found  in  his  wardrobe 
not  less  than  five  thousand  mantles.  The  fashions  did  not  change 
as  with  us,  and  a  man  of  wealth  might  accumulate  and  preserve 


*  Trench  guards  his  readers  against 
being  misled  by  the  English  word 
•'  highwaj-s."  as  if  this  referred  to  the 
country,  whereas  the  whole  scene  is 
represented  as  lying  in  a  city.  But 
this  usually  accurate  and  learned  writ- 
er   seems    to  have  forgotten  that  the 


ing  attention  to  the  fact  '*  that  it  is  the 
auhjcctice  and  not  the  objective  particle  of 
negation,  which  is  here  used."  Ou  ex'^*' 
signifies  not  hncing.  without  being  con- 
scious of  the  absence  of  anything,  or 
the  necessity  of  its  being  present;  fit) 
fX<»^   signifies   intentional,    not   luiving 


city  is  represented  to  have  been  burned    what  one  knows  one  should  have. 


before  those  servants  go  out  into  the 
highways.  The  original  Greek  word 
means  owiways  as  well  as  throxtgh- 
ways. 

f  We  are  indebted  to  Trench  for  call- 


X  In  illustration  of  these,  points  read 
Judges  xiv.  12  ;  .Tobxx^'ii.  1(5 ;  Gen.  xIt. 
22 ;  2  Kmgs  v.  5  ;  2  Chron.  ix.  24  ;  Matt, 
vi.  19;  Acts  xx.  33  ;  James  v.  1,  2. 

§  EpiM.,  L  G,  40. 


^68  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

an  immense  wardrobe.  The  customs  of  the  East  are  so  change- 
less, that  we  find  the  same  state  of  affairs  to-day.  A  modern 
writer,  Chardin,  acknowledged  to  be  unusnallj  well-informed  and 
uccni-ate,  sajs  of  the  King  of  Persia:  "  The  number  of  dresses  he 
gives  away  is  infinite."  *  The  same  writer  tells  of  a  vizier  who 
lost  his  life  from  failing  to  wear  a  garment  which  had  been  sent 
]iim  by  the  king.  He  tells  us  that  the  ofiicer  through  whose  haiicU 
tlie  robe  from  the  king  was  to  be  sent,  out  of  spite  forwarded  h- 
])l!iiu  dress  instead.  The  vizier  thought  that  if  he  appeared  in 
tliat  it  would  announce  that  he  was  in  disgrace  at  court,  and  so 
made  his  public  entry  in  a  robe  presented  by  the  late  king.  His 
enemies  represented  to  the  monarch  that  his  minister  had  refused 
to  wear  his  gift,  which  so  incensed  him  that  he  ordered  the  vizier 
to  be  executed. t 

The  whole  })icture  in  the  parable  is  in  accord  with  Oriental  cus- 
toms, and  represents  tlie  punishment  of  wilful  unworthiness.    The 
guest  was  willing  to  have  the  good  of  the  feast, 

Wilful    unwor-     -r  i  -,  -,         •*"     -j.    •       i  •  ^  i  i  • 

11  Jie  could  einoy  it  m  nis  own  way  and  on  his 
thiness.  ;;   *'  -^ 

own  terms,  which  were  derogatory  to  the  honor 
of  the  king  and  injurious  to  the  pleasure  of  the  other  guests.  He 
was  a  bold,  perhaps  a  desperate,  intruder.  He  Avho  could  dare 
enter  the  banqueting  saloon  of  his  king  in  such  a  shameful  style 
might  offer  resistance,  as  the  Jews  showed  when  they  were  about 
to  be  ejected  from  a  position  wliich  they  were  not  worthy  to  main- 
tain. But  resistance  would  be  ineffectual.  He  was  to  be  bound, 
and  forced  out,  and  left  in  the  dark.  H  weak,  he  would  wail; 
if  strongly  passionate,  he  would  gnash  his  teeth.  The  Marriage 
Feast  is  a  sifting  process.  So  God  sifts  and  sifts.  Only  those 
who  are  willing  to  partake  of  the  joys  of  the  universe,  and  will- 
ing to  take  them  in  the  way  of  God's  appointing,  a  way  intended 
to  heighten  the  individual  and  the  general  joy, — only  such  shall 
remain  in  the  high  feasts  of  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens. 

Then  the  Pharisees  went  and  took  counsel  how  they  might  en- 
tangle Jesus  in  his  talk.     And  they  watched  him,  and  sent  to  him 

a  company  of  spies  made  up  of  their  own  sect 
Conspiracy.       ^^^  ^j  ^j^^  Herodiaus.     The  latter  represented  a 

political  party,  whose  highest  hope  was  in  the  continuance  of  the 


*  Voyage  en  Perse,  vol.  iii. ,  p.  230. 
nis  words  are :   "  Le  nombre  dea  hab- 


f  For  the  manner  in  which  the  rejec- 
tion of  a  monarch's  gift  was  resented, 


its  qu'il  donne  est  infini. "  see  Herodotus,  i.  9,  c.  3. 


THE   TUIRD   DAY.  569 

rule,  of  the  Herodian  family.  Thej  were  the  special  adlierenta 
ot  Herod  Antipas,  and  perhaps  personal  attendants  upon  that 
tetrarch,  who,  we  learn  from  Luke  xxiii.  7,  happened  to  be  pres- 
ent at  this  Passover.  That  dynasty  was  a  compromise  between 
total  national  independence,  of  which  this  party  of  the  Jews  were 
in  despaii-,  and  direct  Roman  rule,  which  was  to  the  minds  of  tlie 
Jews  the  extreme  of  political  degradation.  The  Ilerodians  did 
not  represent  a  theological  or  ecclesiastical  sect,  but  a  political 
party.  The  Sadducees,  although  they  were  nnorthodox  material- 
ists, desired  to  maintain  the  ancient  faith  against  pagan  forms  of 
civilization ;  and  the  Pharisees,  who  were  the  orthodox  religionists, 
preferred  the  domestic  tj^ranny  of  the  family  of  Herod  the  Great, 
who  were  nominally  orthodox  Jews,  to  the  presence  and  rule  of 
some  heathen  appointee  of  the  Roman  emperor.  It  thus  hap- 
pened that  sometimes  the  Pharisees,  and  at  other  times  the  Sad- 
ducees, are  found  in  close  fellowship  with  the  Ilerodians ;  but  the 
basis  of  the  fellowship  was  political  and  not  religious. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  all  tliese  parties  had  the  most  intense 
bitterness  of  hatred  towards  Rome,  and  that  makes  their  conduct 
on  this  occasion  the  more  vile,  because,  since  Jesus  cannot  be 
forced  to  take  the  role  of  a  political  Messiah,  they  determine,  if 
possible,  to  involve  him  in  the  fate  which  would  have  come  upon 
any  man  who  attempted  that  perilous  part  and  failed.  Or  per- 
haps the  intention  was  to  drive  him  into  taking  the  headship  of  a 
rebellion  against  Rome,  and  thus  realize  their  political  hopes,  or 
crush  him  out  of  their  way  as  the  social  rulers  of  the  people. 
When  priests  and  ])oliticians  combine  there  is  the  culmination  of 
human  villany. 

With  these  malicious  feelings  they  sent  a  body  of,  probably, 
young  men  of  both  parties,  who  should  now  go  to  him  as  private 
persons,  as  orthodox  Jews,  as  devoted  to  the  the- 
ocracy, as  scrupulous  men,  who  were  to  propound  J^^    °  ^'^' 

T  .  .  .p..  snare  Jesus, 

to  Jesus  an  ensnarmg  question,  as  if  it  were  sim- 
ply one  which  was  troubling  their  consciences.     The  historian 
says  (Luke  XX,),  "who  should  feign  themselves  to  be  just  men, 
that  they  might  take  hold  of  his  conversation,  so  that  they  might 
deliver  him  to  the  power  and  autlioi-ity  of  the  governor." 

The  manner  of  the  approach  was  gracious,  the  style  of  the  ad- 
dress was  complimentary.  They  said,  "  Teacher,  we  know  that 
jou  are  true,  and  that  you  teach  the  way  of  God  in  truth,  neither 


570  THE   LAST    WEEK. 

do  you  care  for  any  one,  for  you  do  not  look  to  the  face  of  men." 
Guileful  as  were  liis  enemies,  they  were  compelled  to  give  this 
faithful  description  of  the  character  and  teaching  of  Jesus.  He 
was  truthful  because  he  was  independent.  He  had  demon- 
strated in  his  ministry  of  three  years  that  he  could  not  be  moved 
by  any  appeal  men  could  make  to  his  hopes  or  to  his  fears.  He 
was  independent  because  he  was  righteous.  All  this  was  truth  to 
which  the  people  could  bear  witness  ;  but  it  was  not  uttered  in  the 
spirit  of  truth,  and,  while  essentially  and  profoundly  true  in  it- 
self, it  was  a  lie  on  the  lips  of  these  tempters. 

The  intent  of  this  manner  of  address  is  quite  obvious.  It  was 
an  attempt  to  cozen  Jesus.  It  was  a  movement  to  excite  him  into 
such  a  feeling  of  superiority  that  he  should  dare  utter  what  would 
bear  a  treasonable  interpretation,  which  the  llerodians  would  re- 
port, and  to  which  the  Pharisees,  as  impartial  and  unpolitical  per- 
sons, would  bear  testimony. 

The  question  was  one  of  marvellous  adroitness.     It  seemed  to 

demand  a  categorical  answer,  "  yes  "  or  "  no,"  or  enforced  silence. 

It  was  this:  "Tell  us,  then,  what  you  think  :  is  it 
An  adroit  ques-     ^^^^.^^^^  ^^.^  ^j^.^   ^^..^^^^^^   ^^   q^^^,,  „j.  j,,,^?  »      If  he 

said,  ''  Yes,  it^is  lawful,"  he  would  shock  the  Jew- 
ish prejudices  of  the  populace.  He  would  be  charged  with  in- 
culcating a  humiliating  submission  to  a  heathen  conqueror.  He 
would  disparage  his  claims  to  the  Messiahship.  It  would  be  out- 
rao-eous  that  the  theoci-atic  king  of  the  Jews  should  teach  submis- 
sion  to  a  heathen  oppressor  of  his  own  people.  An  affirmative 
answer  would  thus  destroy  his  present  popularity  and  his  prospects 
of  future  advancement.  If  he  said,  "  No,  it  is  not  lawful,"  there 
would  be  ground  on  which  to  rest  an  accusation  of  rebellion. 
It  might  be  a  speech  to  pass  without  notice  if  uttered  by  some 
bigoted  rustic  in  a  Jewish  village,  but  spoken  by  a  very  popular 
Teacher  at  the  high  festival,  in  the  metropolis,  and  in  the  Tem- 
ple of  his  nation,  it  becomes  altogether  another  thing.  Rome 
would  not  pass  lightly  by  such  a  speech  of  such  a  man  under  such 
circumstances.  These  conspirators  supposed  that  he  must  sa,y 
"  yes  "  or  "  no,"  and  perhaps  it  occurred  to  them  that  if  for  any 
reason  Jesus  should  see  fit  to  decline  an  answer,  this  would  put 
him  just  where  he  had  placed  them  by  his  dilemma  in  regard  to 
John  the  Baptist,  and  that  thus  they  should  recover  the  ground 
they  had  lost  in  that  conflict. 


THE   TIIIKD   DAT. 


571 


AUGUSTUS   C«8AB. 


The  net  torn. 


But  Jcsns  neither  kept  silence  nor  gave   a  categorical   reply. 
He   read  them   through  and  throngh.     He  upbraided  theui  foi 

their  dissimulation.  "  Why  do  you 
tempt  me,  you  hypocrites  ?  "  And 
then  he  turned  upon  them  with  a 
most  unexpected  movement.  "  Show 
me  the  coin  of  the  tribute,"  he  said, 
and  they  brought  him  a  denarius,  the 
common  silver  coin  of  the  Empire  then  in  circulation  in  Palestine, 
being  the  ordinary  pay  for  a  day's  labor.  lie  held  the  piece  of 
money  in  his  hand  and  asked — not  that  he  did  not  kuow,  but 
manifestly  that  their  own  lips  should  speak  it — "  Whose  is  this 
image  and  superscri})tion  ? "  They  answei'ed,  "  Caisar's."  His 
reply  was  like  a  flash  of  inspiration,  "  Kender  therefore  Cajsar's 
tilings  to  Cjesar,  and  God's  things  to  God  !  " 

Was  there  ever  anything  fairer?  The  net  was  torn  to  pieces. 
All  morality,  all  piety,  and  all  the  companionship  of  the  numer- 
ous duties  were  put  into  eleven  Greek  words,  which 
require  only  the  same  number  of  English  words 
to  translate  them.  All  personal  devotion  to  G(  )d,  all  j  ustice  towards 
man,  all  equipoise  of  character  were  set  forth  in  a  sentence  which 
can  be  pronounced  in  a  breath.  They  had  accepted  money  from 
CiBsar's  mint,  thus  acknowledging  the  dominion  of  the  Emperor ; 
thus  they  had  settled  against  themselves  in  practical  e\ery-day 
life,  the  question  which  one  of  their  schools  had  determined  in 
the  rabbinical  rule,  "The  coin  of  the  country  shows  the  master."* 
Jesus  thus  gave  a  summary  of  his  teaching  in  an  answer  the 
most  profound,  because  it  states  what  underlies  all  life  and  all  the 
duties  thereof ;  the  most  lofty,  because  it  crowns 
the  highest  hopes  of  man  for  this  present  life,  and 
his  grandest  for  the  life  to  come  ;  the  most  beauti- 
ful, because  in  it  law  and  freedom  kiss  each  other;  the  most  power- 
ful, because  it  holds  despotism  and  anarchy  apart,  and  holds 
religion  and  progressive  free  life  together.  Ko  other  one  sentence 
uttered  among  men  has  done  so  much  for  the  progress  of  human 
Bociety.  It  was  not  a  divorcing  of  religion  from  govermnent,  and 
a  putting  of  God  out  of  the   affairs  of  the  nations,  as  if  human 


A  profound  les- 
son. 


*  Ellicott  quotes  Maimonides  in  Ge- 
gdao,^^  chap  v. :  "  Ubicunque  numisma 
re^  alicujus  obtinet,  illic  incolse  regem 


istum  pro  domino  agnoscunt. "     See  also 
Lightfoot,  Hoi:  Ueb.,  in  Matt.  xxii.  20. 


572  THE  LAST   WEEK. 

government  and  divine  rule  stood  at  neutrality  or  in  antagonism. 
JS^or  was  it  a  sanction  of  Jewish  ideas  of  unity,  as  if  service  to  an 
earthly  monarch  were  treason  to  God,  as  under  their  theocracy 
they  had  grown  to  believe,  since  God  was  king.  Caesar  exists  by 
appointment  of  God.  Government  does  not  exist  by  the  will 
of  the  governed,  nor  by  the  will  of  the  governor,  but  by  the  ordi- 
nance of  God.  Men  dare  not  be  without  government ;  nor  is  it 
practicable  if  men  should  attempt  it.  Duty  to  the  government  is 
best  discharged  by  devotion  to  Go4  ;  and  duty  to  God  involves  the 
discharge  of  obligations  to  the  government.  These  hypocrites  and 
liars  who  were  tempting  Jesus  were  like  all  the  disciples  of  the 
"higher  law"  school  in  every  age,  making  their  pretended  piety 
an  excuse  for  a  violation  of  civil  obligations.  They  were  willing 
to  serve  neither  God  nor  Ccesar,  pleading  one  against  the  other  that 
they  might  be  free  from  both.  But  Jesus,  instead  of  admitting 
the  alternative  of  Caesar  or  God,  assumes  and  impresses  the  con- 
nection of  Caesar  and  God. 

Perhaps  the  idea  that  Jesus  intended  to  convey  a  lesson  by  the 
allusion  to  the  image  on  the  coin  is  not  without  foundation.  It  has 
obtained  in  all  Christian  ages.  Man  bears  God's  image  in  his 
soul  from  the  birth,  and  is  a  man  because  he  does  bear  that  image, 
as  a  piece  of  silver  is  a  coin  because  it  bears  the  image  of  the 
reigning  prince.  Kender  your  inner  spiritual  life  to  God  and 
devote  your  outer  worldly  life  to  your  country,  might  seem  to  be 
the  lesson  for  each  individual.  In  any  case  there  is  no  collision  of 
duties. 

When  the  Pharisees  and  Ilerodians  heard  the  saying  of  Jesus 
they  marvelled  at  the  wisdom  of  his  reply,  and  seeing  that  they 
could  not  take  hold  of  his  words  before  the  people,  they  held  their 
peace  and  left  him,  and  went  their  way. 

But  their  pursuit  of  Jesus  was  not  to  be  thus  abandoned.  If  he 
cannot  be  caught  by  an  adroit  question  regarding  political  princi- 
ples, perhaps  he  can  be  betrayed  into  saying  some- 

The  pursuit  not  ^j^jj^g  which  shall  rouse  against  him  the  adherents 
of  one  of  the  sects  among  the  people.  To  that 
end  the  Sadducees  approached  him ;  and  they  had  a  question  so 
shaped  that  any  answer  they  could  conceive  would  either  commit 
him  against  the  law  of  Moses  or  drive  him  into  the  helplessness  of 
Bilence.  Jesus  had  endorsed  the  law  of  Moses,  and  had  also 
explicitly  taught  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead. 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  573 

The  Saddiicees  -vrero  materialistic  pantheists.  They  did  not 
believe  in  any  spirit,  whether  of  man,  angel,  or  God.  They  did 
not  belie\e  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  therefore,  as  the 
body  was  all  there  was  of  man,  the  continued  existence  of  con- 
scious personal  identity  was  not  received  by  them.  They  ran  their 
principles  to  the  logical  ends  of  atheism  or  pantheism.  In  out- 
ward life  they  were  decent,  and  considered  themselves  a  part  of 
the  "  church,"  and,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  were  not  del^ari-ed  by  their 
philosophical  tenets  from  being  members  of  the  Sanhedrim.  For 
political  reasons  they  were  ready  to  join  the  Pharisees  and  the 
Herodians — indeed  some  of  the  sect  may  have  been  Ilerodians — 
in  putting  aside  a  man  whose  course  threatened  to  bring  the  Jews 
into  collision  with  the  Homans  without  the  prospect  of  making  a 
successful  revolt  against  the  dominant  empire. 

The  Sadducees  plant  themselves  on  Moses  and  qtu)te  the  law  of 
the  Levirate  marriage,  thus :  "  Teacher,  Moses  said.  If  any  one 
die,  having  no  children,  his  brother  shall  marry  liis 
wife  and  raise  ui)  seed  to  his  brother.  But  there  ,  Qf  ^^o^  by  the 
were  with  us  se\en  brothei-s ;  and  the  first,  having 
married,  died,  and  not  having  seed  he  left  his  wife  to  his  brother. 
Likewise  the  second  also,  and  the  third,  until  the  seventh.  And 
last  of  all  the  woman  died.  Now  in  the  resurrection  of  which  of 
the  seven  shall  she  be  wife?"  From  their  standing-point  this 
seems  like  a  difficulty  from  which  Jesus  cannot  extricate  himself. 
lie  must  admit  that  their  statement  of  the  law,  being  a  free  render- 
ing of  Deuteronomy  xxv.  5,  is  quite  correct.  Then  they  state  a 
case.  AYliether  it  occurred  in  real  life  or  is  imagined  in  order  to 
test  the  principle,  is  not  important.  It  nn'ght  occur.  It  would 
have  been  sufficient  to  take  the  very  case  which  Moses  supposed, 
namely,  of  two  brothei-s  ;  but  the  greater  the  number  the  greater 
the  perplexity,  and  therefore  they  state  seven.  It  is  clear  that 
they  suppose  that  Moses  did  not  believe  in  the  resurrection,  and 
the  question  which  they  state  involves,  as  they  think,  in  any  reply, 
which  Jesus  can  make,  a  surrender  of  the  truth  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  resurrection,  or  of  the  binding  force  of  the  law  of  Mose" 
It  is  quite  clear  that  they  did  not  propound  the  question  that  they 
might  be  enlightened.     It  was  to  entangle  Jesus. 

The  reply  of  Jesus  was  lofty  in  its  spii-it  and  demolishing  in  i*.i 
stroke.  He  did  not  deign  a  reply  to  a  sneer  at  a  great  doctririr, 
nor  a  solution  specially  ai)plicable  to  a  case  sensually  conceirc.^ 


674  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

and  coarsely  stated.  He  showed  their  folly  and  stated  the  great 
principle  involved  in  the  case,  and  demonstrated  by  a  single  qnota- 
tion  from  the  writings  of  Moses  that  the  great  law- 
giver was  neither  pantheist  nor  Sadducee.  Ilia 
reply  is,  "  Yon  are  wandering,  knoM'ing  neither  the  Scriptures  nor 
the  power  of  God.  For  in  the  resurrection  they  neither  many  nor 
are  given  in  marriage,  but  as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven  are 
they.  But  concerning  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  have  you  not 
known  precisely  that  spoken  to  you  by  God,  saying,  '  I  am  the  God 
of  Abraham,  and  God  of  Isaac,  and  God  of  Jacob  ? '  lie  is  not 
the  God  of  the  dead,  but  the  God  of  the  living." 

lie  rejects  their  pantheistic  notions,  asserts  the  personality  of 

God,  teaches  that  those  of  whom  Jehovah  is  God  cannot  be  dead, 

but  alive.     God  is  y  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob 

esus     agains     ^^.^      These  men  are  dead,  so  far  as  the  world  is 
pantheism.  .  ' 

able  to  perceive;  but  they  are  as  certainly  alive  as 

God  is.  lie  answers  their  quotation  from  Moses  of  the  provision 
for  Levirate  marriages,  by  showing  them,  by  another  quotation 
from  Moses  (Exod.  iii.  6),  how  the  belief  in  the  continued  exist- 
ence of  men  after  death  underlay  the  highest  teachings  of  the 
great  lawgiver.  He  gives  them  to  understand  that  their  question, 
which  was  propounded  in  the  spirit  of  libertinism,  involved  a 
gross  error,  which  came  of  their  ignoi-ance  of  both  the  meaning  of 
Scripture  and  the  power  of  God.  It  does  not  seem  that  Jesus 
charged  the  Sadducees  with  being  ignorant  of  the  omnipotence  of 
God,  but  that  they  did  not  discern  the  pOMcr  of  God  in  holy 
Scripture  ;  that  to  them  a  writing  was  a  writing,  and  nothing  more ; 
in  short,  that  they  did  not  know  that  the  fact  of  the  power  of  God 
being  in  the  Scripture  was  a  proof  that  God  is  a  spirit. 

The  marriage  relation  is  one  of  the  natural  and  not  of  the  spir- 
itual body.     This  forced  Levirate  marriage  was  most  unnatural. 

„     .  Wliether  any  love  existed  between  the  widow  and, 

Mamage  natu-    ,         ,        ,        .     ,  ,      .  i       i         i 

^  her  brother-m-law,  whether  or  not  she  loved  an- 

other man  better,  or  he  had  already  a  wife  whom 
he  loved,  his  brother's  widow  must  be  taken  to  his  arms.  The 
'whole  arrangement  was  made  for  the  preservation  of  the  family. 
There  should  be  no  need  for  any  such  regulation  in  the  world 
which  men  enter  at  death.  There  the  men  do  not  marry,  and 
women  are  not  married.  If  sex  remain,  there  is  nothing  which 
demands  such  unions  as  we  have  on  earth ;  so  then  the  case  which 


THE   THIRD   DAT.  575 

the  Sadducees  cited  as  conclusive  really  had  no  hearing  whatever 
on  the  question  under  discussion.  The  Sadducees  did  not  see  far 
enough  to  perceive  that  human  beings  may  exist  in  two  states 
successively,  without  losing  their  identity ;  while  we,  who  are  in 
one  of  those  states,  do  not  see  how  arrangements  of  the  other  can 
at  all  correspond  with  this.  A  priori^  it  would  be  reasonable  to 
Buj)p()se  that  we  could  not  see  this  connexion,  and  that  any  diffi- 
culty proposed  would  amount  simply  to  an  acknowledgment  of 
our  ignorance,  and  no  proof  of  any  other  proposition  whatever. 
That  is  what  Jesus  implies.  You  are  in  error  ;  your  error  is  the 
result  of  your  ignorance ;  but  your  ignorance  can  have  no  effect 
upon  the  facts  of  God  and  of  eternity. 

The  reply  of  Jesus  silenced  the  Sadducees  and  excited  the 
admiration  of  the  multitude,  and  even  some  of  the  better-minded 
Pharisees,  according  to  Luke,  exclaimed:  "Well  said!"  so  de- 
lighted were  they  with  the  reply. 

One  of  them,  a  lawyer,  came  forward  with  a  question  to  Jesus. 
The  term  "  lawyei-,"  i/o/zt/co?,  so  frequent  in  the  Evangelists,  must 
be  understood  to  mean  one  who  devoted  himself 
to  the  study  and  exposition  of  the  Mosaic  law,  a  "^^f  lawyer's 
biblical  scholar,  a  Doctor  of  Divinity,  rather  than 
one  practising  in  the  courts  of  civil  and  criminal  law.  We  are 
not  quite  sure  as  to  the  spirit  which  prompted  this  question.  The 
Pharisees  were  undoubtedly  elated  that  Jesus  had  silenced  the 
Sadducees.  They  might  have  felt  that  now  was  the  time  to  show 
their  superiority  by  proposing  a  good  question,  implying  they 
wei'e  not  concerned  in  things  so  gross  as  those  which  occupied  the 
Sadducees.  Or  this  lawyer  may  have  personally  desired  to  know 
what  was  the  opinion  of  this  Teacher  upon  a  question  which  was 
one  of  great  interest  in  the  schools  of  the  Pharisees.  Or  tho 
Pharisaic  party  may  have  wished  to  make  him  repeat  the  com- 
mand which  asserted  the  great  doctrine  of  monotheism,  from 
which  they  argued,  as  Mohammed  has  subsequently,  that  God 
could  have  no  son,  and  to  reflect  it  up(jn  the  claim  which  Jesus 
had  made  of  being  the  Son  of  God  in  an  exceptional  sense. 

These  suppositions  are  suggested  by  the  question  itself,  by  the 
answer  of  Jesus,  and  by  the  counter-question  which  followed. 

The  lawyer  asked,  "  Of  what  nature  is  the  first  commandment 
of  all  ?  "  This  is  sti'ictly  the  meaning  of  the  question,  and  not,  aa 
in  the  common  version  of  Mark,  "  ^Y^^,^ch  is  the  first  \ "  and  of 


576  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

Matthew,  "  Which   is    the    great   commandment  ? "      The   legal 
spirit  had  taken  such  possession  of  the  Jews  that  they  enumer- 
ated, says  Braune,  365  prohibitions,  according  to 
The  grreat  com-    ^^^^    ^         ^^  ^j^^  year,  and  228   commandments, 
mandment.  /  \  m       -ni       • 

according  to  the  parts  of  tlie  body.  The  Pharisees 
distinguished  between  light  and  heav}',  great  and  small  laws. 
They  regarded  them  quantitively.  Each  command  in  the  deca- 
logue had  its  adherents.  There  was  no  danger  in  any  selection 
Jesus  might  make.  But  the  point  of  peril  lay  here :  if  he  said, 
as  was  most  probable  from  his  character  and  teaching,  that  tlie 
first  commandment,  "  Tliou  shalt  have  no  otlier  God  before  me," 
contained  the  principle  of  supreme  love  Vo  God,  his  answer  would 
make  the  basis  for  a  charge  of  blasphemy.  In  the  original  it  is 
TTota,  "  what  kind  of  a  law,"  what  is  the  spirit  and  ^>r^/ic^^Z«  of 
the  chief  law.  AVe  shall  see  that  the  two  counts  against  Jesus  at 
last  were  political  aspiration  and  blasphemy,  into  both  which  his 
adversaries  had  endeavored  to  force  him ;  and  having  failed  of 
the  first  they  are  still  trying  the  second. 

Jesus   answered,  "  The  first  is,  Hear,   Israel ;   the  Lord  our 
God  is  one  Lord ;  and  you  shall  love  the  Lord  your  God  with  all 

your  heart,  and  all  your  soul,  and  all  your  intel- 
The  reply  of    ^        ^^^^  ^y^  ^^^^^  strength.      This  is  the  first  and 
Jesus.  'JO 

great  command.    The  second  is  like  it,  this  :  You 

shall  love  your  neighbor  as  yourself.  There  is  not  any  other 
commandment  greater  than  these ;  on  these  two  commandments 
depend  the  law  and  the  prophets."  It  will  be  perceived  that  as 
he  had  foiled  their  efforts  to  make  him  compromise  himself 
politically,  so  now,  fi-om  any  involvement  in  blasphemy,  which 
would  have  been  caused  by  a  surrender  of  the  claims  he  had  al- 
ready made,,  especially  if  accompanied  by  an  assertion  of  the  debt 
of  supreme  love  to  God  alone,  Jesus  saves  himself,  by  adding  imme- 
diately after  the  first  command  the  second,  and  saying  that  it  was 
like  the  first,  and  then  conjoining  them  and  declaring  that  on  thQ 
two  was  suspended  all  that  the  law  and  the  prophets  contained. 
It  was  bringing  together  what  God  had  joined  and  man  had  sepa- 
rated, namely,  God  and  man,  heaven  and  eai-th.  It  was  a  decla- 
ration that  all  the  morality  of  the  law,  and  the  religious  faith  and 
fervor  of  the  projihets,  lay  in  loving  God  up  to  the  full  measure 
of  human  capability,  and  loving  one's  fellow -man  up  to  the  full 
measure  of  a  healthy  and  natural  self-love  which  has  not  run 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  577 

to  selfishness.     The  reply  was   simple,  comj  rehensive,  and  sub- 
lime. 

The  scribe  felt  it.  lie  exclaimed,  "  Well,  Teacher,  you  have 
spoken  the  trutli.  One  lie  is :  and  there  is  not  another  besides 
Ilim.  And  to  love  Ilim  Avitli  all  your  heart,  and  all  your  under- 
standing, and  all  your  strength,  and  to  love  your  neighbor  as  your- 
self, is  more  than  all  the  whole  burnt-offerings  and  sacrifices." 
This  gushing  expression  of  belief  seemed  to  please  Jesus,  who 
said  to  him,  "  You  are  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God."  This 
is  an  important  sentence.  It  lets  us  into  the  knowledge  of  the 
meaning  of  Jesus  when  he  speaks  of  "  the  kingdom  of  God," 
which  he  makes  synonymous  with  "  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens." 
An  apprehension  of  the  spiritual  meaning  of  the  hnvs  of  God,  of 
the  abstract  essence  which  is  independent  of  the  concrete  forms 
of  right,  and  on  which  those  concrete  forms  themselves  depend,  is 
the  beginning  of  the  comprehension  of  a  kingdom  whose  existence 
does  not  rest  upon  matter  as  a  foundation,  nor  grow  out  of 
matter  as  a  root,  a  kingdom  which  is  itself  the  substance  of  all 
visible  thino-s.  The  thino-s  that  are  seen  are  to  be  known  thor- 
oughly  only  as  understood  in  their  connection  with  the  things  that 
are  not  seen.  The  former  <?«ist  from  the  latter,  and  the  latter 
^■wJsist  for  the  former.  That  is  the  fundamental  principle  of  all 
the  .teachings  of  Jesus,  and  so  indispensable  did  he  consider  it  that 
he  regarded  his  whole  mission  of  teaching  as  embraced  in  the  work 
of  preaching  that  kingdom. 

While  the  Pharisees  were  collected  together,  Jesus  in  his  turn 
began  to  propound  questions.      lie  had  upset  all  their  traps  and 
silenced  all  their  cavils.     lie  turned  upon  them 
with  the  question :  "  How  does  it  seem  to  you    Question 
about  the  Christ  ?     AVhose  son  is  he  ? "     They 
were  scandalized  because  Jesus  had  claimed  to  be  the  Son  of 
God,  since  God  could  have  no  son,  in  their  opinion.     But  they 
were  looking  for  the   Messiah,   that  is  the    Christ,   that  is   the 
Anointed  Deliverer.     Xow  He  nuist  be  some  one's  son.     AVhose  ? 
"  David's,"  was  their  reply.     Jesus  said  :  "  In  what  sense,  then, 
did  David,  by  the  dloly  Spirit,  call  him  Lord,  saying,  '  The  Lord 
said  unto  my  Lo)-d,  Sit  on  my  right  hand,  until  I  put  your  ene- 
mies under  your  feet.''     If,  then,  David  calls  him  Lord,  in  what 
sense  is  he  his  son  ?  " 

The  tranquillity  of  Jesus,  his  serene  self-possession,  after  the 
37 


578 


TUB   LAST   WEEK. 


badgering  througli  which  his  imscnipnlous  and  malicious  enemiea 
had  carried  him,  mnst  occur  to  every  reader  of  the  narrative. 
The  original  historians  do  not  point  it  out,  in- 


The  Evangelists    ^qq^  ^]jgy  ahnost  entirely  avoid  characterization, 
avoid   characteri- 
zation. 


narrating  facts  and  sayings,  apparently  innocent 
of  all  their  highest  comiections.  And  yet  there 
are  those  connections.  Jesus  had  been  hailed  by  the  people  as 
Messiah  ;  he  was  in  the  Temple  acting  as  Messiah  ;  he  turned  the 
conversation  with  his  enemies  into  a  discussion  of  the  Messiah. 
Let  the  reader  so  back  to  the  account  of  the  first  visit  of  Jesus 
to  the  Temple  after  his  circumcision,  and  recollect  the  question 
which  the  boy  of  twelve  years  propounded  to  his  mother  when 
she  was  concerned  at  his  being  separated  from  her  company : 
"  Do  you  not  know  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business  ?  " 
in  a  special  manner  claiming  God  for  his  father,  and  the  affairs 
of  the  Temple  the  business  in  which  he  should  be  engaged, 
(Luke  ii.  49,  50.) 

Now  he  confounds  their  pertinacity  and  instructs  their  igno- 
rance at  the  same  time.  lie  quotes  the  first  verse  of  Psalm  ex., 
a  psalm  the  Jews  in  the  time  of  Jesus  univer- 
sally interpreted  as  Messianic*  They  do  not 
deny  that  this  is  a  prophecy  of  the  Messiah, 
Christ.     But  the  Pharisees  in  their  teaching  had  entirely  lost 


David's  Son  and 
David's  Lord. 


"'  The  Jews  never  denied  the  Mes- 
sianic application  of  this  psalm  before 
the  days  of  Jesus,  and  his  argument 
came  upon  them  so  suddenly  that  they 
did  not  think  of  dodging  his  blow  by 
making  the  denial  then.  Indeed,  as  I 
Buggest  in  the  text,  they  would  not 
have  dared  to  face  the  people  with  such 
a  denial.  Better  take  the  blow  of  Je- 
sus than  outrage  the  feelings  of  the 
multitude  by  denying  what  had  always 
been  taught  and  believed.  But  after- 
ward, when  Christians  pushed  this  ar- 
gument of  Jesus,  and  when  it  ceased  to 
be  dangerous,  they  denied  the  Messianic 
applicability  of  the  psalm.  Justin  Mar- 
tyr (Dialog,  cont.  Tryph.)  and  Ter- 
tullian  {Ado.  Marcion)  mention  the  ex- 
planation which  makes  Hezekiah  the 
subject  as  common  among  the  Jews  of 


that  day.  Chrysostom  found  in  his  day 
a  great  diversity  of  opinions  among  the 
Jews.  It  was  applied  to  Abraham, 
Zerubbabel,  Hezekiah,  the  Jewish  peo- 
ple, etc.  But  there  was  not  the  slight- 
est difference  of  opinion  among  the 
Jews  before  the  day  when  Jesus  pre- 
sented his  argument  in  the  Temple. 
Then  it  became  evident  that  if  the  Mes- 
sianic interpretation  be  adhered  to,  the 
charge  of  blasphemy  against  Jesus  was 
absurd,  and  his  execution  for  blasphemy 
was  a  murder  of  most  outrageous  char- 
acter. The  reader,  if  he  can  consult 
the  books,  vi-ill  find  this  historical  state- 
ment verified  by  Hengstenberg,  Chris- 
tol,  i.  vol.:  Michaelis,  Annot  on Ilagio- 
graph.,  L  vol.;  and  Wetstein  on  Matt^ 
xxii.  44. 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  579 

Bi'glit  of  the  spiritual  character  of  the  Messiah.  They  had  come 
to  regard  him  merely  as  a  man,  chosen  by  the  Ahnighty  to  be 
Messiah,  Christ,  because  of  his  surpassing  vii-tue.  They  could 
not  see  the  possibility  of  any  one  being  superior  to  themselves,  as 
they  were  in  the  succession  of  the  regularly  appointed  teachers  ol 
the  Scriptures,  still  less  could  they  understand  that  any  one  should 
be  superior  to  David.  The  term  Messiah,  Clirist,  Anointed,  given 
in  words  from  three  languages,  but  meaning  the  same  thing,  was 
originally  applied  to  all  Hebrew  kings  and  chief  magistrates,  as 
Arsaces  was  among  the  Persians,  Pharaoh  among  the  Egyptians, 
and  Oiesar  among  the  Pomans.  Put  in  process  of  thought  and 
of  time  it  came  to  be  associated  with  the  One  looked-for  Deliv- 
erer of  the  nation.  This  man  should  be  of  the  lineage  of  David. 
It  was  easy  to  say  he  was  David's  son,  and  in  one  sense  it  was  not 
incorrect.  Put  David,  under  the  highest  inspiration,  as  they  be- 
lieved, said  that  Jehovah  said  to  this  Messiah  :  "  Sit  on  my  right 
hand  until  I  put  jour  enemies  under  your  feet ; "  and  David  calls 
this  Messiah  "  My  Lord."  They  had  not  thought  of  this  before. 
On  their  theory  they  are  confounded  ;  on  the  theory  of  Jesus  all  is 
plain.  God  could  have  a  son,  who  should  sit  at  his  right,  that  is, 
share  with  Him  the  government  of  the  world,  and  who  at  the 
game  time  could  be  a  descendant  of  David,  The  same  person 
could  be  Soil  of  God  and  So?i  of  Man^  being  Son  of  David. 

They  could  not  deny  that  those  words  were  in  the  Scriptures. 
Tlmj  dared  not  say — whatever  Sadducees  might — that  the  words 
were  not  inspired,  and  they  could  not  stultify 
themselves,  and  shock  popular  prejudice  by  sud-  again  pe^p^exed. ^ 
denly  denying  what  they  themselves  and  all  their 
predecessors  had  taught,  namely,  that  that  inspired  splendid  lyric 
referred  to  the  Messiah.  They  were  silenced.  They  asked  Jesus 
no  more  questions. 

Then  followed  the  last  public  discoui*sc  of  Jesus  to  the  Jews. 
It  is  exceedingly  terrible.  Turning  to  the  multitude  and  to  his 
disciples,  he  said : 

"  Upon  Moses's  seat  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  have  seated  themselves. 
Tliercfore  all,  whatever  they  sliall  say  to  you,  do ;  but  do  not  accordmg  to 
their  works,  for  they  say,  and  do  not     And  they  bmd 
great  heavy  burdens,  and  lay  tliem  on  the  shoulders  of      '^^  ^f. '"'''"°  ^^ 

^  J  1  J  course  of  Jesna. 

men ;  but  they  will  not  move  them  \fiS\x  their  finger.     For 

all  their  works  th^  do  for  to  be  seen  of  men;   for  they  broaden  their 


580  THE   LAST   -SVKEK. 

phylacteries  and  enlarge  their  fringes ;  and  they  love  the  top  couches  at  feasts 
and  the  top-seats  in  the  synagogues  and  the  salutations  in  the  market-placea 
and  to  be  called  of  men  Rabbi 

"  But  do  not  you  be  called  liaJ/bi ';  for  one  is  yonr  Leader,  and  you  are  all 
bi-ethren.  And  call  no  one  your  father  on  the  earth  ;  for  one  is  your  Father, 
the  Heavenly :  neither  be  you  called  leadei-s ;  for  one  is  your  Leader,  the 
Christ  [Messiah].  But  the  greater  of  you  shall  be  servant.  And  wliosoever 
shall  exalt  hinisclf  shall  be  abased,  and  he  who  shall  humble  himself  shall  be 
exalted." 

Then  turning  to  the  cluirch  party,  he  said  : 

"Woe  to  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites!  because  ye  devour  the 
houses  of  widows  and  for  a  pretence  make  long  prayers ;  therefore  you 
shall  receive  the  greater  condemnation.  Woe  to  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees, 
hypocrites !  because  ye  shut  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens  in  front  of  men, 
for  you  neither  go  in  yourselves,  nor  allow  those  who  are  coming  in  to  enter. 
Woe  unto  you,  scril>es  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites  !  for  you  go  about  sea  and 
land  to  make  one  proselyte,  and  when  he  l^ecomcs  so  you  make  him  tenfold 
more  a  son  of  Gehenna  than  youreelves.  Woe  unto  you,  the  blind  guides, 
who  say,  'Whosoever  shall  swear  by  the  Temple,  it  is  nothing ;  but  whosoever 
shall  swear  by  tlie  gold  of  tlte  Temple,  he  is  a  del>tor  ! '  Fools  and  blind  ! 
for  which  is  greater,  the  gold,  or  the  Temple  which  makes  the  gold  holy  ? 
And,  'If  one  shall  sw^ear  by  the  altar,  it  is  nothing ;  biit  if  any  one  swear  by 
the  gift  tliat  is  on  it,  he  is  a  debtor  I '  Blind !  for  which  is  the  greater,  the 
gift,  or  the  altar  which  niakes  tl)e  gift  lioly  ?  He,  therefore,  who  swears  by 
the  altar,  swears  by  it  and  by  all  things  on  it ;  and  he  Avho  swears  by  tlie  Tem- 
ple, swears  by  it  and  by  Ilim  who  dwells  in  it;  and  lie  who  swears  by  lieaven, 
swears  l)y  the  throne  of  God,,  and  by  Him  who  sits  upon  it. 

"  Woe  to  you.  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites !  for  you  tithe  mint  and 
anise  and  cummin,  and  have  omitted  the  weigliticr  matters  of  the  law,  judg- 
ment, mercy,  and  faith.  Tliese  it  was  right  to  do,  and  not  to  leave  the  others 
undone.     Blind  guides !  straining  out  a  gnat,  swallowing  a  camel. 

"Woe  to  you,  scril)es  and  Pliarisecs,  hypocrites!  for  you  cleanse  the  out- 
side of  the  cup  and  of  the  dish,  l^iit  within  tliey.are  full  of  rapacity  and  in- 
justice. Blind  Pharisees  !  cleanse  first  t)ie  inside  of  the  cup  and  of  the  dish, 
that  the  outside  of  them  may  be  clean  also. 

"Woe  to  you,  scribes  and  Plwrisees,  hypocrites!  for  you  are  like  to 
whited  sepulchres,  which  outwardly  indeed  appear  beautiful,  but  are  within 
full  of  the  bones  of  the  dead  and  of  all  filth.  Tims  you  also  outwardly  in- 
deed appear  righteous  to  men,  but  within  you  are  full  of  hypocrisy  and  law- 
lessness 1 

"Woe  to  you,  sciibes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites!  because  you  build  the 
tombs  of  the  propliets  and  ornament  the  monuments  of  the  just,  and  say, 
Jf-  we  had  been  in  the  days  of  our  fathers  ice  would  not  have  been  imrtalers  with 
them  in  the  blood  of  the2)roj)hets.  So  that  you  testify  to  yourselves  that  you 
are  the  sons  of  the  muiderera  of  the  prophets,  and  you  have  filled  up  the 


THE   THIRD    DAY.  581 

inoasnro  of  your  fathers.  Seipcuts,  breed  of  vipers,  how  can  you  escape  the 
jadginent  of  Gehenna  ? 

"  On  this  account,  see,  I  send  to  you  prophets  and  wise  men  and  scrilies,  some 
of  Avlioiu  you  shall  kill  and  crucify,  and  some  of  them  you  shall  scourge  in 
your  synagogues,  and  persecute  them  from  city  to  city,  that  on  you  may  come 
all  the  righteous  blood  shed  upon  tl>e  earth,  from  the  Idood  of  rigliteous  Abel 
to  tlie  blood  of  Zacliarias,  whom  ye  slew  between  the  Temple  and  tlie  altar. 
I  assuredly  say  to  you.  All  these  things  sliall  come  \i\ion  this  generation. 

"  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem !  killing  the  prophets  and  stoning  them  that  are 
sent  to  you,  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  your  children  together,  even  as 
a  hen  gathers  her  chickens  under  her  wings ;  and  you  were  not  willing  1  See  ! 
your  house  is  left  to  you  desolate !  For,  I  say  to  you,  You  shall  not  see  nm 
from  this  time,  till  you  shall  say.  Praised  he  lie  coming  in  the  Lord's  name!  " 

This  is  a  terrible  speech. 

One  is  remanded  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  hj  varioHs 
points  of  similarity  and  contrast.  The  main  resemblance  lies  in 
this,   that    l)otli   are   discourses   on    Character. 

One  M-as  delivered   in   the   beo-inninjr,  and   the    ^  Compared  with 
„  .    .  11  Sermon    on    the 

other  at  the  end  or  his  mmistry,  yet  both  set    jjount 

forth  the  ruling  doctrine  of  his  life,  namely,  that 
office  is  nothing,  that  profession  is  nothing,  that  internal  spiritual 
character  is  everything.  It  will  be  perceived  also  that  parts  of 
the  Sermon  of  the  Mount,  as  well  as  parts  of  tliis  Denunciatory 
Valedictory,  were  repeated  at  sevei-al  stages  of  his  ministry,  so  as 
to  c;ive  a  certain  class  of  critics  some  irround  for  sayini>-  that  both 
are  collections,  made  b}"  the  art  and  insight  of  the  Evangelist 
(Matthew),  who  grouped  his  teachings  into  something  like  ora- 
tions. But  there  is  a  terrible  Ijcauty  of  unity  in  this  last  fiery 
discourse,  M'hicli,  more  than  any  argument  of  criticism,  it  seems 
to  me,  will  make  every  reader  feel  that  it  was  all  delivered  at 
once.  Passages  may  have  been,  and  doul)tless  were,  uttered 
as  occasion  called  them  forth ;  but  here,  in  his  Farewell  to  Juda- 
ism and  Jerusalem,  Jesus  poure  his  soul  in  a  full  tide  of  grnnd 
and  pure  passion  down  the  channel  of  a  final  discourse. 

Moreover,  one  jxirceives  that  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is 
constructed  u}X)n  the  principle  of  describing,  first,  the  essentials 
of  a  good  diameter,  and  then  the  results  in  the  open  life;  while 
the  Denunciatory  Valedictory  first  describes  a  wrong  outward 
life,  and  then  ti-aces  these  fruits  to  the  sap  of  hypocrisy.  It  has 
also  been  noticed  that  the  number  of  the  woes  in  this  case  is 
equal  to  the  number  of  benedictions  in  that,  and  some  have  made 


582  THE  liAST   WEEK. 

a  strict  correspondence.  Wliile  we  may  not  be  able  to  perceive 
that  as  closely  as  others,  the  analysis  of  this  discourse  will  never- 
theless suggest  it. 

The  speech  opens  with  some  instriTctions  to  his  disciples  in  the 

presence  of  the  multitude.     He  advises  them  to  do  as  the  scribes 

,    ^     ^.  and  tlie  Pharisees  said,  not  as  thev  did.     These 

Instruction.  ,      ^     .  p     i  .      t         ",       . 

men  had  the  seat  or  doctrmal  authority.  Bur- 
densome as  were  some  of  the  regulations  which  they  imposed  on 
the  people,  in  their  public  teachings  they  inculcated  sound  mo- 
rality. If  the  disciples  of  Jesus  had  set  themselves  in  a  revo- 
lutionary manner  against  these  teachers  of  the  law  there  would 
have  been  public  disorder,  a  woi-se  thing  than  allowing  these  men 
to  retain  the  seat  they  had  taken,  representing  Moses  in  the 
teaching  of  the  law.  But  their  conduct  was  so  wicked  that  no 
authority  which  they  seemed  to  derive  from  their  position  was  to 
give  them  such  an  influence  over  the  disciples  of  Jesus,  and  the 
multitudes  who  heard  him,  as  to  lead  them  into  imitating  the 
example  of  these  hypocrites,  who  covered  the  viciousness  of  their 
lives  by  laying  heavy  burdens  on  the  shoulders  of  other  men. 
Their  whole  life  was  a  sham.  They  never  did  right  because 
it  was  right  and  because  it  would  be  pleasing  to  God,  but  simply 
that  they  might  enjoy  the  applause  of  men.  Their  life  was 
a  perpetual  lie.  Tliat  they  might  have  the  reputation  of  sanctity 
they  made  broad  their  phylacteries  and  fringes. 

In  literal  application  of  the  figurative  expressions  of  Exodus 
xiii.  9,  16,  and  Deuteronomy  vi.  8,  9,  that  the  law  should  be 
bound  as  frontlets  between  the  eyes,  the  Phari- 
sees made  what  is  called  "  the  tejpliilla  on  the 
head,"  and  in  the  text  and  elsewhere  called  phylactery.  These 
were  strips  of  parchment  on  which,  with  an  ink  prepared  for  the 
purpose,  were  written  four  passages  of  Scripture,  namely.  Exodus 
xiii.  2-10,-  11-17;  Deuteronomy  vi.  4-9,  and  13-22.  These 
strips  were  rolled  up  in  a  case  of  black  calf-skin,  which  was 
attached  to  a  stiffer  piece  of  leather,  having  thongs,  covered 
with  Hebrew  letters,  which  thongs  being  passed  round  the  head 
and  made  into  a  knot  in  the  shape  of  i,  were  passed  over  tlie 
breasts.  Instead  of  Avriting  the  law  of  God  on  their  memoi-ies 
and  affections,  as  the  Scriptures  had  taught  them,  these  Phari- 
sees contented  themselves  with  making  a  parade  of  their  pliy- 
lacteries. 


THE   TIURD    DAT. 


583 


In  Numbei*s  xv.  38,  Jehovah  commands  the  Israelites  to  "make 
them  fringes  [in  Hebrew  ti-'-s.^  tsitsitli]  in  the  borders  of  their 
garments,"  and  "  that  they  put  upon  the  fringe  m  •  i, 
of  the  borders  a  ribbon  of  blue."  The  blue  was 
the  symbolical  color  of  heaven  and  of  God's  faithfulness.  It  was 
much  used  in  sacred  things.  The  Iligh-Priest's  ephod,  the  loops 
of  the  curtains  of  the  Tabernacle,  the  ribbons  for  the  breastplate, 
and  the  ribbons  for  the  plate  of  the  mitre,  were  blue.  Setting 
up  these  tsitsithim  they  were  to  remind  themselves  of  their  being 
children  of  the  covenant,  and  that  they  were  faithfully  to  keep  the 
commandments  of  a  God  who  on  Ilis  part  would  be  faithful  to 
all  His  promises.  Losing  all  memory  of  the  spiritual  meaning 
of  the  regulations,  tliese  hypocrites  had  learned  to  satisfy  them- 
selves with  an  enlargement  of  the  fringe  on  the  garment  in  place 
of  a  deepening  sentiment  of  humble  piety  in  the  soul. 

These  men  loved  the  chief  place  at  feasts.  Among  the  Greeks 
the  seat  of  honor  was  the  highest  place  on  tlie  divan,  among  the 
Persians  and  the  Pomans  it  was  the  middle 
place.  The  Pharisees  loved  also  the  highest 
places  in  the  synagogues,  and  it  gratified  their  vanity  to  be 
called  Teacher,  Doctor,  Pabbi.  Against  these  Jesus  warned 
his  disciples.  They  were  not  to  love  to  be  called  Pabbi,  a  title 
which  occurs  in  three  forms,  Hah^  Teacher,  Doctor ;  Rabbi, 
My  Doctor  or  Teacher ;  Rahhoni,  My  great  Doctor.  Nor  were 
they  to  call  any  man  "  Father,"  in  the  sense  of  granting  liim  any 
infallibility  of  judgment  or  power  over  their  consciences.  All 
the  disciples  of  Jesus  are  of  equal  authority,  all  are  brethren. 
"  Papa,"  as  the  simple  Moravii\ns  call  their  great  man,  Count  Zin- 
zendorf ;  "  Founder,"  as  Methodists  denominate  good  Jolm  Wesley ; 
"Holy  Father  in  God,"  as  bishops  are  sometimes  called;  "  Pope," 
which  is  the  same  as  "Papa;"  "Doctor  of  Divinity,"  the  Chris- 
tian equivalent  of  the  Jewish  "  Rabbi,"  are  all  dangerous  titles.* 


"Rabbi." 


*  It  is  contemptible  in  any  minister 
of  the  Gospel  to  seek  the  title  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity.  The  solicitation  of  its  be- 
stowal ou  himself  proves  the  applicant 
unworthy.  It  is  foolish  and  Pharisaic 
to  reject  it.  No  man  can  possibly  prove 
to  any  other  man  that  his  rejection  was 
not  prompted  by  vanity.  Probably  no 
man  yet  has  rejected  it  who  was  not 


knovm  to  his  acquaintances  to  be,  on 
other  grounds,  a  very  vain  man.  It  ia 
as  Pharisaic  to  reject  it  as  to  seek  it. 
No  man  for  such  a  cause  can  plead  thia 
teaching  of  Jesus  in  justification,  be- 
cause the  public  rejection  violates  the 
spirit  of  this  very  precept.  It  says  to 
the  world,  ' '  See  :  I  am  greater  than 
these  Doctors  of  Divinity  ;  I  can  ailord 


584 


THE    LAST    WEEK, 


But  it  is  not  the  employment  of  a  name  wliicli  Jesus  de- 
nounces, it  is  the  spirit  of  vanity  which  animated  the  Phari- 
sees, and  the  servile  spirit  which  the  employment  of  titles  is 
apt  to  engender.  Paul  and  Peter  spoke  of  themselves  as  spiri- 
tual fathers.*  Jesus  teaches  that  positions  in  the  societies  of 
his  followers,  such  as  should  afterward  be  formed,  were  not  to 
he  regarded  as  dignities,  hut  rather  as  services ;  that  no  man 
should  seek  them  for  tlie  lionor  the}'  might  confer,  but  for  the 
field  of  usefulness  they  might  afford ;  and  that  no  man  should 
lead  off  a  sect,  there  being  but  one  leader ;  and  that  the  whole 
body  of  believers  are  brethren,  of  whom  God  is  the  Father. 

Then   he   turned   upon   the   Pharisees   and   exposed   and   de- 
nounced them. 

1.  Opposed  to  that  "povei'ty  of  spirit"  which  is  the  subject 
of  the  first  benediction  in  the  Sermon  on   the  Mount,  is  a  de- 
nunciation of  that  lie  which  pervaded  the  long 

First     contrast  /•     i       •  i      i  i  •  • 

with  the  Ser   o       pi'^ycrs  oi  charity  made  by  tJiese  sanctnnomous 

Pharisees,  Mdiile  they  were  privately  devouring 

the  houses  of  defenceless  widows.     Even  in  their  prayers  they 

lied.      The}'    were    not   able   to   be   honest   at   their   devotions. 

And   tliis   is   mentioned    first,   because   it   seems   to   be    a   key 

to  the  whole.     If  when  a  man  approaches  God  in  prayer  he 

is  a  hypocrite,  how  can  he  Ije  otherwise  with  his  fellow-men  ? 

To   obtain   the   property  of   the   helpless   unrighteously  is   bad 

enough,  but  to  commit  this  villany  under  the  garb  of  piety  is 

absolutely  damnal)le. 

2.  In  the  "  Sermon,"  he  had  blessed  mourners,  encouraging  all 
who  are  penitent,  making  their  heartfelt  grief  a  source  of  com- 

foi-t  to  them.  But  the  Pharisees,  being  unchari- 
table and  hypocritical  at  once,  not  only  did  not 
repent  and  prepare  themselves  for  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens, 
but  actually  kept  others  from  entering.     They  sat  in  the  seat  of 


Second  contrast. 


to  dispense  with  the  title."  The  only 
decent  course  is  silence.  But  Christian 
colleges  ought  to  be  careful  in  the  be- 
stowal of  a  title  which  so  tests  the 
Christianity  of  the  recipient.  Jesus 
teaches  us  that  we  ought  not  to  love  to 
be  called  by  any  names  which  seem  to 
elevate  us  above  our  brethren.  Mr., 
Master,  might  just  as  well  be  rejected 


as  Dr.,  Teacher,  for  originally  it  meanl 
the  same;  and  it  is  much  worse  to 
allow  one's  self  to  be  called  "  Rever- 
end "  than  to  allow  the  title  of  Doctor. 
It  is  not  courtesy  which  Jesus  cond'^mns, 
but  vanity. 

*  See  1  Cor.  iv.  15  ;  1  Tim.  L  2 ;   Ti- 
tus i.  4  :  1  Peter  v.  13. 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  585 

Moses.  They  should  have  been  tlie  teachers  of  a  true  spiritual 
religion.  Eiit,  instead,  when  men  showed  any  signs  ol  a  spir- 
itual awakening  they  repressed  them,  as  they  were  trying  to  sup- 
press him  who  tauglit  the  highest  spiritual  truths.  Their  sitting 
at  the  door  of  knowledge  as  janitors  was  a  lie,  over  which  Jesus 
pronounced  a  "  woe." 

3.  Their   position,  however,   demanded   that   they  should   do 

Bomething.     They  spent  their  strength  on  proselyting.     It  was 

not  to  save  souls ;  it  was  not  even  to  convert  liea- 

^,  •    -       T  TIT  •    i.  1     Third  contrast. 

tliens  into  Jews,  nor  even   bad  Jews  into  good 

Jews,  but  it  was  to  add  to  the  number  of  their  sect.  It  was  that 
same  spirit  which  sometimes  now  seizes  the  sects  of  Christendom, 
makmg  them  proud  of  the  growth  of  the  "  denomination,"  the 
"connection,"  "the  church,"  or  whatever  else  the  sect  maybe 
called.  It  is  opposed  to  that  "meekness  "  which  is  the  subject  of 
the  thii'd  benediction  in  "  the  Sermon."  They  were  fierce  and 
hot,  like  the  Gehenna,  the  burning  valley  of  Iliinioni,  and  when 
they  made  a  pervert  he  was  doubly  as  bad  as  themselves,  as  per- 
verts, the  world  through,  usually  are. 

4.  Jesus  denounces  their  morality,  which  was  a  base  ca?'.iistiy, 
the  very  opposite  of  that  "hungering  and  thirsting  after  right- 
eousness "  which  he  had  blessed  in   "  the   Ser- 
mon."    They  had  gone  blind  on  the  simplest  and 

plainest  questions  of  morality.  He  gives  a  case.  The  oath  by 
the  Temple — "  by  this  Dwelling  " — was  fi-equent.  Sometimes  it 
was  by  the  Temple-treasure.  The  Pharisees  distinguished  be- 
tween the  binding  obligation  of  these  oaths.  The  violation  of  the 
former  was  a  trivial  offence ;  of  the  latter  was  a  heinous  crime. 
It  was  the  foolish  casuistry  of  those  who  set  more  store  by  the 
church  than  by  the  chapel  or  meeting-house,  who  forget  the  value 
of  that  which  sanctifies,  and  think  only  of  that  which  may  be 
sanctified,  as  if  building,  ornaments,  vestments,  ceremonials,  con- 
stitute the  kingdom  of  the  heavens.  So  of  their  other  case :  an 
oath  by  the  gift  on  the  altar  is  more  binding  than  an  oath  by  the 
altar  itself.  This  folly  would  seem  to  be  transparent  to  any  men, 
if  Ave  did  not  know  that  learned  "  doctors  "  of  the  later  ages  had 
not  taught  in  the  spirit  which  makes  the  rubric  of  a  ritual  more 
important  than  an  enactment  of  the  Decalogue.  Their  whole 
t^ystem  of  ethics  was  rotten,  and  Jesus  cursed  it. 

5.  And  then  he  pronounced  a  woe  over  their  hypocrisy  in  what 


586 


THE  LAST   WEEK. 


they  would  have  considered  tlieir  devotion  to  religion.     The  law 

of  tithes,  as  set  forth  in  Levit.  xxvii.  30 ;  Numb,  xviii.  21 ;  Deut. 

•o-e^-u      X     J.      xii.  6 :  and  xiv.  22-28,  embraced  only  the  ffrain  that 
Fifth  contrast,  '.  ,       ,  '  .  ^ 

grew  in  their  iields  and  the  fruits  that  grew  in 
their  orchards.  But  the  schools  had  applied  the  rule  to  the  smallest 
product  of  the  garden.  With  scrupulous  exactness  the  Pharisees 
paid  these.  Jesus  does  not  intimate  that  they  defi-auded  the  Tem- 
ple treasury;  but  their  sin  lay  in  devoting  themselves  to  outward 
goodness  of  behavior  and  neglecting  justice,  mercy,  and  fidelity.  It 
is  common  for  men  who  never  suspect  themselves  of  Ijeing  Phari- 
sees, to  fancy  themselves  just  in  character  because  they  are  scru- 
pulous upon  some  one  right  point  of  practice.  It  is  the  sjnrit  of 
justice  that  is  required,  that  justice  which  dwells  with  fidelity  and 
mercy,  that  mercy  on  which  he  had  pronounced  the  fifth  benedic- 
tion in  the  "  Sermon."  Of  what  avail  their  tithes,  tlieir  outward 
strict  legality,  if  their  souls  were  "lawless,"  tliat  is,  if  they  did 
not  submit  heartily  to  the  law  of  God?  lie  d(K3s  not  disparage 
attention  to  the  minutest  regulation,  nor  the  most  punctilious  ob- 
servance of  all  regulations ;  what  he  denounces  is  the  being  con- 
tent with  these  while  the  weightier  matters  are  neglected. 

6.  It  was  not  wrong  to  cleanse  the  outside  of  the  cup,  but  if 
either  was  to  be  neglected  let  it  not  be  the  inside.     If  their  scru- 
pulousness led  them  to  strain  their  wine  through 
a  filter,  so  that  they  might  not  swallow  an  unclean 

insect,  how  absurd  would  such  rigid  observance  of  the  law  be 
when  contrasted  with  the  swallowing  of  so  huge  an  unclean 
beast  as  a  camel !  Jesus  uses  this  proverbial  expression  to  exhibit 
their  enormous  hypocrisy. 

7.  This  is  set  forth  in  the  horrible  figure  of  a  grave,  the  tomb  over 
which  was  whitened,  not  to  beautif}'-  it  but  to  warn  all  passers-by 

that  they  were  in  peril  of  becoming  legally  un 
clean.*     But  that  very  signal  of  filth  made  the 
graveyard  picturesque,  while  it  failed  to  sweeten  the  grave  that 
was  full  of  the  corruption  of  putrefying  corpses.     Such  were  these 
Purists — pure  and  white  as  lime  outside,  but  inwardly  filthy  as 

which  was  defilement  (Numb.  xix.  10), 
mig-hfc  be  more  easily  seen  and  avoided. 
(See  the  Rabbinical  passag-es  in  Light- 
foot,  Schottgen,  and  Wetstein.)  Thus 
they  always  had  a  pleasant  outward  ap- 
pearance."— Meyer. 


Sixth  contrast. 


Seventh  contrast. 


*  "  The  graves  were,  every  year,  on 
the  15th  Adar,  whitened  with  a  kind 
of  chalk  {kovm),  a  practice  derived  by 
the  Rabbins  from  Ezekiel  xxxix.  15  ; 
not  merely  for  the  sake  of  appearance 
but  also  that  these  places,  the  touch  of 


THE  THIKD  DAT. 


587 


Final  woe. 


lotting  flesh.     What  a  contrast  with  the  pure  in  heai-t  M'ho  re- 
ceive the  sixth  benediction  of  the  sermon  on  the  Mount ! 

8.  The  eighth  "woe"  sums  up  the  whole  by  denouncing  their 
hatred  of  tlie  true  spiritual  life.  As  a  benediction  was  pro- 
nounced in  the  "  Sermon  on  the  Mount "  on  those 
who  were  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake,  so 
in  this  valedictory  is  a  woe  uttered  against  those  who  are  murder- 
ers of  the  propliets  and  those  who  inherit  the  spirit  of  the  j^erse- 
cutors.  The  fathers  of  those  Pharisees  had  killed  the  prophets, 
and  those  Pharisees  themselves  had  adorned  their  graves,  glad 
that  the  prophets  who  harassed  their  wicked  fathers  Avere  not 
alive  to  torment  their  more  wicked  children.  Men  praise  those 
of  a  former  generation  who  did  the  very  thing  for  which  they 
denounce  those  of  their  own.  Stier  (vol.  iii.  232)  rpiotes;  "Ask 
in  Moses's  times,  Who  are  the  good  people  ?  they  will  bo  Abraham 
and  Isaac  and  Jacob ;  but  not  Moses — he  should  be  stoned.  Ask 
in  Samuel's  times,  Who  are  ihe  good  jjeople?  they  will  be  Moses 
and  Joshua;  but  not  Samuel.  Ask  in  the  times  of  Christ,  and 
they  will  be  all  the  former  prophets,  with  Samuel ;  but  not  Christ 
and  his  Apostles."     {Berlenh.  Bihel.) 

They  were  in  the  last  times.  The  opposition  to  spiritual  views 
of  God's  government  of  the  universe,  which  has  prevailed  in  the 
Jewish  heart  and  was  growing  intenser  with  each 
succeeding  generation,  culminated  in  the  men  of 
the  time  of  Jesus.  lie  was  about  to  close  the  list  of  martyrs.  Of 
those  who  had  preceded  him  he  speaks  strangely.  lie  S})ea]cs  as 
from  the  consciousness  of  Almighty  God ;  as  if  he,  in  fact,  were 
Almighty  God.  lie  (Jesus)  had  been  sending  prophets  and  wise 
men  to  persuade  them  away  from  their  materialism  to  a  spiritual 
religion.  It  had  been  a  failure.  They  had  grown  worse  and 
worse.  They  were  now  reaching  the  very  worst.  Tlie  l)lood  of 
the  martyrs  was  about  to  be  demanded  at  their  hands,  from  the 
blood  of  Abel,  who  represented  the  religion  of  spirituality,  and 
was  killed  by  Cain,  who  represented  material,  outward,  churchly 
religion,  to  the  blood  of  Zachariah,  who,  by  the  order  of  King 
Joash,  was  stoned  in  the  Court  of  the  Temple,  and  who  died  say- 
ing, "  The  Lord  looks  on  this  and  requires  it."  *     The  goodness 


Last  times. 


*  See  2  Chron.  xxiv.  20.  The  cri- 
tics and ,  commentators  have  had  much 
hard  work  with  Matt,   xxiii.   3G,   where 


Zacharias  is  called  "the  son  of  Bara- 
chias."  Relief  came  with  Tischendorfa 
discovery  of  the  Codex  &naiiicus,  froa 


588 


THE   LAST   WEEK. 


The     heart    of 
Jesus  melts. 


of  this  man  and  of  his  father  Jehoiada,  and  the  atrocity  of  his  mur- 
der, kept  his  memory  vividly  in  the  minds  of  the  Jews.  Jesus 
told  the  Jews  that  the  measure  was  fuU.  They  were  making  the 
last  martyrdoms,  and  then  would  come  their  judgment  and  their 
destruction. 

lie  seemed  to  hear  the  wings  of  the  Koman  eagle  sounding  in 
the  air.  Dear  Jei-usalem  was  the  friglitcned  hrood  of  chickens. 
lie  had  denounced  with  the  utmost  vehemence 
the  sins  which  he  had  ])ictui-ed  with  tlie  most 
poignant  invective.  I3ut  the  sinners  were  his 
own  people.  That  which  was  about  to  be  the  prey  oi  the  l)ird  of 
power  and  plunder  was  his  own  Jerusalem,  metropolis  of  his 
nation,  seat  of  the  throne  of  his  ancestors,  site  of  the  TcjnjJe 
of  his  Father.  His  heart  melted.  After  the  Hash  of  the  light- 
ning-stroke of  his  terribly  eloquent  denunciation  of  their  sins 
came  the  shower  of  the  rain  of  his  pity  and  compassion.  The 
omnipotence  of  God  is  not  able  to  reduce  the  obstinacy  of  man. 
Even  this  Jesus,  who  had  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  and  the  ears 
of  the  deaf,  who  had  stilled  the  stormy  sea,  who  had  cleansed  the 
leper,  and  raised  the  dead,  even  this  Jesus  had  not  power  to  break 
the  rebellion  of  his  proud  countrj'men.  Even  Orrmipotence  is  not 
a  sufficient  servant  for  Love.  He  sets  the  feebleness  of  his  tears 
over  against  the  power  of  his  miracles,  and  to  this  day  his  sob  in 
the  pathos  of  his  "  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,"  wins  more  hearts  to 
ways  of  goodness  and  love  than  his  eightfold  "woe,  woe,"  repels 
from  the  paths  of  badness  and  hate. 

And  thus  ended  his  Valedictory  to  Judaism.  It  is  no  longer 
his.  Jerusalem  is  no  longer  the  House  of  his  Father.  He  speaks 
of  it  to  the  Jews  as  "  Your  House."  It  represents  no  longer 
Heligion  but  Churchism.  It  has  ceased  to  l>e  God's,  and  becomes 
Man's. 

He  sat  down  in  the  Court  of  the  Women,  opposite  the  Treasur)% 
where  the  chest  for  alms  is  placed.  He  saw  the  rich  ostenta- 
tiously throw  in  their  heavy  coin,  whose  ring  arrested  the  atten- 


which  it  appears  that  those  words  were 
not  originally  in  Matthew,  but  crept  in 
from  some  copyist's  note.  Zacharias 
is  known  to  have  been  the  son  of  Je- 
hoiada. After  all,  it  may  have  been 
Zecharias,  the  son  of  Barachias.  In 
Ezra,  V.  1,  we  have   "  Zechariah,   the 


son  of  Iddo,"  and  in  the  book  of  Zecha- 
riah, i.  1,  7,  we  have  Zecharias,  the  son 
of  Barachias,  the  eon  of  Iddo.  The 
Old  Testament  does  not  ment'on  hia 
murder,  but  Whitby  quotes  the  Targum 
assaying  that  he  was  killed  "in  the  daj 
of  propitiation." 


TIIE   TUtED   DAT.  5S9 

don  of  spectators.     Among  the  donors  came  a  woman,  a  poor 
wIcLiw,  and  she  threw  in  two  lepta,  which  make  a  qnadrans.     A 
lepton  was  a  bronze  coin,  the  smallest  in  valne 
of  all  in  circulation    at   that   time.      Two  lepta       .^^®    ^dow's 
made    a  Iloman  qnadrans,  which  was   equal    to 
about  one-iifth  of  an  Ameiican  cent,  so  that  one  lepton  roallv 
i-ej)rescnted  the  imaginary  mill    of   American   currency.     AVliun 
Jesus  saw  all  this,  there  stood  before 
him  again  the  two  types,  the  religi<mist 
of   externals  and  the  religionist  of  in- 
ternals :  one  good  in  such  deeds  as  men 
would  acknowledge,  and  the  other  good 
in  snch  thoughts  and  character  as  God 

acknowledges.  He  called  the  attention  of  his  disciples  to  this. 
His  conmient  was,  "  I  assuredly  say  to  you,  Tliat  this  poor  widow 
has  cast  more  in  than  all  tliey  that  have  cast  into  t]\e  trea- 
sury ;  for  all  they  cast  in  of  their  supertluity  ;  but  she  of  her 
poverty  cast  in  all  that  slie  had,  even  her  M'liole  living."  She 
had  two  lepta.  Slie  nn'ght  have  given  alms  and  saved  something 
for  herself.  The  beauty  of  her  character  lay  in  her  perfect  con- 
secration. She  held  nothing  back.  The  moral  sense  of  tlie 
world  has  indorsed  the  verdict  of  Jesus. 

The  testimony  of  one  of  his  biograi)hers,  John  (xii.  42),  is  that 
"among  the  chief  rulers  many  believed  on  him;  but  on  account 
of  the  Pharisees  they  did  not  confess  him,  lest  they  should  be  put 
out  of  the  synagogue  ;  for  they  loved  the  praise  of  men  moi-e 
than  the  i)raise  of  God."  ^Vc  cannot  now  learn  M-hat  means  the 
friends  of  Jesus  had  of  knowing  this,  but  the  conduct  of  Nico- 
demus  would  make  it  prol)al)le,  even  if  it  had  not  been  asserted. 

It  may  have  been  at  this  time,  and  in  the  i^resenco  of  these  os- 
tentatious alms-givei-s  and  of  tliese  time-serving  rulers,  that  Jesus 
made  the  utterances  re(forded  bv  John,  xii.  44-50  ; 

"  lie  who  believes  on  mo  believes  not  on  me  but      ^=^«t «PP^=^^^«« 

IT-        Ai     J.  i.  »      1  1  1  m  the  Tomple. 

on  linn  that  sent  mo.     And  he  who  sees  mo  sees 

11  im  that  sent  me.     I  have  come  a  liglit  into  the  world,  tliat  wlio- 

soever  believes  on  me  should  not  remain  in  darkness.     And  if 

any  one  hear  my  words,  and  keep  them  not,  I  do  not  judge  liim  ; 

for   I  did  not  come  that  I  should  judge  the  woi-ld,  but  that  I 

should  save  the  world,     lie  who  rejects  me,  and  does  not  receive 

my  words,  has  one  who  judges  hi)n     tiic  word  that  I  h.ave  spoken 


590  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

that  shall  judge  him  in  the  last  day.  For  I  have  not  spoken  of 
myself,  but  the  Father  who  sent  me  gave  me  a  commandment 
what  I  should  say  and  what  I  should  speak.  And  I  know  that 
his  commandment  is  continuous  life :  whatever  I  speak,  as  the 
Father  has  spoken  to  me,  thus  I  speak." 

He  ceased.  It  was  his  last  utterance  in  the  Temple,  from  which 
he  now  departed, 

As  they  were  going  out  the  disciples  looked  upon  the  Temple, 

its  massiveness  and  solidity,  and  beautiful  adornings  of  gifts  and 

goodly  stones.     They  said,  "  Teacher,  see  what 

_,      ,  ^^^      manner  of  stones  and  what  buildings ! "     They 

Temple.  .      .  °  •' 

would  seem  to  intimate  a  contrast  between  the 

apparent  strength  of  the  huge  structure  before  them  and  the 

prophecy  of  desolation  which  Jesus  had  uttered  concerning  it. 

Perhaps  also  they  had  a  natural  national  pride  in  the  grandeur  of 

their  Temple,  and  there  might  liave  been  a  deprecatory  tone  in 

their  speech.     The  solemn  reply  of  Jesus  was,  "  Do  you  see  all 

these  o-reat  buildinccs?     There  shall  not  be  left  here  stone  on 

stone  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down." 

They  silently  passed  up  Mount  Olivet  on  the  way  to  Bethany. 

It  was  evening.     He  sat  down  to  rest  on  a  projection  from  which 

could  be  seen  the  city,  now  crowded  with  nearly 
The  time   and     .i  .ii.  p  i-  ip  i-'Uii, 

.,      .  three  milhons  oi  worsiiippers,  and  from  which  the 

the  Bign.  i.  i.        •>     ■ 

Temple,  its  roof  covered  with  golden  spikes,  that 
flashed  and  glittered  in  the  setting  sun,  was  specially  conspicuous. 
It  was  a  grand  sight.  Perhaps  also  faintly  through  the  evening 
stillness  came  snatches  of  psalms  and  hymns  from  singers  in  the 
Temple,  as  up  through  the  quiet  air  curled  slowly  the  smoke  from 
the  evening  sacrifice.  Then  Peter,  James,  John,  and  Andrew  came 
to  him  with  the  complex  question,  "  Tell  us,  when  shall  these  things 
be  ?  and  what  shall  be  the  sign  of  your  coming  and  of  the  end  of 
the  present  order  of  things  ?  "  They  acknowledged  his  Messiah- 
phip.  They  connected  the  fall  of  the  Temple  vsdth  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  existing  order  of  things.  They  could  not  conceive  for 
a  moment  that  the  downfall  of  the  world  should  not  immediately 
follow  the  overthrow  of  the  Temple. 

Jesus  replied :  "  Take  care  lest  any  one  should  deceive  you,  for  many  shall 
come  in  my  name,  saying,  *  I  am  the  Clirist,'  and  shall  deceive  many.  The 
time  draws  near.  Go  not  after  them.  And  you  shall  be  about  to  [you  ehall 
in  the  future]  hear  of  wars  and  rumors  of  wars:  see  to  it,  be  not  troubled; 


TIIE   THIRD   DAY. 


591 


for  it  is  necessary  that  this  come  to  pass,  but  the  end  is  not  yet.     For  nation 

Bhall  rise  a^niinst  nation,  and  kingdom  against  kingdom, 

and  there   shall  he    .hocks  and  famines  in  places;  and   ^^^^.^ 

fearful  things  and  great  signs  shall  there  be  from  heaven,    ^^,^^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^,^^  ^^^ 

but    all    these  are  only  the    beginning  of  the  pangs  of   virgins. 

childlnrth. 

"  But  beware  of  men,  for  before  all  these  things  they  shall  lay  their  hands 
on  you  and  persecute  you,  they  will  deliver  you  up  to  the  councils,  and  into 
the  i)risons,  and  shall  scourge  you  in  the  synagogues;  and  you  shall  be 
brought  before  governoi-s  and  kings  for  my  sake,  and  it  shall  turn  to  you  for 
a  testimony  to  them  and  to  the  nations.  But  when  they  shall  deliver  you  up 
be  not  over-anxious  beforehand  how  or  what  ye  shall  speak,  nor  premeditate 
what  you  shall  answer,  but  whatever  shall  be  given  you  in  that  hour,  that 
speak.  I  will  give  you  a  mouth  and  wisdom  Avhich  your  adversanes  shall  not 
be  able  to  resist  nor  gainsay ;  for  you  are  not  the  speaker,  Ijut  the  Spirit  of 
your  Father  speaking  in  you. 

"  Tliink  not  that  I  came  to  cast  peace  on  the  earth ;  I  came  not  to  cast  peace 
but  a  sword  ratlier,  and  divisions.  I  came  to  cast  fire  upon  the  earth  ;  and 
what  will  I  ?  If  it  were  already  kindled  !  For  I  came  to  set  a  man  against 
his  father,  and  a  daughter  against  her  mother,  and  a  daughter-in-law  against 
her  mother-in-law.  And  the  enemies  of  a  man  are  those  of  his  own  house- 
hold :  for  from  henceforth  there  shall  be  five  in  one  house  divided,  tlu-ee 
against  two,  and  two  against  tlu-ee. 

"  And  they  shall  deliver  you  up  to  affliction.  And  a  brother  shall  betray  a 
brother  to  death,  and  a  father  a  child,  and  children  shall  rise  up  against  their 
parents  and  shall  put  them  to  death.  They  shall  kill  some  of  you,  and  you 
shall  be  detested  of  all  nations  on  account  of  my  name.  And  afterwards 
many  shall  be  caused  to  fall  and  betray  their  associates  for  affliction. 

"  I  say  to  you,  my  friends.  Be  not  afraid  of  those  who  kill  the  body  and  after 
that  have  not  anything  more  to  do.  I  will  show  ye  whom  ye  should  serve: 
Ilim,  who  after  He  has  killed  has  power  to  cast  into  Gehenna.  Fear  Ilim; 
And' many  false  prophets  shall  be  raised  up  and  deceive  many.  And  because 
lawlessness  shall  abound,  the  love  of  many  will  become  cold.  But  he  who  en- 
dures to  the  end,  the  same  shall  be  preserved.  By  your  patience  gain  your  lives. 
Fear  not,  little  flock,  for  it  is  your  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  you  tlie  king. 
dom.  And  preached  shall  be  this  glad  tidings  of  the  kingdom  through  the  whole 
inhabited  world,  for  a  testimony  to  all  nations,  and  then  shall  come  the  end. 

"When,  then,  you  shall  see  Jerusalem  compassed  with  armies,  and  tte 
abomination  of  desolation,  spoken  of  through  the  prophet  Daniel,  stationed  in 
the  sacred  place,  where  it  should  not  be— [he  who  reads,  let  him  understand] 
—then  know  that  her  desolation  is  at  hand;  then  let  those  who  are  in  Judica 
flee  to  the  mountains;  and  let  those  who  are  in  the  midst  of  her  depart  out, 
and  let  not  those  who  arc  in  the  country  places  enter  into  her,  and  let  not  him 
who  is  on  the  roof  come  do^Nni  to  take  anything  out  of  his  house ;  nor  let  hira 
that  is  in  the  field  tuni  back  to  take  his  garment.  Remember  Lot's  wife. 
For  these  are  days  of  punishment,  that  all  things  wliich  arc  written  may  ba 
fulfiUed. 


592  TIIE   LAST   WEEK. 

"  And  "woe  unto  them  that  are  with  child,  and  to  them  that  snckle  m  those 
days!  But  i)ray  that  your  flight  be  not  in  winter  nor  on  the  Sabbath-days  ; 
for  there  shall  l^e  in  those  days  great  distress  on  the  hand,  and  wrath  on  this 
people,  such  as  has  not  been  seen  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  until  now, 
nor  ever  shall  l)e.  And  thoy  shall  fall  by  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  shall  be 
led  away  captive  into  all  nations ;  and  Jerusalem  shall  ])e  trodden  do-\\ai  ])y 
the  nations,  until  the  times  of  the  nations  shall  be  fulfilled.  And  except  those 
days  were  shortened  tliere  should  no  flesh  be  saved:  but  on  account  of  the 
cliosen  those  days  shall  be  shortened. 

"  Days  will  come  when  ye  shall  desire  to  see  one  of  the  days  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  .and  you  shall  not  see  it.  Then  if  any  one  shall  say  unto  you,  '  Lo !  here 
is  Christ,'  or  '  there,'  believe  not.  For  there  shall  arise  false  Clirists  and  false 
prophets,  and  shall  show  signs  and  wonders,  so  as  to  deceive,  if  jjossible,  even 
the  chosen.  But  I  have  told  you  l^cfore.  If  tliey  shall  say  to  you,  '  Behold  he 
is  in  the  desert ! '  go  not  forth ;  '  Behold  he  is  in  the  secret  chambers  ! '  believe 
not.  For  as  the  lightning  comes  out  of  the  east  and  shines  to  the  west,  so 
shall  be  the  coming  of  tlie  Sou  of  Man,  in  his  day." 

His  hearers  broke  in  "U'ith  tlie  iiiterrnpting  question,  "  "Wlierc, 
Lord?"  lie  replied,  "AVliere  the  carcass  is,  there  are  gathered 
the  cables."     lie  resumed  : — 

o 

"Immediately  after  the  tribulation  of  those  days  shall  the  sun  be  darkened, 
and  the  moon  shall  not  give  her  light,  and  the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven, 
and  the  poAvers  of  the  heavens  shall  be  shaken ;  and  on  the  earth  distress  of 
nations,  men  in  perplexity  at  the  roaring  of  the  sea  and  waves,  men  fainting 
for  fear  and  expectation  of  the  things  coming  on  the  inhabited  world.  And 
then  shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  jMan ;  and  all  tlie  tril>es  of  the  earth 
shall  mourn,  and  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven  with  power  and  great  glory.  And  he  shall  send  his  angels  with  a 
•great  trumpet,  and  he  shall  gather  his  chosen  from  the  four  winds,  from 
one  end  of  heaven  to  the  other.  And  when  these  things  begin  to  come  to 
pass,  then  look  up  and  lift  up  your  heads,  because  your  redemption  di-aws 
uigh. 

"  Now  learn  the  parable  from  the  fig-tree  and  all  the  trees.  When  already 
its  l)ranch  has  become  tender  and  puts  fortli  leaves,  you  know  that  summer  is 
nigh.  Thus  also  when  you  shall  see  all  these  things,  know  that  the  kinguom 
of  God  is  near,  at  the  doors.  I  assuredly  say  to  you.  This  race  shall  not  pass 
iiway  until  all  these  things  be  done.  But  concerning  that  day  and  hour  knows 
no  one,  not  the  angels  of  heaven,  nor  the  Son,  but  tlie  Father  only.  But  as 
the  Days  of  Noe,  so  shall  be  tlic  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man.  For  as  they  were 
in  the  days  which  were  before  the  flood,  eating  and  drinking,  marrying  and 
giving  in  marriage,  until  the  day  that  Noe  entered  into  the  ark,  and  did  not 
know  until  the  flood  came  and  took  all  away ;  likewise  as  it  was  in  the  days 
of  Lot;  they  were  eating,  they  were  drinking,  they  were  Iniying,  they  were 
selling,  tliey  were  planting,  they  were  building;  but  on  the  day  Lot  went  out 
from  Sodom,  it  rained  fire  and  brimstone  from  heaven,  and  destroyed  them 


THE   THIRD    DAT. 


593 


ah ;  thus  shall  be  also  in  the  day  when  the  Son  of  ]\Ian  shall  be  revealed.  I 
tell  you  that  in  tliat  night  there  shall  be  tAvo  in  one  bed,  one  shall  be  taken 
and  the  other  left :  then  there  sliall  be  two  in  the  field,  one  shall  be  taken  and 
one  left :  two  grinding  at  the  mill,  one  shall  be  taken  and  one  left. 

"  Look  to  yourselves  lest  at  any  time  your  hearts  be  oppressed  with  surfeit- 
ing and  drunkenness  and  anxious  cares  of  this  life,  and  so  that  day  may  come 
on  you  unawares  ;  for  as  a  snare  shall  it  come  on  all  those  who  dwell  on  the 
face  of  all  the  earth.  Watch,  then,  and  at  every  season  pray  that  you  may  be 
considered  worthy  to  escape  all  the  things  about  to  come  to  pass,  and  to  stand 
before  the  Son  of  :Man  :  for  you  know  not  when  the  time  is.  But  know  this, 
tliat  if  the  householder  had  knomi  in  what  watch  the  thief  would  come,  he 
would  have  watched,  and  would  not  have  suffered  his  house  to  be  broken 
into :  on  this  account  do  you  be  ready  also,  for  in  an  hour  when  you  do  not 
think  it,  the  Son  of  Man  comes." 

Peter  broke  in  with,  "  Lord,  do  yon  speak  this  parable  to  us,  or 
even  to  all  'i "     Jesus  repl  ied  : — 

"  Wliat  I  say  to  you  I  say  to  all,  "Watch.  It  is  as  a  man  taking  a  far  journey, 
who,  leaving  his  house,  gave  authority  to  his  slaves,  and  to  each  man  his 
work,  and  commanded  the  gatekeeper  to  watch.  Who,  then,  is  the  faithful 
and  wise  slave  Vv'hom  the  Lord  will  make  ruler  over  his  household,  to  give 
them  tlie  food  in  season  ?  Hapjiy  slave  that,  whom  his  lord  coming  shall  find 
doing  so  !  I  assuredly  say  to  you  that  he  shall  make  him  ruler  over  all  his 
possessions.  But  if  the  l)ad  slave  shall  say  in  his  heart,  '  My  lord  delays,'  and 
shall  begin  to  strike  his  fellow-slaves,  and  to  cat  and  drink  with  the  drunken, 
the  lord  of  that  slave  shall  come  on  a  day  which  he  expects  not,  and  in  an 
hour  that  he  knows  not,  and  shall  cut  him  in  two,  and  give  him  his  part  with 
the  hypocrites ;  there  shall  be  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth. 

"  Now  that  slave  who  knew  his  Lord's  will  and  prepared  not,  neither  did 
according  to  his  will,  shall  be  beaten  much ;  but  he  who  knew  not  and  did 
commit  things  worthy  of  stripes,  shall  he  beaten  -SAnth  few.  To  whom  much  is 
given,  of  him  much  sliall  be  required;  and  to  whom  men  have  committed 
much,  of  him  they  will  ask  the  more.  Watch,  therefore,  for  you  know  not 
what  day  your  Lord  comes — whether  at  even,  or  at  midnight,  or  at  the  cock- 
crowing,  or  in  the  morning — lest,  coming  suddenly,  he  find  you  sleeping. 

"  Then  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens  shall  be  likened  to  ten  virgins,  who, 
having  taken  their  lam])s,  went  forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom.  Five  of  them 
were  foolish,  five  prudent.  For  the  foolish,  having  taken  lamps,  took  no  oil 
with  them ;  but  the  prudent  took  oil  in  the  vessels  with  their  lam})s.  But,  the 
bridegroom  delaying,  they  all  slumbered  and  slept.  And  at  midnight  a  cry 
was  made,  '  Behold  !  the  bridegroom  1  go  out  to  meet  him.'  Then  all  those 
virgins  arose  and  trimmed  their  lamps ;  and  the  foolish  said  to  the  prudent, 
'  Give  us  of  your  oil,  for  our  lamps  are  gone  out.'  But  the  pi-udent  answered, 
saying:  '  Lest  there  l)e  not  enough  for  us  and  you,  go  rather  to  those  who  sell, 
and  buy  for  yourselves.'  And  while  they  went  to  buy,  the  l)ridegroom  came, 
and  they  Avho  were  ready  went  in  witli  him  to  the  wedding-feast ;  ai  d  the 
38 


504  THE    LAST   AVEEK. 

door  was  shut.    Afterwards  come  also  the  otlier  virgins,  saying:  '  Sir,  sir,  open 
to  us; '  Ijut  he  answering,  said,  'I  assuredly  say  to  you,  I  do  not  know  you.' 

"Let  your  loins  be  girded  about,  and  your  lamps  burning,  and  yourselves 
like  men  waiting  for  their  lord,  when  he  will  return  from  the  wedding,  thai 
when  he  comes  and  knocks  they  may  op^'n  to  him  immediately.  Hapi)y 
slaves  they  whom  the  lord  coming  shall  find  watching.  I  assuredly  say  to 
you,  that  he  shall  gird  himself  and  make  them  recline,  and  will  come  near  and 
serve  them.  And  if  he  shall  come  in  the  second  Avatcli,  or  in  the  third  watch, 
and  uud  them  thus,  happy  are  they  !  AVatch,  therefore,  for  ye  know  neither 
the  day  nor  the  hour. 

"  And  when  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the  angels  with 
him,  then  shall  he  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory,  and  before  him  shall  be 
gathered  all  the  natiwns ;  and  he  shall  scpai-ate  them  from  one  another,  as  the 
shepherd  separates  the  sheeii  from  the  goats ;  and  he  will  place  the  sheep  on 
the  right  hand,  but  the  goats  on  his  left.  Then  shall  the  King  say  to  those  on 
his  right  hand,  '  Come,  you  who  are  praised  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  king- 
dom prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world :  for  I  hungered  and 
you  gave  me  to  cat,  I  thiisted  and  you  gave  me  drink,  I  was  a  stranger 
and  you  made  me  a  companion,  naked  and  you  clothed  me :  I  was  sick,  and 
you  visited  me ;  I  was  in  prison,  and  you  came  to  me.'  Then  shall  the  right- 
eous answer  him,  saying :  '  Lord,  when  did  we  see  you  hungry,  and  fed  you  ? 
or  thirsty,  and  gave  you  drink  ?  and  when  did  we  see  you  a  stranger,  and  en- 
tertained you ;  or  naked,  and  clothed  you  ?  and  when  did  we  see  you  sick,  or 
in  prison,  and  came  to  you  ? '  And  the  King,  answering,  shall  say  t(j  them  : 
*  I  assuredly  say  to  you,  inasmuch  as  you  did  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these 
my  brethren,  you  did  it  to  me.'  Then  shall  he  say  also  to  those  on  the  left 
hand,  '  Dei)art  from  me,  you  accursed,  to  the  perpetual  fire  prepared  for  the 
devil  and  his  angels  ;  for  I  hungered  and  you  did  not  give  me  to  eat,  I  thu-sted 
and  you  did  not  give  me  to  drink,  I  was  a  stranger  and  you  did  not  enter- 
tain me,  naked  and  you  did  not  clothe  me,  sick  and  in  prison  and  you  did 
not  visit  me.'  Then  they  shall  answer,  saying,  '  Lord,  when  did  we  see  you 
hungering,  or  thirsting,  or  a  stranger,  or  naked,  or  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  did 
not  minister  to  you  ? '  Tlien  he  shall  answer  them,  saying,  '  I  assuredly  say 
to  you,  inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  to  one  of  these  least  ones,  ye  did  it  not  to 
me.'  And  these  shall  go  away  into  perpetual  punishment,  but  the  righteous 
into  perpetual  life." 

This  extraordinary  discourse  contains  statements  of  what  was 
then  future,  which  cannot  be  regarded  as  the  mere  results  of 
extraordinary  sagacity,  as  some  political  men 
prop  ecy.  foretold  the  French  Revolution  years  before  it 
broke  upon  Europe.  The  character  of  the  average  Jewish  mind 
and  the  state  of  feeling  among  the  Jewish  people  might  have  led 
any  observant  person  to  perceive  tliat  tlie  fanaticism  of  the  people 
was  becoming  frantic,  and  that  the  wild  excitement  which  led 
tliem  to  persecute  Jesus  to  the  deatli,  because  he  would  not  be  a 


TirE    THIRD    DAY.  595 

political  leader  against  Home,  would  finally  dasli  Judaism  with 
such  violence  against  the  Ruler  of  the  nations  as  to  produce  such 
results  as  came  forty  years  afterwards,  in  the  taking  of  the  city 
by  Titus  and  the  dispersion  of  the  Jewish  people  by  Hadrian. 
But  hei-c  some  of  the  details  are  such  as  one  would  utter  who  had 
the  veil  of  the  future  lifted,  and  beheld  coming  events  with  the 
intense  spiritual  insight  of  an  inspired  Seer.  And  yet  there  are 
none  of  the  particularities  which  distinguish  the  predictions  of 
the  believers  in^  a  millennium,  none  of  their  chiliastic  sensuous 
ideas.  He  takes  the  complexity  of  the  question  of  his  friends  as 
the  foundation  of  a  description  of  the  future,  which  embraced 
both  tlie  destruction  of  the  Jewish  theocracy  and  the  final  ground 
of  judgment  of  men  and  nations. 

AYhat  he  had  said  in  the  Temple  naturally  led  his  disciples  to 
ask  for  further  information.  He  had  dislocated  their  ideas  of  the 
government  of  the  Avorld.  They  had  not  dreamed  that  the  Tem- 
ple would  be  destroyed.  There  would  come  days  of  darlvucss, 
but  the  arrival  of  the  Messiah  would  cover  Mount  Zion  witli 
splendor  and  flood  the  world  with  theoci-atic  glory.  Kow  he  says 
that  Judaism,  with  its  Temple,  is  to  be  swept  away.  AVliat  then 
should  be  their  relation  to  the  world  and  to  God  ?  They  had  rea- 
son to  seek  to  be  taught  on  these  points. 

He  first  warns  them  to  beware  of  interpreting  the  pangs  of 

child-birth  into  the  agonies  preceding  death.     The  nations  would 

be  astir.     Vast  physical  and  national  upheavals 

111        1  /        1  1^1  •     •  The       nations 

would  take  place,  but  the  end  or  the  existmg  or-    gti^-j.^^ 

der  of  tilings  is  not  yet.  AVliat  men  call  endings 
are  really  beginnings.  Deaths  are  births.  His  people,  those  who 
adojrited  his  principles,  would  suffer  many  bitternesses.  Christians 
should  suffer  especially  at  the  hands  of  churchmen.  The  truth, 
for  which  he  was  about  to  suffer  death,  would  always  be  an  occa- 
sion of  contention.  There  would  always  be  the  double  trouble  of 
opposing  ecclesiastical  influence  and  those  distracting  pretenders 
the  false  prophets.  Eut  endurance,  prudence,  and  vigilance  would 
bring  his  followers  through  all  troubles. 

Jerusalem  should  certainly  be  destroyed.     A  desolating  abomi- 
nation should  stand  in  the  holy  place,  when  the 
eagles  of  the  Eoman  standard,  which  were  wor-       Jerusalem  de- 
1.1  .11  .,,...  I.    Btroyed. 

shipped  as  idols,  as  representing  the  divinity  or 

power,  should  be  planted  in  the  precincts  of  the  Temple  of  Jcho 


596  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

vah.  He  gave  directions  to  his  followers  what  to  do  then.  They 
should  flee  to  the  mountains,  probably  those  of  Perea,  any  place 
Avliich  should  take  them  from  these  horrors.  That  the  gospel  of 
Matthew  was  written  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  ap- 
pears from  the  fact  that  he  calls  attention  to  this  prediction  and 
these  directions  by  the  parenthesis,  "  Let  the  reader  understand." 
The  Christians  subsequently  obeyed  these  directions.  When  the 
Roman  armies  encamped  against  Jerusalem,  they  fled  to  Pella, 
and  thus  escaped  that  terrible  slaughter  in  which  1,500,000  Jews 
are  said  to  have  fallen.  If  the  whole  Jewish  populace  had  given 
up  their  idea  of  a  political  Messiah,  and  yielded  to  the  spiritual 
teachings  of  Jesus,  and  felt  that  the  Messiah's  kingdom  was  inward 
and  not  outward,  and  abandoned  all  thought  of  attempting  by 
the  sword  what  was  in  that  way  wholly  impracticable,  they  would 
have  avoided  that  terrific  catastrophe,  which  filled  the  world  with 
shuddcrings,  and  to  this  day  stands  up  as  the  bloodiest  horror  of 
the  past. 

But  amid  all  commotions,  when  pseudo-Christs  arose,  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  were  not  to  be  drawn  hither  and  thither  in  vain 
expectation  of  the  revelation  of  the  Son  of  Man. 
When  that  really  occurred,  men  should  not  have 
to  look  after  it.  It  would  force  itself  on  the  attention  of  all  men 
like  a  lightning-flash.  It  would  fall  like  a  thunderbolt.  The 
disciples  said,  "  Where,  Lord  ? "  His  reply  was  a  proverbial  form 
of  expression  containing  a  general  principle.  Wherever  there  is 
a  dead  carcass,  there  the  vultures  do  come.  To  keep  from  being 
eaten  by  birds  of  prey,  you  must  keep  alive.  God  has  his  scaven- 
gers everywhere.  If  a  man  die,  or  a  nation,  or  a  church,  there 
are  forces  provided  to  consume  the  dead  body  and  transmute  it 
into  live  tissue.  Judaism  is  dead.  The  wings  of  the  vultures  are 
abroad  in  the  sky,  and  these  devouring  birds  will  scent  the  prey, 
and  come  and  take  it  away. 

From  the  fatal  downfall  of  Jerusalem  the  Teacher  ascends  to 
tlic  general  judgment  of  mankind.     Here  there  is  nothing  to 

gratify  vain  curiosity.     There  is  a  2:raphic  repre- 
General     jucl"--    ^  -^  -^  t>     r  i 

ment  of  mankind,    mentation  of  prodigious  events  in  nature  and  in 

human  society,  as  ushering  in  what  Jesus  calls 
the  Parousia  of  the  Son  of  Man,  that  is,  his  coming,  his  appearing, 
his  revelation  of  himself.  It  may  be  delayed,  but  it  will  come. 
God  works  gradually  forward  to  great  results ;  but  they  ofteD 


TUE   THIKD   DAY. 


597 


break  upon  the  world  at  last  like  thunder-claps.  The  flood  iu  the 
days  of  Noah  and  the  rain  of  fire  in  the  days  of  Lot  are  examples. 
The  people  on  whom  this  ruin  fell  were  years  in  ripening  for 
their  doom  ;  but  it  fell  at  last  like  the  downcoming  of  an  enor- 
mous trip-hammer.  It  will  be  so  as  often  as  God  shall  visit  the 
world  with  summary  judgment.  One  cataclysm  may  succeed  an- 
other, but  the  woi-ld  does  not  take  Avarning.  The  Deluge  was  no 
lesson  to  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  nor  the  destruction  of  those  cities 
a  .warning  to  the  Jews  in  the  days  of  Jesus,  nor  the  downfall  of 
Jerusalem  and  Judaism  any  preventive  of  the  French  Revolution. 
So  whatever  this  "  Parousia"  of  the  Son  of  Man  may  mean,  it 
will  come  suddenly,  and  all  tlie  development  of  the  causes  will 
not  make  men  ready  for  the  results.  The  race  of  mankind,  Jesus 
taught,  should  not  disa])pear  from  the  earth  before  all  the  things 
he  liad  predicted  should  come  to  pass.  The  certainty  should 
strengthen  the  faith,  while  the  suddenness  should  keep  all  who 
beheve  that  Jesus  is  a  true  Teacher  on  the  spiritual  alert.  The 
words  of  warning,  he  distinctly  asserts,  were  not  confined  to  his 
immediate  friends,  but  to  all  men,  for  they  are  founded  on  gen- 
eral and  perpetual  principles. 

The  necessity  of  vigilance  is  illustrated  further  by  the  case  of 
servants  whose  master  is  absent.  Of  the  time  of  his  return  they 
have  no  certain  knowledge,  but  they  know  he  w^ill  return,  and 
they  must  keep  in  a  perpetual  state  of  readiness.  This  is  further 
illustrated  by  the  parable  of  ten  virgins,  who,  according  to  Oriental 
custom,  were  waiting  until  the  bridegroom  should  appear,  bringing 
his  wife  to  his  home.  They  were  to  add  to  the  splendor  of  the 
procession  by  their  torches.  As  is  often  the  case  in  these  in- 
stances, a  delay  keeps  the  bridegroom  until  midnight.  The  vii'>- 
gins  all  sleep,  so  that  the  foolish  do  not  perceive  that  their  lamps 
are  dying  out,  nor  are  the  wise  virgins  wakeful  enough  to  warn 
their  sisters  of  their  danger ;  and  so  the  call  comes  upon  all  sud- 
denly. The  wise  have  oil  enough  for  themselves,  and  they  proper- 
ly conclude  that  it  is  better  to  have  five  torches  burning  brilliantly 
through  the  whole  time  of  the  procession  than  that  the  party 
should  enter  with  ten,  all  of  which  should  soon  be  extinguished.* 

*  Trench  quotes  Ward  (Vieic  of  the  \  He  says:  "After  waiting  two  or  three 
Hindoos,  vol.  2,  p.  29),  who  describes  ;  hours,  at  length,  near  midnight,  it  waa 
the  parts  of  a  marriage  ceremony  in  I  announced,  as  in  the  very  words  of  Scrip- 
India  of  which  he  was  an  eje-witness.  !  ture,  ' Behold,  the  bridegroom  comes 


593 


THE   LAST   WEEK. 


Jesus  the 
presentative 
humanity. 


re- 

of 


He  tlius  teaches  personal  responsibility  and  the  necessity  of  cease- 
less vigilance. 

Jesus  sets  forth  himself  as  the  representative  of  hnn-anity. 
Hmnanity  shall  be  judged  by  him  in  both  senses.  His  moral 
sense  is  the  standard  of  judgment.  Whatever 
injury  is  done  to  any  human  being,  however  feeble, 
friendless,  nninfluential,  apparently  worthless,  is  to 
bring  to  the  injurer  just  what  that  act  would 
bring  if  done  to  Jesus.  He  is  the  Son  of  Humanity.  Hurt 
humanity  and  you  hurt  him.  Do  good  to  humanity  at  any  point, 
and  you  do  good  to  him.  Water  to  any  thirsty  man,  bread  to  any 
hungry  woman,  clothing  to  any  naked  child,  kind  attention  to  any 
unknown  stranger,  visit  to  any  prisoner,  criminal  or  innocent,  is 
set  down  as  done  to  the  Son  of  Man.  He  refuses  to  have  any- 
thing which  the  giver  is  not  willing  to  bestow  upon  humanity. 
He  takes  the  lowliest  human  being,  whoever  he  or  she  may  be, 
and  says,  "Inasmuch  as  you  did  it  not  to  this  least  one  you  did  it 
not  to  me."  Any  failure  of  duty  to  a7\y  human  being  Jesus  takes 
as  a  personal  neglect  of  himself,  while  he  acknowledges  as  a  per- 
sonal favor  the  slightest  kindness  done  to  the  most  nearly  insigni- 
ficant human  being. 

This  is  the  most  sublime  and  tender  Humaneness. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  how,  in  the  setting  forth  of  the  doctrine  of 
future  rewards  and  punishments,  the  goodness  of  the  heavenly 
Father  is  presented  by  Jesus.  From  the  foundation  of  the  world 
a  state  of  exaltation  had  been  prepared  for  all  the  good.  God 
does  not  make  devils,  and  bad  people,  and  hells.  Angels  may 
make  themselves  devils,  the  sons  of  God  may  make  themselves 
bad  people,  wickedness  may  make  hells ;  but  God  makes  only 
kingdoms  of  glory,  and  angels,  and  sons  of  God.  He  does  all  he 
can  to  keep  angels  from  becoming  devils,  and  men  from  becoming 
bad,  and  high  celestial  places  from  becoming  infernal  pits.  He 
uses  all  possible  attractions  to  keep  men  from  going  away  from 
liim.  He  does  not  curse  them,  but  they  are  accursed.  He  does 
not  dri\-e  them  away,  but  they  do  depart.  To  be  a  man,  one  must 
have  a  free  will.     To  be  a  son  of  God,  and  made  in  the  likeness 


go  ye  out  to  meet  him.'  All  the  per- 
sons employed  now  lighted  their  lamps 
and  ran  wdth  them  in  their  hands  to  fill 
up  their  stations  in  the  procession — 


some  of  tlwn  liad  lost  their  lights  and 
were  unprepared,  hvt  it  icccs  then  too  late 
to  seek  them  ;  and  the  cavalcade  moved 
forward." 


THE    TniED   DAY.  599 

of  God,  one  must  be  as  free  as  God.  Does  not  every  man  wlio  re- 
flects and  examines  his  consciousness  feel  sure  that  he  is?  'NVlien 
a  man  chooses  to  pnt  himself  in  such  position  that  the  attraction 
of  hell  becomes  i^reater  than  the  attraction  of  heaven,  he  gravitates 
naturally  toward  hell. 

And  yet  there  is  nothing  dogmatic  in  all  this  wonderful  dis- 
course.    There  is  no  qnestion  of  curiosity  settled,  no  question  the 

answer  to  which  could  have  no  bearing  on  the 

,      .  Absence  of  dog* 

moral   character  of   men.      JNo   subscription   to    jQatism. 

formal  creeds  secures  the  final  benediction,  but 
only  such  belief  as  is  the  necessary  root  of  the  moral  tree  which 
bears  the  fruits  of  humanity,  is  saving.  God's  discriminations 
liere  are  all  made  in  regard  to  character ;  and  so  will  be  the  dis- 
criminations of  the  other  world.  Jesus  sets  himself  forward  as 
the  representative  of  humanity,  while  he  is  the  judge  of  mankind. 
Such  belief  in  him,  as  that  representative,  as  shall  lead  to  such 
love  for  him  as  shall  produce  on  all  possible  occasions  all  possible 
kiudiicss  to  all  kinds  of  men,  it  is  that  belief  which  keeps  a  man 
in  the  circle  of  the  humane,  and  the  humane  are  those  who  are 
drawn  closely  t(^  Jesus,  "  the  Son  of  J/«;i,"  and  thus  to  one  an- 
other. As  humanity  dies  out  of  man  devilislmess  sets  in.  Jesus 
recognized  the  existence  of  a  personal  devil.  Men,  in  every  act, 
become  more  and  more  like  one  or  the  other — like  Jesus  or  tlie 
devil.  There  are  judgments  from  time  to  time  on  earth:  there 
ai-e  to  be  judgments  in  the  future,  the  details  of  which  are  not  fur- 
nished, but  in  g'^neral  terms  of  appalling  grandeur  those  judg- 
ments are  described.  One  of  these  temporal  judgments  of  men 
ehould  be  had  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the  horrors  of  Avliich 
should  typify  another,  a  spiritual,  a  grander  judgment  on  a  broader 
e{;ale.  That  stupendous  event  should  have  no  effect  upon  the 
character  of  those  whose  sentence  it  should  pronounce,  but  that 
character  should  determine  the  sentence.  They  shall  go  away,  the 
righteous — that  is  the  humane — into  continuous  life;  the  wicked — ■ 
that  is  the  inhumane — into  continuous  punishment.  He  does  not 
tell  us  how  long  that  punishment  and  that  life  shall  be.  He  uses 
a  word  (atcoi/to?)  which  specially  conceals  any  definite  conclusion. 
It  may  be  endless,  it  may  have  an  end,  it  may  be  immediate  and 
to  continue  through  tlie  existing  state  of  things ;  it  is  pain  and 
pleasure  set  over  against  one  another,  with  no  limit  of  time.  Time, 
jneasureless  or  limited,  is  very  little,  but  character  is  everything. 


CIIAPTEH    lY. 


THE     FOrRTU      DAY FKOM     TUESDAY     EVENDfG     TO     WEDNESDAY 

EVENING. 

At  tlio  conclusion  of  this  speech,  most  prohaljly  on  the  same 

evening,  Tuesday,  which  was  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  clay  of 

^.  the  week,  according  to  Jewish  reckoning,  and 

Disappointed  i  .,       i  •  i      -r->     i  V 

j,      g  while  they  were  going  towards   Jjethany,   Jesus 

said  to  his  friends,  "  You  know  that  after  two 
days  is  the  Feast  of  the  Passover,  and  the  Son  of  Man  is  be- 
trayed to  be  crucified."  There  could  be  nothing  plainer  than 
tliat.  lie  should  not  carry  out  the  Jewish  Messianic  idea.  lie 
should  disappoint  all  the  worldly  hopes  of  his  personal  friends. 
They  must  give  up  forever  their  expectations  that  he  would  prove 
a  temporal  Deliverer  and  regard  him  hereafter  as  a  spiritual 
Messiah. 

Wlien  Jesus  and  his  disciples  reached  Bethany  they  found  that 

an  entei-tainment  had  been  provided  for  them  in  the  house  of 

Simon  "  the  leper."     AV^ho   he  was  we    do    not 

Feast  in  Simon's    know.     It  is  probable  that  he  had  had  the  leprosy 

ouse.       ues  ay    ^^^^  j^^^  been  healed  by  Jesus,  and  that  he  £;ave 

evenin"",  April  4  .  ,  . 

^  jj  3Q  '    this  supper  in  token  of  his  gratitude.     Perhaps 

he  was  a  relative  of  Lazarus ;  if  not,  the  two 

families  were  intimate,  as  Lazarus,  and  Martha,  and  Mary  were 

present,  "  and  Martha  served." 

After  the  meal  had  begun,  while  Jesus  reclined  at  the  table, 

Mary  came  in  quietly  and  opened  a  flask,  and  noiselessly  poured 
the  ointment  on  the  head  of  her  friend.    She  had 

Mary  anoints  Je-  .ii.ii.  .^  fi-  i 

g^g  watched  witli  loving  eyes  the  agony  of  his  soul, 

his  harassed  look  as  he  returned  from  his  daily 
conflicts  in  Jerusalem.     She   naturally  desired    to    make    some 
marked  and  significant  display  of  her  love.     On  that  aching  head 
sliu  poured  the  nard.     There,  stretched  from  the  couch,  were  the 
irollen,  throbbing  feet  that  had  been  standing  iu  the  Temple 


THK   FOURTH    DAT.  601 

during  the  day,  and  bringing  him  across  Olivet  in  the  evening 
She  recollected  that  they  had  stood  beside  lier  brother's  gi-ave. 
Now,  there  sat  that  brother,  alive,  well,  and  eating.  Her  heart 
went  ont  in  all  lovingness.  She  spent  the  remainder  of  the  oint- 
ment on  his  feet,  then  threw  the  flask  away,  and  wrapped  the  dear 
limbs  in  her  hair. 

So  silently  and  nnobtrnsively  had  she  done  this,  that  it  was  only 
when  the  honse  was  filled  with  the  odor  of  the  ointment  that  the 
disciples  perceived  what  had  been  done,  although  Jesus  from  the 
first  knew  that  it  was  Mary,  and  what  she  Avas  doing. 

There  was  one  dark  spirit  at  the  feast,  who  was  about  to  do  the 
deed  of  treason  wliicli  was  to  danm  his  fame  forever.  It  was  Ju 
das  Iscariot.     He  ventured  the  first  sinister  criti- 

u  -iTTi  l.^  '  i        £     ii  •    ,  ,     Judas  objects. 

cism.         >Vhy  was   this  waste  or    the    onitment 

made  ?     Why  was  it  not  sold  and  given  to  the  jioor  ? "     The  other 

disciples  concurred  in  this  view,  after  it  had  been  suggested  by 

treasurer  Judas  under  the  s])ecious  guise  of  consideration  for  the 

poor.     The  criticism  grew  into  a  luurmur  i-ouiid  the  table. 

The  reply  of  Jesus  is  most  striking.     "  Let  her  alone,"  said  he  ; 
"  why  do  you  trouble  her  ?     Slie  has  wrought  a  beautiful  work  on 
me.     You  have  the  poor  with  you  always,  and 
when  YOU  will  you  may  do  them  ijood  ;  l)Ut  me  erepjo    e- 

you  have  not  always.     She  has  done  what  she 
could:  she  came  beforehand  to  anoint  my  body  for  the  burial. 
Verily  1  say  to  you.  Wherever  the  gosj)el  shall  be  preached  in  the 
whole  world,  what  she  has  done  shall  also  be  spoken  of  as  a  me- 
morial of  her." 

This  is  a  remarkable  speech  e\ery  way.  Jesus  was  caught  m 
the  toils  of  his  enemies.  He  always  knew  that  there  was  to  be 
no  temporal  kingdom,  with  ofllces,  and  honors,  and  emoluments, 
and  that  now  death  lay  near  before  him.  Beyond  that  death  he  saw 
that  his  cause  was  to  rise  and  conquer,  that  the  whole  woi-ld  was 
to  hear  the  glad  tidings  of  Jesus,  and  that  whenever  and  wher- 
ever that  gospel  was  preached,  Mary's  graceful  tribute  should  be 
recited  as  a  memorial  of  her.  It  is  noticeable  as  showing  the 
care  of  Jesus  for  the  graceful  when  it  has  no  special  utilitv. 
Jesus  took  care  of  the  beautiful ;  he  knew  that  the  useful  would 
take  care  of  itself.  He  showed  how  much  more  jirecious  in  his 
Bight  is  the  seryice  of  the  heart  than  the  service  of  the  liead;  the 
worship  of  loye  than  the  labor  of  thought. 


602 


THE   LAST   WEEK. 


A    meeting    of 
conspirators. 


"While  Jesns  Tras  predicting  the  downfall  of  Jerusalem,  as  he 
sat  on  a  projection  of  Mount  Olivet,  the  churchmen  inside  the 

city  were  plotting  his  destruction.     lie  had  that 

day  hnnil)led   them  in  the   sight  of  the  people. 

lie  had  every  day  increased  their  rage  more  and 
more,  and  had  constantly  escaped,  always  going  out  of  the  city  at 
nightfall.  They  felt  that  they  must  do  something  promptly  and 
decisively  to  suppress  Jesus.  With  that  view  a  lai'ge,  and  perhaps 
confidential,  assemblage  of  chief  priests  and  scribes  and  elders 
met  together  "  in  the  palace  of  the  high-priest,"  says  Matthew. 
They  did  not  go  to  the  usual  place,  the  council-chamber  called 
Gazitli,  which,  according  to  the  Talmud,  joined  the  south  side  of 
the  Temple  ;  they  went  to  the  hall  or  court  of  Caiaphas,  son-in- 
law  of  Annas,  a  man  who  had  degraded  the  pontificate  by  giv- 
ing it  political  connections.  It  is  not  certain  where  this  "  palace," 
or  hall,  or  court  was.  An  ancient  tradition  makes  it  the  conntry- 
house  of  Caiaphas,  the  ruins  of  which  are  still  shown  on  the  sum- 
mit of  the  Hill  of  Evil  Counsel* 

The  intent  of  the  meeting  was  to  devise  some  scheme  of  subtll- 
ity  by  M-hich  they  could  quickly  move  him  out  of  the  way.    They 

did  not  dare  to  attempt  to  take  him  openly.     He 
e     cap  ure    ^^^  adherents  and  warm  partisans.     The  iwpu- 

postponed.  ^  .  ^     ^ . 

lace  were  excited  in  his  behalf.  His  recent  mir- 
acles and  his  manifest  triumph  over  the  church  party  in  the  most 
public  manner  had  brought  the  people  to  his  side.  The  shouts  of 
the  Palm-Sunday  Messianic  salutations  had  scarce  yet  died  out  of 
the  air.  If  they  arrested  him  publicly  there  might  be  a  public 
attempt  at  rescue,  and  then  there  would  have  been  a  collision. 
The  Roman  guard,  who  never  studied  Jewish  ecclesiastical  ques- 
tions, and  who,  from  the  tower  of  Antonia,  looked  down  upon  the 
Tenq:)le  court  and  kept  the  often  tumultuous  crowd  of  worship- 
pers under  surveillance,  would  have  rushed  upon  them  with  the 
sword  and  consigned  both  parties  to  indiscriminate  slaughter.  By 
craft,  therefore,  must  he  be  taken.  After  a  long  consultation  this 
was  the  result  of  their  deliberations :  that  the  Passover  should  be 


*  "  Tradition  makes  the  bargain  with 
Judas  to  have  been  entered  into  at  the 
conntry-house  of  Caiaphas,  the  ruins 
of  which  are  still  shown  upon  the  sum- 
mit of  the  Hill  of  Evil  Counsel.  The 
tradition  is  not  ancient ;  but  it  is  men- 


tioned as  a  singular  fact  that  the  mon- 
ument of  Annas,  who  may  have  had  a 
country-seat  near  his  son-in-law,  is 
found  in  this  neighborhood."  Williams, 
U.  C,  ii.  49G,  quoted  by  Andrews. 


THE   FOUKTH   DAY. 


603 


allowed  to  go  by,  that  tlie  crowds  of  visitors  to  the  metropolis  on 
this  festal  occasion  shonld  be  permitted  to  depart,  and  that  then 
the  Sanhedrim  should  contrive  to  do  away  with  Jesus,  Avithout 
noise,  without  calling  attention  to  him.  It  never  seemed  to  have 
entered  their  minds  that  this  end  might  be  gained  by  the  treason 
of  some  member  of  the  circle  of  Jesus.  What  they  were  resolv- 
ing should  be  after  the  Passover,  Jesus  was  predicting  should 
take  place  on  that  very  day. 

AYe  can  fancy  the  surprise  and  dial)olical  delight  of  the  San- 
hedrim when  suddenly  one  of  the  Twelve,  one  of  the  most  inti- 
mate friends  of  Jesus,  found  access  to  them  and       ^  , 

-  •    1  1         Judas  comes  to 

offered  to  betray  hnn  to  them,  so  that  tiiey  nnglit    ^-^^^^ 

avoid  the  difficulties  of  his  apprehension  in  pub- 
lic.    This  was  Judas  of  Kcrioth.     The  reply  of  Jesus  to  his  criti- 
cism of  Mary's  waste  of  the  ointment  seemed  to  convin(;e  Judas 
that  things  were  not  going  forward  on  the  path  he  had  marked 
out  in  his  own  mind,  and 
BO  he  took  the  resolve  to 
precipitate  the  work  by  a 
bold  movement.     lie  went 
back  from  Simon's  house 
to  Jerusalem   and    sought 

the   ecclesiastical    authori-  shekel. 

ties.  They  were  glad,  and  covenanted  with  him  "for  thirty 
pieces  of  silver."  These  pieces  are  supposed  to  be  the  silver 
shekels,  each  of  which  was  worth  a  little  over  two  English  shil 
lings,  or  fifty  American  cents,  so  that  the  whole  sum  offered  Ju- 
das was  a  little  more  than  £3  English,  or  $15  American.  A  re- 
ference to  Exodus  xxi.  32,  shows  that  this  had  more  anciently 
been  the  price  of  a  slave.*  It  has  been  suggested  by  Lange  that 
when  the  Sanhedrim  made  this  offer  to  Judas  it  was  with  cunning 
irony.     Judas  accepted. 

The  case  of  Judas  is  a  study.     We  may  as  well  enter  upon  it 
here,  anticipating  so  much  of  the  remainder  of  his  history  as  the 

New  Testament   writers   record.     No  historical       _, 

i         1      -1  IIP  ■!-<  •£  ii  The  case  of  Ju- 

character  has  liad  so  hard  a  rate.     Even  it  the    ^^^ 

ingenuity  of  those  who  jileasc  themselves  in  mak- 
ing theories  which  shall  expose  the  falseness  of  long-received 
conclusions,  or  the  pleas  of  those  whose  amiability  is  in  excess, 

*  Compare  the  remarkable  passage  in  Zechariah  xi.  13. 


604 


THE   LAST   WEEK. 


shall  do  something  for  poor  Judas,  there  will  still  remain  the  fadt 
that  for  more  than  eighteen  centuries  his  name  has  been  a  horror 
in  all  lands  where  it  has  been  known,  his  fame  the  blackest  among 
men,  his  portrait  in  the  gallery  of  historical  person  ages  the  most 
deeply  dra]ied,  and  his  whole  character  considered  the  most  infer- 
nal of  all  that  have  been  mortal.  Poets,  painters,  and  preachers 
have  united  to  damn  him  from  generation  to  generation.*  He 
has  been  the  one  culprit  wlio  for  long  ages  had  not  a  single  hu- 
man brother  to  say  one  word  in  his  behalf.  This  itself  has  been 
a  terrible  doom. 

Of  late  years  examination  of  his  character,  his  motives,  and  his 
conduct  has  gone  far  to  mitigate  the  verdict  of  the  past.  Every 
examination  of  the  career  of  Jesus  involves  an  ex- 
amination of  the  case  of  Judas,  and  the  very 
unanimity  of  opinion  in  past  ages  has  so  aroused 
the  suspicion  of  modern  criticism,  that  some  writers  who  have 
not  concerned  themselves  with  Jesus  have  found  a  fascinati<m 
in  the  unique  historical  position  of  Judas,  attracting  them  to 
an  analysis  of  his  natural  characteristics  and  of  his  motives  in 
this  most  unfortunate  and  fatal  betrayal  of  his  Teacher.  The 
German  critics  first  suggested  that  the  story  of  Judas  had  been 
misread  and  the  man  misunderstood  ;  that  appearances  were  so 
frightfully  against  him  at  tie  first  as  to  put  him  under  a  cloud, 
which  his  sudden  death,  quickly  following  his  betrayal  of  Jesus, 
prevented  him  from  dissipating,  and  which  no  one  subsecpiently 
had  any  interest  in  removing,  while  partisanship  for  Jesus  gave 
his  followers  a  reason  for  making  that  cloud  as  dark  as  possible. 


Fresh  examina- 
tions. 


*  I  have  been  told  by  a  friend  that  in 
South  America  an  image  of  Judas  is 
submitted,  on  certain  days,  to  the  pop- 
ular execration,  and  that  he  himself  had 
given  Judas  a  kick  in  the  streets  of  Rio. 
There  was  not  much  of  Judas  left  at  the 
close  of  a  day  of  such  treatment. 

In  the  Prince  of  the  House  of  Da- 
vid^ a  romance  founded  on  the  facts  in 
the  life  of  Jesus,  the  author.  Rev.  Mr. 
Ingraham,  gives  his  ideal  of  Judas  in 
the  following  description,  which  shows 
how  this  ideal  was  constructed  by  the 
natural  dislike  to  Judas  caused  by  the 
historical  position  he  sustains  towards 


Jesus: — "He  was  low  in  height,  was 
ill-featured,  and  his  attire  was  mean  : 
but  he  had  a  suspicious  air,  combined 
with  a  cringing  deference,  that  made 
made  me  think  he  must  be  a  hypocrite. 
He  smiled  with  his  mouth  and  teeth, 
but  at  the  same  time  looked  sinister  out 
of  his  eyes.  An  air  of  humility  seemed 
to  be  put  on  to  conceal  the  pride  and 
wickedness  of  his  character.  He  looked 
like  a  man  who  could  artfully  deceive 
to  gain  his  selfish  ends,  and  who  would 
kneel  to  you  to  overturn  you.  The 
sound  of  his  voice  confirmed  my  first 
impression  of  Mm." 


THE  FOURTH  DAY.  605 

Dc  Quinccy  sums  up  the  reasonings  of  the  Germans  along  this 

line  of  thought  with  suggestions  of  his  own,  the  amount  of  which 

is  that  Judas  w-as  not  in  the  bad  sense  a  traitor,       ^^      ^  . 

.  1  .     -n  ,  De     Quincey  a 

that  his  movements   durmg  this  Fassover  week    theory. 

were  not  intended  to  crush,  nay,  nor  even  to  re- 
tard, but  rather  to  advance  the  cause  of  Jesus.  He  may  liave 
had  some  self-seeking  in  all  that  he  did,  but  not  base  treachery 
and  certainly  not  petty  avarice.  His  reasoning  was  fallacious, 
as  subsequent  events  have  shown,  but  it  was  just  such  as  an  aver- 
age intellect  would  have  pursued  Icfore  the  catastrophe,  in  view 
of  such  facts  as  are  now'  known  to  have  been  before  the  mind  of 
Judas,  and  specially  operative  upon  such  a  mental  and  moral  con- 
stitution as  that  of  Judas. 

Quite  lately  this  theory  has  been  taken  up  by  Mr.  Story,  an 
American  sculptor  residing  in  Rome,  and  worked  into  a  poem  of 

considerable  dramatic  force,  entitled  The  Roman 
r  ■        r  7         £     i.         1  T  1      1    •        71/      7      A  poet's  theoiy. 

Lawyer  di  Jerusalem^  lirst  published  in  lUaGk- 

wood,  and  afterward  in  a  small  volume.  In  this  ])oem  the  theory  is 
such  an  advance  on  that  of  the  Germans  and  De  Quincey  as  to 
make  Judas,  upon  the  whole,  the  very  best  and  noblest  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles,  most  believing,  most  daring,  yet  most  delicate. 
Of  all  the  Apostles  he  was  the  only  one  who  .sy>  believed  in  the 
Godhood  of  Jesus  that  he  felt  that  no  power  could  kill  him,  and  if 
he  could  put  his  Master  in  just  such  relation  to  humtui  power 
that  ho  would  be  compelled  to  let  his  Godhead  break  through  his 
humanity,  then  should  be  brouglit  to  pass,  what  they  all  desired, 
the  immediate  inauguration  of  the  Messianic  kingdom.  It  might 
be  a  personal  disaster  to  Judas  to  do  it,  but  none  of  the  other  dis- 
ciples had  the  faith  in  Jesus  and  the  daring  to  make  tlie  venture. 
Judas  had.  But  when  he  saw  his  dire  mistake,  and  that  Jesus 
did  not  burst  out  into  undeniable  Messianic  splendor  and  power, 
Judas  was  so  delicately  constituted  that  his  heart  broke.  This  is 
the  argument  of  Mr.  Story's  poem. 

Let  us  see  how  much  of  all  this  has  ground  in  history  and 
reason. 

Jesus  originally  selected  Judas  from  a  company  of  at  least 
sixty  of  his  followers  to  be  of  the  number  of  tlie  Twelve  who 
should  be  on  his  "staff"  and  should  be  chai-ged  with  tiie  special 
duty  of  propagating  his  doctrines.  Judas,  then,  was  no  worse 
and  no  better  than  the  rest  of  them.     He  was  an  average  man, 


606  TIIE   LAST   WEEK. 

of  average   moral   and   intellectual   endowments.     But   lio  was 

dra^\•n  to  Jesus,  and  by  Jesus  selected  to  the  Apostolate.     He  was 

religious  above  the  average.     Through  his  whole 

Judas  compared    connection  with  Jesus,  up  to  this  point,  he  does 

with     the     other  ,.  ,  i-i-ii  o 

Apostles  notlnng  and  sajs  nf)thnig  ^vhlcll  draws  a  reprool 

from  Jesus.  lie  behaves  better  than  the  rest. 
He  never  had  said  or  done  anything  to  make  Jesus  say  to  him  as 
he  had  to  Peter,  "  Get  behind  me,  Satan."  He  was  a  better-tem- 
pered man  than  John,  who  is  the  admiration  of  painters  and 
romancers,  for  never,  like  John,  had  he  desired  to  call  down  fire 
from  heaven  to  consume  his  fellow-men.  He  never  was  such  a 
profane  liar  as  Peter  proved  to  be,  nor  so  ambitious  as  John  and 
his  brother  James,  who  desired  to  share  the  Messianic  kingdom 
with  Jesus,  and  sit  one  on  his  right  hand  and  the  other  on  his 
left,  ruling  over  their  brethren. 

The  only  occasion  when  even  acuteness  can  discover  anything 
that  can  be  tortured  into  a  reproof  is  the  supper  in  the  house  of 

Simon  the  Leper,  when  Judas  suggested  that  the 
„       ^  money  which  had  been  spent  on  the  ointment  by 

Mary  might  have  been  better  expended  on  the 
poor.  If  any  candid  reader  will  foi-get  that  it  was  Judas  who 
made  this  remark,  and  notice  that  what  Jesus  said  was  not  in 
opposition  to  the  remark  of  Judas,  a  remark  which  Judas  himself 
had  learned  from  the  very  teaching  of  Jesus, — if  the  reader  will 
only  fancy  that  John  might  have  said  the  same  thing,  and  Jesus 
might  have  made  to  him  the  same  re]dy,  then  all  sign  of  reproof 
will  disappear.  It  is  to  be  recollected  by  those  who  will  be  criti- 
cal that  when  we  read  the  account  of  that  supper  in  John's  twelfth 
chapter,  we  are  prejudiced  by  the  statement  that  it  was  Judas 
Iscariot  who  made  the  suggestion  of  economy  in  the  matter  of 
the  ointment,  and  that  John  takes  pains  to  inform  us  that  it  was 
he  "-which  should  betray  him,"  and  then  he  adds  the  damaging 
parenthesis :  "  This  he  said,  not  that  he  cared  for  the  poor,  but 
because  he  was  a  thief,  and  had  the  bag,  and  bore  what  was  put 
therein."  If  we  had  only  the  narratives  of  Matthew  and  Mark  we 
could  never  liave  had  any  suspicion  that  Jesus  was  reproving  the 
suggestion  of  giving  the  money  to  the  poor,  but  was  rather,  with 
his  usual  lofty  yet  tender  courtesj^,  protecting  the  woman  who 
loved  him  and  was  anointing  him. 

It  is  to  be  consideredj  then,  that  John's  saying  "he  was  a  thief  " 


THE   FOURTH   DAT.  607 

docs  not  prove  tliat  Judas  had  ever  coniniitted  an  act  of  theft  or 

showed  any  signs  of  a  proclivity  towards  peculation.    He  certainly 

had  not  been  a  thief  up  to  the  time  of  his  elec- 

„        ,        .  1    .         TT  r  Jolm's  allega- 

tion for  the  Apostohite.    He  was  a  man  or  exeeu-    ^.^^ 

tive  ahility  sur])assing  them  all,  and  supposed  to  be 
a  man  of  honesty  equal  to  them  all,  else  he  had  not  been  made  their 
treasurer.  That  they  had  an  insignificant  exchequer  is  not  proof 
that  they  would  therefore  be  careless  as  to  the  person  who  should 
manage  it :  qulle  the  contrary.  Poorpeojile  who  invest  their  sav- 
ings a  dime  at  a  time, need  to  be  more  careful  than  men  who  would 
not  be  embarrassed  for  an  hour  by  the  breaking  of  a  bank  in 
which  they  have  deposited  ten  thousand  dollars.  These  disciples 
W'cre  scrupulous  and  careful.  There  must  have  been  frequent 
auditing  of  the  accounts  of  Judas,  not  from  any  suspicion  of 
foul  dealing  on  his  part,  but  to  know  how  far  their  little  fund 
would  meet  their  pressing  wants.  A  widow  whose  toil  brings 
such  weekly  Avagcs  as  that  the  most  rigid  economy  nuist  be  exer- 
cised to  keep  her  oiitgo  from  exceeding  her  income,  counts  over 
lier  little  store  more  frequently  and  carefully  than  the  Koths- 
childs  count  their  ample  assets.  The  disciples  would  have  de- 
tected the  leakage  if  Judas  had  purloined.  Jesus  would  have 
found  some  method  of  reproof,  or  at  least  of  warning.  But 
nothing  of  this  kind  ever  occurred.  No  suspicion  against  Judas 
arose  among  the  disciples  until  after  the  betrayal  of  Jesus. 

John  wrote  this  verdict  after  Judas  had  betrayed  Jesus.  The 
other  disci i)les  nnist  have  been  unspeakably  outraged.  It  was 
natural.  They  would  not  have  deserved  to  be  the  friends  of 
Jesus  if  they  had  not  felt  the  utmost  horror  at  the  betrayal.  That 
would  naturally  lead  them  to  believe  any  evil  thing  of  the  be- 
trayer, and  as  Judas  certainly  did  receive  money  for  his  services 
in  this  transaction,  it  was  most  natural  to  su|)])ose  that  he  was  so 
avaricious  that  he  would  have  stolen,  that  he  who  would  "  sell  his 
Master,"  for  so  they  regarded  it,  for  thirty  shekels,  the  price  of  a 
Blave,  would  not  hesitate  to  steal,  being  at  heai-t  a  thief ;  and  that 
he  who  had  not  tenderness  enough  for  such  a  j\[aster  as  Jesus  as 
to  make  the  cai'th,  even  if  it  were  a  solid  chi-ysolitc,  no  tempta- 
tion as  a  bribe  for  betrayal,  ccndd  not  have  had  any  care  for  the 
poor.  This  is  all  that  the  words  of  John  do  really  prove,  namely, 
that  his  fellow- Apostles  regarded  the  act  of  Judas  as  so  horrible 
as  to  put  him  beyond  the  pale  of  Christian  charity ;  in  which 


608  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

they  might  have  been  as  much  mistaken  as  Jolm  was  M'hen  he 
wanted  lire  from  heaven  to  burn  up  the  Samaritan  village. 

Judas  had  the  "worldly"  part  of  the  work  of  the  Apostles  to 
attend  to.  He  made  the  little  purchases,  and  thus,  as  De  Quincey 
suggests,  came  in  contact  Avith  the  "  petty  shop  • 
keepers,"  or,  as  I  should  say,  mingled  with  that 
class  from  whom  he  gathered  the  popular  opinion  of  men  and 
measnres.  lie  was  not  confined  to  the  spiritual  influence  of  the 
inner  circle  of  the  friends  of  Jesus.  He  went,  out  frequently 
into  "the  world,"  and  coming  back  Judas  believed,  as  they  all 
did,  that  Jesus  was  going  to  establish  a  temporal  kingdom.  The 
difference  between  the  eleven  and  Judas,  as  it  seems  to  me,  was 
simply  this,  that  thelr's  was  a  vague  belief  and  expectation,  influ- 
encing them  more  as  a  dream  than  as  a  vital  power  shaping  their 
lives.  Judas  was  no  fanatic  and  no  poet.  I  think  Mr.  Story  not 
quite  right  when  he  speaks  of  him  as  a  man  "  who  took  his 
dreams  for  firm  realities."  He  studied  all  the  phenomena  of  the 
case  as  a  man  of  affairs,  as  an  astute  politician.  He  had  more 
knowledge  of  the  world  and  more  practical  sense  than  the  other 
Apostles.  He  believed  in  the  desirableness  of  throwing  off  the 
Roman  yoke.  He  believed  the  time  had  come  to  do  it.  The 
people  had  grown  into  an  impatience  that  was  passionate.  If 
a  proper  leader  could  be  found  and  a  proper  time  to  strike, 
tlie  work  could  be  accomplished.  He  found  that  leader  in 
Jesus. 

It  would  seem  probable  that  more  than  the  other  Apostles  he 
believed  in  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus,  and  in  a  loftier  and  at  the 
same  time  more  practical  way.  Let  us  suppose  that  he  brooded 
over  this  thouglit  for  three  years,  not  as  a  dreamer,  but  as  a  prac- 
tical working  man.  He  would  naturally  come  to  see  it  in  a  light 
in  which  the  other  Apostles  could  not  study  it.  The  capacities  of 
Jesus  for  such  a  leadership  would  be  a  question  of  profound  in- 
terest. He  saw  in  him  prodigious  power,  power  to  work  mira- 
cles, to  escape  through  the  heart  of  a  mob  as  if  he  bore  a  charmed 
life.  He  was  capable  of  overawing  men.  A  crowd  of  merchants 
had  rushed  out  of  the  Temple  before  his  eyes  of  rebuke.  There 
was  a  majestic  augustness  about  him  which  made  Judas  feel  that 
this  was  a  King  of  Men.  Devils  bowed  before  him,  while  children 
were  attracted  to  his  side  and  were  petted  when  they  came,  and 
women  absolutely  adoi-ed  him  to  the  very  kissiiig  of  his  feet.     Ho 


THE   FOURTH   DAT.  609 

could  raise  the  dead  with  a  word  ;  could  he  not  slay  the  wicked 

with  a  look  ? 

Jesus  had  all  the  personal  dignities  and  graces  for  a  king  of 

kings ;    but  there  w^as  one  defect :    he  had   no   policy  and   no 

"  push."       So   it  must   have   seemed   to  Judas.       ,  ,    , 
^  /.  1  .  1  Judas  s  opinion 

Jesus  never  took  advantage  oi  his  personal  pop-  of  jgsus. 
ularity  to  consolidate  a  party.  lie  fed  thousands 
of  people  and  got  nothing  back.  He  confounded  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal leaders,  and  yet  would  not  found  a  church,  and  now,  when  his 
affairs  seemed  to  be  reaching  a  crisis,  he  was  making  no  move- 
ments ecclesiastical  or  political.  This  behavior,  in  the  eyes  of  a 
politician,  was  simply  absurd.  Judas,  no  more  than  the  other 
Apostles,  recognized  the  interiomess  and  throiujliness  of  the 
kingdom  which  Jesus  was  preaching  and  trying  to  make  them 
understand,  how  that  it  was  like  that  ether  which  pervades  the 
atmosphere,  and  glass,  and  all  transparent  substances,  and  is  w^here 
there  is  neither  air  nor  glass, — a  kingdom  which  did  not  need  to 
displace  any  existing  kingdom  or  church, — a  kingdom  which 
could  as  well  subsist  in  political  anarchies  as  in  empires,  in  re- 
publics as  in  despotisms,  a  kingdom  which  had  no  need  of  any 
outward  and  visible  State,  or  any  outward  and  visible  Church,  but 
could  and  would  subsist  in  all  forms  of  States  and  all  forms  of 
Church,  and  without  all  States  and  all  Churches,  a  kingdom  which 
did  not  exists  but  S2ibsist  and  jpersist^  that  did  not  stand  out  but 
fill  through,  that  was  not  2i phenomenon  but  a  noximenon. 

Rooted  and  grounded  in  the  belief  that  a  temporal,  sensuous, 
visible,  Hebrew  kingdom  was  to  cover  the  earth  and  subdue  the 
nations,  nothing  else  would  satisfy  Judas,     And 

he  must  have  believed  that  Jesus  expected  such  a      ^^  ^""^"^^  ^'"'^  "^ 
,.,  -  ,1,  .  .,  ,  temporal    king- 

kmgdom,  and  expected  to  reign  over  it,  but  that    ^^^ 

he  had  not  the  promptness  at  the  right  moment 
to  make  the  stroke,  the  requisite  coup  cVetat.  In  De  Quincey's 
language,  he  seemed  to  Judas  to  be  "  sublimely  over-gifted  for 
purposes  of  speculation,  but  not  commensurately  endowed  for  the 
business  of  action  and  the  sudden  emer<rencies  of  life."  And  to 
Judas  tlie  conduct  of  his  brother  Apostles,  and  of  all  the  follow- 
ers of  Jesus,  was  most  unwise  and  unprofitable.  They  needed  all 
their  funds,  and  yet  were  wasting  it  on  ointment.  The  Apostles 
and  the  other  friends  of  Jesus  were  doing  nothing  for  him,  sim- 
ply enjoying  his  society,  walking  about  with  him,  behaving  like 


610  THE    LAST   WEEK. 

children.  It  must  have  chafed  Judas ;  and  although  he  made  no 
special  profession  of  attachment  to  Jesus,  and  received  no  dis- 
criminating attention  from  him,  Judas  may  have  felt  at  heart  that 
he  was  doing  more  for  "  the  cause  "  than  they  all,  or  at  least  had 
the  most  earnest  desire  to  do. 

Over  these  things  he  had  been  brooding  for  months,  if  not  years. 
Now  the  ci'isis  was  coming.  Jesus  himself  seemed  to  be  aban- 
doning the  Messianic  work  on  wliicli  he  had  en- 
'^  '  tered.  It  behooves  us  to  consider  every  element 
which  may  have  entered  into  the  calculations  of  Jndas.  At  this 
juncture  of  aifairs  he  may  have  reviewed  his  reasonings  and  seen 
things  in  this  position :  he  had  been  right  as  to  the  claims  of 
elesus  to  the  Messiahship,  or  lie  had  been  wrong;  the  Established 
Church  and  Government  had  some  claims  upon  Judas ;  the 
Church  was  the  enemy  of  Jesus ;  the  Church  desired  to  suppress 
Jesus  privately;  Judas  could  agree  with  the  clergy  to  point  out 
Jesus  at  night  quietly ;  then  one  of  two  things  would  occur — 
Jesus  would  raise  the  populace  and  proceed  to  carry  the  revolu- 
tion forward  witli  vigor,  or  else  he  was  an  impostoi",  and  it  was 
right  that  he  should  be  surrendered.  This  last  thought  I  think 
could  have  been  at  most  only  a  side-light  on  the  mind  of  Judas, 
lie  could  hardly  have  suspected  Jesus  of  being  an  im|)ostor.  But 
in  such  a  case  as  this  a  man  is  actuated  by  many,  and  sometimes 
contradictory,  motives.  But  I  agree  with  Neander,  that  avarice 
could  scarcely  have  been  a  leading  motive  in  the  case  of  Judas. 
If  he  was  avaricious  and  treacherous  at  heart,  why,  after  receiv- 
ing the  money  from  the  priests,  did  lie  point  out  Jesus  ?  There 
was  nothing  more  to  be  gained,  and  it  was  not  so  offensive  a  thing 
to  cheat  the  malignant  priests  as  to  betray  his  good  Master.  He 
kept  his  contract,  showing  that  he  was  not  treacherous ;  and  he 
returned  the  money  when  he  saw  that  he  was  wrong. 

All  that  he  did,  in  act,  was  to  designate  Jesus  in  a  crowd  at 

night.     Let  us  consider  the  circumstances  of   his  remorse  and 

death,  not  forgetting  the  truth  of  Neander's  re- 
Remorse    and  ,        ,,  .  i.i-  ,1 
death  of  Judas       mark :    "  As   a  general   thmg,   the    nnpressions 

made  upon  a  man  by  the  results  of  his  action 

testify  but  little  as  to  his  character  and  motives ;  none  can  tell 

how  an  evil  deed,  even  when  deliberately  planned  and  perpe 

trated,  will  react  upon  the  conscience."      Mark,  Luke,  and  John 

are  silent.     Matthew  and  the  writer  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 


THE   FOURTH   DAY.  611 

aie  onr  only  authorities.  The  fonner  says  (xxvii.  3)  that  when 
Judas  saw  that  Jesus  was  condemned  he  returned  the  money  to 
the  priests  and  acknowledged  that  he  had  betrayed  innocent 
blood;  and  then  went  out  and  hanged  himself.  In  the  Acts 
(i.  IG)  Peter,  who  had  acted  very  basely  at  the  betrayal  of  Jesus, 
is  represented  as  saying  that  Judas  had  purchased  a  field  with  the 
wages  of  iniquity,  "  and  falling  on  his  face  he  burst  asunder  and 
all  his  bowels  gushed  forth."  It  is  plain  that  both  these  accounts 
cannot  be  accurate.  If  he  returned  the  money,  then  he  did  not 
buy  a  field  with  it.  If  he  hanged  himself,  he  did  not  meet  with 
the  horrible  end  depicted  by  Peter.  Casaubon  suggests  that, 
according  to  Matthew,  Judas  hanged  himself,  and  that  he  did 
this  over  the  Yalley  of  Gehinnon  ;  tlie  branch  broke  or  tlie  rope 
was  torn,  and  Judas,  according  to  Peter,  fell  headlong  and  burst 
asunder!  This  seems  ridiculous;  and  yet  there  does  not  seem 
to  be  any  better  theory.  If  taken  literally,  the  accounts  are  con- 
tradictory, and  one  or  the  other  was  mistaken.  Peter's  speech 
is  evidently  loosely  rlietorical.  There  must  have  been  other  facta 
of  which  we  have  no  knowledge,  and  which  might  reconcile  these 
statements. 

AYe  are  to  remember  the  rooted  belief  among  the  Apostles  and 
their  countrymen  that  every  marked  physical  evil  was  reti-ibutive 
of  the  individual's  sins.  It  must  needs  be  that  they  sliould  suj)- 
pose  that  Judas  should  have  something  horrible  in  his  death.  It 
is  quite  clear  that  he  did  come  to  some  tragic  end.  'Wlien  he  saw 
what  he  had  done,  when  he  beheld  Jesus  with  such  placidity  sub- 
mitting himself  to  the  hands  of  the  church  and  the  state  for  ex- 
ecution, all  at  once  there  rolled  back  upon  him  the  tide  of  liis 
earliest  affection  for  Jesus,  the  ]-emembranee  of  all  the  beautiful 
and  beneficent  life  of  Jesus,  a  perception  of  his  own  huge  and 
irremediable  blunder,  and  he  rushed  to  the  hiorarcliy  and^  flung 
their  money  back  to  them,  and  went  out  appalled,  horror-stricken, 
heart-broken,  strangling  with  his  emotions,  and  fell  down  dead. 
This  figurative  rendering  seems  to  be  the  only  reasonable  method 
of  harmonizing  the  two  accounts. 

^  We  are  not  to  apologize  for  Judas,  nor  add  unwarrantably  to 
his  badness,  but  strive  to  find  out  what  he  was. 
He  was  an  average  politician.     He  was  audacious      ^"""^^'"y  ^^  '^^ 
rather  than  treacherous.     He  believed  that  the    ^'' °^  •^"'^'^• 
cause  of  Jesus  needed  the  hand  of  policy  to  steady  it  and  push  it 


612  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

forward.  He  dared  to  take  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Master  what  waa 
the  work  of  the  Master,  and  he  perished  in  the  attempt.  His  ruin 
was  caused  b}'^  the  impatience  and  pride  of  his  ittter  worldliness. 
But  for  his  impatient  policy  he  never  would  have  consulted  witli 
the  church  party.  But  for  his  impatient  pride  he  would  have  led 
a  life  of  penitence  which  would  have  restored  him.  It  was  tlirouoli 
his  worldliness  and  not  through  his  sagacity  that  the  devil  entered 
into  him.  Peter  did  quite  as  basely  as  he ;  but  Peter  repented  and 
lived  to  recover  himself.  If  social  damage  had  not  seemed  to 
the  worldliness  of  Judas  the  greatest  of  all  evils,  repentance 
might  have  brought  recovery  to  him  as  it  did  to  Peter. 

The  fourth  day  of  the  Aveek  began  on  Tuesday  evening  and 
closed  on  Wednesday  evening.     On  Tuesday  evening  Judas  prob- 
ably had  his  interview   with  the  chui-ch  autho- 

Wednesday,  5th     . , .  „i  x  ,         •  i     i  .       t     •    i 

April  AD  80         rities.     i hen  .Jesus   went  with  his   disciples    to 

Bethany.  The  temporary  absence  of  Judas  would 
scarcely  have  been  noticed  by  the  other  disciples,  as  he  must 
have  been  accustomed  to  be  absent  in  his  attendance  on  the 
"  temporalities  "  of  the  body.  History  is  silent  on  this  Wednesday. 
There  is  not  an  intimation  of  any  movement  upon  the  part  of  the 
authorities  or  of  Jesus.  He  seems  to  have  gone  into  profound 
retirement.  There  is  no  notice  of  any  communication  even  with 
his  disciples.  It  is  a  strange  calm  stealing  in  between  the  commo- 
tion of  the  preceding  and  the  storm  of  the  succeeding  days. 
Jesus  evidently  felt  his  position,  and  knew  all  that  was  going  for- 
ward. We  may  fancy  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  such  a  head 
and  such  a  heart  as  his,  but  there  is  no  history. 


CHAPTER   Y. 


First  day  of  un 
leaveued  bread. 


THE  FIFTH   DAY — FKOM  WEDNESDAY  EVENING  TO  THURSDAY  EVENING. 

The  fifth  day  of  tlic  Mcek  began  on  Wednesday  evening,  and 
closed  on  Thursday  evening.  It  was  the  first  day  of  nnleavened 
bread,  when  tlie  Passover  must  be  killed.  The 
PassoNcr  Mas  the  feast  commemorative  of  the 
deliverance  of  the  nation  from  the  Eg}'ptian 
bondage.  The  history  of  its  ai)pointment  and  method  of  observ- 
ance aT-o  given  in  Exod.  .xii.  The  feast  Avas  celebrated  by  compa- 
nies, numbering  not  less  than  ten  nor  more  than  twenty.  In  be- 
lialf  of  the  wliole  company,  one,  as  a  representative,  presented  the 
lamb  in  the  Temple  t(.  be  sacrificed  by  the  Levites.  It  was  then 
carried  to  the  house  where  the  party  was  assembled,  and  eaten ; 
and  if  they  could  not  consume  it  before  daylight  they  were  to 
burn  the  remainder.  Jesus  was  approached  by  his  disciples,  to 
know  wbere  he  would  have  them  prepare  for  his  eating  of  the 
l*assovcr. 

There  is  no  point  in  the  chronology  of  the  career  of  Jesus  which 
has  elicited  more  controversy  than  the  question  on  what  evening 
Jesus  ate  the  I'assovcr.  To  repeat  all  that  has  been  written  on  this 
subject  would  be  to  produce  another  volume  larger  than  this,  and, 
after  all,  the  discrei)aucy  between  the  statements  of  John  and 
those  of  the  other  biographers  seems  to  be  as  far  from  being  har- 
monized as  ever.*  There  is  no  space  to  give  even  a  synopsis  of 
tiie  arguments,  which  would  recpiire  many  pages.  The  result  of 
all  seems  to  be  that  the  most  rational  conclusion  is  that  all  the 
Evangelists  spoke  of  one  feast;  that  it  was  a  Paschal  supper;  that 
Jesus  ate  that  supi)er  with  his  disciples  on  Thursday  night,  the 
evening  following  the  14th  Nisan,  April  6,  a.u.  783,  a.d.  30,  being 
the  evening  from  which,  according  to  Jewish  calculation,  began 
tlie  sixth  day,  Friday,  15th  Nisan. 


•  Readers  who  have  abundauce  of 
time  may  fiud  this  question  amply  dis- 
cussed iu  Audrcws's  Life  of  our  Lord, 


Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  GresB- 
well's  Dissertations,  and  a  note  in  Cros- 
by's Jcsiis,  p.  429. 


614 


THE   LAST   WEEK. 


During  the  day,  before  tlie  evening,  in  reply  to  liis  disciples, 
Jesus  sent  Peter  and  John  to  prepare  for  the  eating  of  the  Pass- 
over Supper.     lie  said,  "  On  your  entering  the 
repara  ion  or    ^j^     ^  ^^^^^  shall  meet  you  bearing  a  pitcher ;  fol- 

the      Supper,     ^     •' \  .         .  ,        ,  .  ?.   ,      , 

Thursday  6th  ^^"^  ^^"^  ^^^^^  ^^®  house  into  which  he  enters. 
April,  A.D.  30.  And  you  shall  speak  to  the  Master  of  the  house, 
saying,  '  The  Teacher  says  to  you.  My  time  is  at 
hand.  Where  is  the  guest-chamber,  where  I  may  eat  the  Pass- 
over with  my  disciples  ? '  And  he  shall  show  you  a  large  upper 
room,  cushioned  ;  and  there  make  ready."  There  need  be  very 
little  speculation  upon  the  mysteriousness  of  this  message.  Those 
who  are  so  materialistic  that  any  narrative  not  totally  common- 
place bears  internal  evidence  of  its  untruth,  will  reject  this  por- 
tion of  the  history,  as  they  will  that  of  the  sending  for  the  ass's 
colt  in  Bethphage.  Those  who  accept  it  are  al)le  to  belie\e  in 
the  psychology  of  the  New  Testament,  and  will  have  no  difficul- 
ties. Men's  powers  of  inspection,  circumspection,  and  transj^ec- 
tion  diifer.  Jesus  had  them  all  in  an  extraordinary  measure.  He 
knew  what  was  working  in  Judas.  lie  knew  that  he  had  pledged 
himself  to  indicate  his  Master  in  such  a  way  that  the  authorities 
might  take  him  without  raising  a  multitude.  That  was  all  the 
priests  desired.  That  was  all  Judas  was  to  do.  But  Jesus,  while 
marching  forward  in  the  line  on  which  his  fate  lay,  would  not 
precipitate  himself  thereupon.  He  would  not  put  in  the  hands 
of  Judas,  who  was  watching,  such  information  as  might  be  used 
to  break  up  the  Paschal  Supper.  Jesus  determined  to  eat  that 
Avith  his  disciples.  His  clear  spiritual  sight  enabled  him  to  talk 
of  the  man  with  the  pitcher  of  water,  and  the  house  he  should  en- 
ter, and  the  owner  tliereof,  as  if  all,  down  to  the  cushions  in  the 
guest-cliamber,  were  present  before  his  eyes,  as  in  some  sense  they 
certainly  must  have  been.  The  disciples  found  all  as  he  had 
described. 

It  is  not  known  who  was  this  citizen  of  Jerusalem  in  whose 
house  Jesus  ate  this  Supper.   He  was  some  secret  friend  of  Jesus. 

There  is  no  sign  of  bargain  in  advance.     It  was 
At  whose  house  ?         ,  -r  i  ,  ,      /•        •  i 

not  necessai-y.   It  was  the  custom  to  lurnisn  room 

for  the  Passover  gratis.     The  rule  was  to  leave  the  earthen  jugs 

and  the  skins  of  the  sacrificed  animals  for  the  host,  but  he  took 

no  pay.     The  trouble  in  the  mind  of  the  disciples  seems  to  have 

been  that  they  had  postponed  finding  a  place  until  it  might  be 


THE   FIFTH   DAY. 


61b 


exceedingly  difficult  to  do  so.  But  the  calm  Jesus  knew  just 
where  to  send  them.  Thronged  and  crowded  as  the  city  was,  he 
knew  a  secret  adherent,  a  friend  to  "  The  Master,"  who  would 
gladly  open  his  house  for  him,  and  who,  strangely,  had  a  vacant 
chamber  ready.  All  this  displays  more  than  even  extraordinary 
sagacity'  on  the  part  of  Jesus. 

The  disciples  made  ready.    The  law  was  that  the  Paschal  lamb 
was  to  be  slain  "  between  the  evenings."     Tliis  phrase  has  had  a 
variety  of  meanino-s  assio;ned  by  the  Jewish  writ- 
ers.  In  the  times  of  Josephus  {Bell.  Jud.,  vi.  9,  3),    g^g^j^gg  „ 
the  Pharisees  held  that  the  first  evening  began 
when  the  sun  declined  towards  the  horizon,  the  second  at  sunset 
Some,  however,  taught  that  the  phrase  included  the  time  from  a 
little  before  to  a  little  after  sunset.    The  Samaritans  and  Karaites 
interpreted  it  to  mean  from  sunset  to  dark.    It  was  probably  about 
three  o'clock  that  the  lamb  was  slain,  and  before  six  that  the  sup- 
per Avas  eatcji. 


CHAPTER  YI. 


THE    SIXTH   DAT — FKOM   THURSDAY   EVENING   TO   FEtDAT   EVENING. 

Section  1. — The  Sxijpjyer. 

At  the  appointed  hour  they  entered  the  chamber,  and  Jesus 
said  to  them,  "  With  desire  I  have  desired  to  eat  this  Passover 
with  you  before  I  suffer ;  for  I  say  to  you  that  I 
.  Jl^«^<lay  even-  ^-^i  ^^^^  ^^^  thereof  until  the  time  when  it  shall 
A  D  30  Jesus's  ^^  fulfilled  in  the  kingdom  of  God."  This  was 
openiQg  speech.  said,  perhaps,  while  they  were  standing,  as  the 
ceremony  of  the  Passover  was  to  remind  them  of 
their  flight  out  of  Egypt.  They  were  about  to  recline  at  the  ta- 
ble, and  then  arose  the  old  question  of  precedence,  who  should  bo 
first.  It  might  have  been  the  attraction  of  love.  Jesus  was  so 
melancholy,  yet  so  serene.  He  was  growing  sublimely  beautiful. 
Who  should  sit  next  him  ?  But  they  waxed  warm,  and  the  feel- 
ing was  not  generous.  It  ran  rather  in  the  channel  of  Oriental 
etiquette,  the  position  at  the  table  being  important. 

It  was  somehow  settled  at  last,  John  being  next  to  him  on  one 

side,  and  most  probably  Judas  on  the  other.     It  was  customary  at 

this  feast  to  have  four  cups  of  wine  mixed  with 

He  gives  them    y.^^^^.^     ^^^  Jesus  took  One  of  these  cups,  and 

the  wine  and  the     ,        .  .  i       i       i  •  i  •      t     •    i 

bread.  having  given  thanks,  he  gave  it  to  his  disciples, 

saying,  "  Take  and  divide  this  among  youi-selves, 

for  I  say  to  you,  that  I  will  not  drink  henceforth  of  the  fruit  of  the 

vine  until  the  kingdom  of  God  shall  come."   After  they  had  been 

eating  some  time,  he  took  bread,  and  having  given  thanks,  he  broke 

it,  and  gave  it  to  them,  saying,  "  This  is  my  bodj',  which  is  about 

to  be  given  in  behalf  of  you :  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me." 

Then,  after  they  had  eaten,  he  took  the  cup,  and  gave  it  to  them, 

Baying,  "  This  cup  is  the  New  Testament  in  my  blood,  now  to  be 

poured  forth  in  behalf  of  you  !  " 

This  seemed  designed    to  appropriate   to  himself   what  waa 


THE    SIXTH   DAT.  617 

typical  in  the  unleavened  bread,  and  in  the  mingled  wine  and 
water  of  the  Paschal  feast.  Whenever  they  celebrated  the  Pass- 
over they  were  to  remember  him.  lie  seems  to  intimate  that  a 
thought  of  him  was  wrapped  up  in  the  Passover  idea.  Might  it 
not  also  mean  that,  whenever  they  should  eat  bread  and  drink 
wine,  under  any  circumstances,  they  should  have  remembrance  of 
him  ?  It  was  this  tender  injunction  which  led  his  followers  to  in- 
stitute what  is  so  appropriately  called  "  The  Lord's  Supper." 

Jesus  then  rose  from  the  table,  laid  aside  his  outer  garment, 
took  a  basin  of  water  and  a  towel,  and  proceeded  to  wash  the  feet 
of  his  disciples,  and  to  wipe  them  with  the  towel. 
When  men  came  off  a  journey  it  was  the  custom  „  ^  ^^  ®^  ^^ 
for  the  host  to  have  their  feet  washed,  and  this 
service  was  ordinarily  performed  by  a  slave.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  in  the  hurry  and  crowd  of  the  festival,  and  in  pj-epar- 
ing  his  own  Passover,  the  host  had  on  this  occasion  omitted  this 
attention,  and  that  the  dispute  as  to  who  should  be  greatest  arose 
among  the  disciples  on  the  point  of  the  feet  washing.  But  as  the 
Passover  was  to  be  eaten  with  staves  in  their  hands  and  all  the 
preparations  for  a  journey,  it  would  scarcely  seem  necessary  that 
the  feet  should  have  been  washed  on  this  occasion.  At  any  rate 
Jesus  found  reason  in  their  disputings  to  teach  them  au  impres- 
sive lesson  of  love's  humility. 

AVhen  he  came  to  Simon  Peter,  that  vehement  disciple  broke 
forth,  "  Do  you  wash  my  feet  ? "  Jesus  said,  "  What  I  am  doing 
you  do  not  perceive  now,  but  you  shall  undei-stand 
hereafter."  He  was  not  to  be  put  off  so.  The  ^^*^''''  ''^^'^'^• 
old  impetuous  self-will  broke  forth,  "  Yoti  shall  never  wash  7)17/ 
feet."  It  was  "  the  pride  that  apes  humility."  He  would  have 
it  his  own  way.  He  had  better  ideas  of  propriety  than  his  Mas- 
ter !  Jesus  brought  him  to  terms  by  the  calm  statement,  "  If  I 
do  not  wash  you,  you  have  no  part  with  me."  Suddenly  the  im- 
petuous self-will  of  Peter  flew  to  the  opposite  extreme.  If  that 
was  the  case  nothing  would  satisfy  him  but  a  regular  bath.  He 
exclaimed,  "  Not  my  feet  only,  but  also  the  hands  and  the  head !  " 
There  was  no  need  of  anj  such  immersion,  and  Jesus  said,  "  He  that 
is  bathed  needs  not  to  wash,  but  is  wholly  clean."  And  turning  to 
his  disciples  he  said,  "And  you  are  clean — but  not  all."  The  re- 
ply to  Peter  seems  to  signify  that  this  feet  washing  was  not  a 
sacrament,  not  a  "  means  of  grace,"  as  such  things  are  called,  not 


618  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

a  cleansing  ceremonial.  If  the  disciples  were  not  pure  in  heait 
his  Avashing  of  their  feet  would  not  cleanse  them.  It  did  not 
cleanse  Judas  and  Peter,  who  shortly  after  outraged  all  truth  and 
decency  in  his  betrayal  and  denial. 

When  this  was  done  he  resumed  his  garments  and  his  seat  at 
the  table,  and  said,  "  Do  you  know  what  I  have  done  to  you  1 
^  You  call  me  'The  Teacher,'  and  '  Tlie   Lord;' 

and  you  speak  gracefully :  for  I  am.  If  then  I, 
the  Lord  and  Teacher,  have  washed  your  feet,  3'ou  ought  also  to 
wash  one  another's  feet ;  for  I  have  given  you  an  example  that  as 
I  have  done  for  you,  you  also  should  do.  I  most  assured  1}^  say  to 
you  that  the  slave  is  not  greater  than  his  Lord,  nor  the  [Apostle] 
sent  greater  than  he  who  has  sent  him.  If  you  know  these  things, 
you  are  happy  if  you  do  them.  I  do  not  speak  of  you  all :  I 
know  whom  I  have  chosen  ;  but  the  Scripture  may  be  fulfilled  : 
'  He  who  eats  bread  with  me  has  lifted  up  his  heel  against  me.'  * 
Now  I  tell  you,  before  it  come  to  pass,  that  when  it  is  come  to 
pass  you  may  know  that  I  am.  Most  assuredly  I  say  to  you,  lie 
who  receives  whomsoever  I  send  receives  me;  and  he  who  re- 
ceives me  receives  Ilim  who  sent  me." 

It  seems  impcjssible  to  read  this  whole  history  without  feeling 

that  Jesus  knew  all  his  circumstances  and  read  the  spirits  of  all 

about  him.     lie  knew  that  Judas  would  secretly 

.^.  betray  him,  so  that  the  church  party  mio-ht  quiet- 

position.  ,  .  1        ./         o        1 

ly  take  him  without  arousing  a  popular  demon- 
stration in  his  favor.  Whatever  might  be  his  knowledge  of  the 
case,  if  he  should  seem  to  have  as  implicitly  trusted  Judas  as  the 
others,  and  if  his  betrayal  should  afterwards  seem  to  his  disciples 
to  have  been  as  unexpected  to  him  as  it  certainly  was  to  them, 
their  faith  would  be  shaken.  But  to  indicate  the  betrayer  would 
be  to  exasperate  the  disciples  against  him,  to  precipitate  matters, 
and  to  surrender  his  own  dignity.  Not  a  moment  of  petty  pas- 
sion or  of  towering  wi'ath  broke  on  the  sky-like  loftiness  and 
purity  of  this  wonderful  soul.  He  went  just  far  enough  to  save 
tlieir  faith  from  a  prodigious  shock. 

As  they  sat  and  did  eat  he  was  sad  and  troubled  in  spirit.  He 
had  spoken  of  the  mission  of  his  disciples,  and  the  blessedness  of 
those  who  received  his  friends.  But  he  could  not  bear  that  the 
benediction  slioidd  go  to  Judas,  and  so  he  made  a  Scriptural  quo- 

*  Psalm  xli.  9. 


TIIS   SIXTH    DAY.  619 

tation  wliicli  sliould  show  that  he  discriminated.     lie  added,  "  I 
most  assuredly  say  to  you  that  oue  of  you,  now  eating  with  me, 
shall  betray  me."     This  fearful  S])eech  filled  them 
with  terrible  suspicions.     They  looked  at  one  an-     . 
other,  perhaps  running  over  in  memory  the  inci- 
dents of  their  companionship  to  ascertain  who  might  have  shown 
signs  of  a  baseness  capable  of  committing  so  hideous  an  act. 
There  was  nothing.     No  suspicion  pointed  to  Judas,     lie  was  as 
little  likely  as  any  to  perform  an  act  so  execrable. 

Then  they  began  self-inspection.  Each  man  searched  his  own 
heart  to  see  what  root  there  was  in  him  that  might  so  suddenly 
spring  up  and  bear  such  a  poisonous  fruit.     But 

no  one  would  allow  such  a  dire  possibility  to  him-     .      ^/^,  -mspec- 

111  *ion  of  the  Apos- 

self.     Ihen  one  after  another  they  began  to  mur-    y^g 

mur,  "  Lord,  is  it  I  ?     Lord,  is  it  I  ? "     lie  re- 
plied, "  lie  who  dips  the  hand  with  me  in  the  dish,  he  shall 
betray  me.     The  Son  of  Man  indeed  is  going,  as  it  is  written  of 
him,  but  Avoe  to  that  man  through  whom  the  Son  of  Man  is  be- 
trayed !     It  were  good  for  that  man  if  he  had  not  been  born  !  " 

Next  to  Jesus  sat  John,  who  is  fond  of  designating  himself  au 
"the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved,"  although  none  of  the  other  histo 
rians  show  au}^  partiality  on  the  part  of  Jesus. 
Peter  was  at  some  distance.  He  signed  to  John  to 
ask  Jesus  who  it  was  that  should  betray  him.  He  did  ask  liim,  and 
Jesus  answered,  but  pei'haps  in  a  tone  that  the  others  could  n(;t  hear, 
"  lie  it  is,  to  whom,  having  dipped  the  sop,  I  shall  give  it."  He 
dipped  the  "  sop"  and  gave  it  to  Judas,  who  seems  to  have  been  sitting 
on  his  other  side.    Then  he  faltered  out,  "  Rabbi,  what,  am  I  he  ?  " 

It  would  seem  that  Judas  did  not  intend  to  betray  him  that  night. 
Nor  is  it  probable  that  his  plan  was  to  do  this  until  after  tlie  close 
of  the  feast.     But  the  proceedings  at  this  supper  hastened  him. 

Jesus  replied,  "  You  have  said  it.  What  you  do,  do  quickly." 
No  man  at  the  table  knew  for  what  intent  this  had  been  spoken 
to  Judas.  Evidently  if  Peter  had  known  which  one  it  was  lie 
would  have  slain  him  on  the  spot,  for  he  was  a  choleric  man,  and 
had  a  sword  with  him  ;  and  although  he  himself  was  about  to  be 
most  base,  and  violate  all  the  sanctity  of  his  friendship  for  Jesus 
quite  as  much  as  Judas,  yet  lie  did  not  know  that,  and  he  was  a 
rash  man,  although  destitute  of  moral  courage.  So  none  of  the 
company  knew  the  intent  of  the   communication   which   Jesus 


620  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

made  to  Judas,  and  when  he  arose  and  left  them  may  thoy  not 
have  supposed  that  the  Master  had  sent  him  out  on  some  errand  ? 

"  It  was  night,"  says  John.  In  every  sense  it  was  night.  The 
daylight  had  gone  away  from  the  tops  of  "  the  mountains  round 
about  Jerusalem,"  and  darkness  was  settling 
deeply  on  the  ravines  and  gardens  around  the 
city.  The  little  band  of  followers  were  groping  in  a  perplexity 
like  midnight.  It  was  night  in  the  soul  of  Judas ;  such  dark 
night  as  utterly  bewildered  him.  lie  had  laid  his  plans  in  utter 
worldliness.  He  was  being  hurried  up  and  disconcerted.  The 
men  he  had  left  in  the  upper  chamber  were  simple,  unworldly 
souls,  and  he  was  sagacious.  He  had  at  least  a  plan ;  they  none. 
He  had  gone  thus  far  with  it.  Should  he  go  forward  ?  Should 
he  go  back  ?  Was  there  any  reason  to  recede  from  the  position  he 
had  taken  ?  "VYliy  should  he  go  back  ?  Did  Jesus  mean  to  nrge  him 
on  by  what  he  said  ?  It  may  have  flashed  upon  his  mind  that  perhaps 
Jesus  did.  When  men  have  set  themselves  to  a  theory  everything 
favors  it.  Judas  had  forgotten  the  fearful  "  woe  "  just  uttered.  He 
must  have  felt  himself  out  of  sympathy  with  the  other  disciples. 
The  very  looks  and  tones  of  Jesus  must  have  perturbed  him.  But 
going  forward  might  be  failure  and  ruin.  He  was  in  a  storm  of 
conflicting  emotions  and  motives.    Satan  had  him.    "  It  was  night." 

After  Judas  had  left,  Jesus  said,  "  Now  the  Son  of  Man  is  glo- 
rified, and  God  is  glorified  in  him.  And  God  shall  glorify  him  in 
Himself,  and  shall  immediately  glorify  him.  Little  children,  yet 
a  short  time  I  am  with  you.  You  shall  seek  me  ;  and,  as  I  said 
to  the  Jews,  where  I  go  you  cannot  come ;  and  now  I  say  to  you. 
A  new  commandment  I  give  to  you,  That  you  love  one  another ; 
as  I  have  loved  you,  you  also  shall  love  one  another.  By  this 
shall  all  men  know  that  you  are  my  disciples,  if  you  have  love  one 
for  another." 

Peter  said,  "  Lord,  where  are  you  going  ? "  He  could  not  even 
apprehend  the  idea  that  Jesus  would  die.  The  whole  discourse 
of  Jesus  about  his  departure  was  a  perplexing 
puzz  .  j.^^jjq  ^q  j-^jg  (disciples.  It  seemed  as  if  he  were 
going  off  somewhere  to  have  a  terrible  conflict.  This  was  con- 
firmed when  Jesus  answered,  "  Wliere  I  go  you  cannot  follow  me 
now,  but  you  shall  follow  me  afterwards."  Peter  persisted : 
"  Lord,  why  cannot  I  follow  you  now  ?  I  will  lay  down  my  life 
for  you ! "     Jesus  replied :  "  Will  you  lay  down  your  life  for  me? 


TIIE   SIXTH   DAT.  621 

I  most  assuredly  say  to  yon,  The  coek  shall  not  crow  till  you  have 
thrice  denied  that  you  know  me." 

Then  he  said  to  his  disciples:  "  You  shall  all  be  offended  in  me 
this  night ;  for  it  is  written,  '  I  will  smite  the  Shepherd,  and  the 
sheep  of  the  flock  shall  be  scattered.'*  But  after  I  am  risen 
again  I  will  go  before  you  into  Galilee."  Peter  again  responded 
still  more  vehemently  :  "  If  all  shall  be  offended  in  you,  yet  will 
not  I.  Even  if  I  must  die  with  you,  I  will  not  deny  you  ! "  And 
Jesus  said  to  him,  "  Simon,  Satan  has  acquired  you,t  to  sift  you 
as  wheat :  but  I  have  prayed  for  you  that  your  faith  fail  not. 
And  when  you  have  turned  strengthen  your  brethren."  Then  to 
all  the  disciples,  "^Vlien  I  sent  you  without  purse,  or  wallet,  or 
sandals,  did  you  want  an^hing  ? "  They  said,  "  Nothing."  "  But 
now,"  said  he,  "  he  that  has  a  purse,  let  him  take  it,  and  likewise 
his  wallet :  and  he  who  has  no  knife,  let  him  sell  his  garment  and 
buy  one.  For  I  say  to  you,  that  that  which  is  written  must  be  ac- 
complished in  me,  '  And  he  was  numbered  with  the  law-break- 
ers.' :{:     Also  that  concerning  me  has  an  end."  § 

His  disciples  informed  him  that  there  were  two  swords  in  the 
chamber.  Jesus  said,  "Enough  is,"  as  perhaps  we  should  say, 
«  Enough  of  this." 

He  was  simply  striving  to  impress  upon  their  minds  that  there 

was  to  be  a  change  ;  that  whereas  they  went  out  formerly  with 

perfect  safety,  and  the  assurance  that  his  name 

1  "  '  A  change    pre- 

would  be  a  passport  to  them  everywhere,  because    ^i^ted. 

it  was  in  the  palmy  days  of  his  great  popularity, 

a  change  was  to  come  because  he  was  going  away,  and  his  name 

was  to  be  coupled  with  ignominy.     The  stupidity  of  these  simple 

men  is  annoying  to  us ;  but  we  are  to  remember  that  we  carry 

back  to  the  inspection  of  their  words  and  acts  the  light  which 


*  Zechariah  xiii.  7. 

•f-  The  force  of  the  Greek  middle  in 
this  passage  is  noticed  by  Gresswell.  It 
signifies  not  merely  that  Satan  desired 
to  have,  but  had  actually  got  possession 
of  the  Apostles,  that  they  had  been 
given  up  to  him  to  sift.  He  had  got 
out  Judas,  and  was  like  to  get  out  Peter ; 
but  Jesus  was  praying  for  him.  In  the 
original  the  pronoun  is  in  the  plural  in 
the  first,  and  singular  in  the  second  sec- 
tion of  the  sentence.     "  Satan  has  re- 


quired you  Apostles  to  sift  you  ;  but  I 
have  prayed  for  thee,  Peter,  that  thy 
faith,"  etc.  It  was  too  Late  for  Judas, 
and  the  other  Apostles  were  not  in  so 
much  peril  as  Peter,  whose  tempera- 
ment particularly  exposed  him. 

X  Isaiah  liii.  12. 

§  Olshausen's  interpretation  of  thi? 
seems  good  :  "  "What  stands  written  ol 
me,  as  regards  this  earthly  life,  witt 
all  which  it  involves,  is  being  fulfilled.' 


622 


THE   LAST   WEEK. 


subsequent  events  have  afforded,  and  that  we  lack  the  deep  im- 
pression on  their  minds  made  by  personally  witnessing  repeated 
miracles  which  had  made  Jesus  seem  to  them  to  be  invuluerable 
to  human  attacks.  If  he  was  going  to  have  trouble,  they  were 
ready  to  fight ;  and  when  he  went  into  details  of  purse  and  wallet 
and  traveller's-knife,  the  last  seemed  to  them  to  indicate  a  con- 
flict. It  was  customary  for  the  Galilseans  to  travel  armed.  Peter 
wore  his  sword ;  and  it  seems  that  another  disciple  also  had  come 
in  with  his.  But  two  swords  against  the  combined  forces  of  the 
Jewish  hierarchy  and  the  Koman  power  seemed  so  preposterous 
to  Jesus  that  he  said,  "  Enough  of  this  ! " 

The  perturbation  of  the  disciples  must  have  been  very  great. 
To  soothe  them,  Jesus  in  most  artless,  charming,  and  affectionate 
words  said,  "Let  not  your  hearts  be  disturbed. 
Believe:  iu  God  and  in  me  believe.*  In  the 
house  of  my  Father  the  mansions  are  many.  But  if  not,  I  would 
have  t(.)ld  you  ;  because  f  I  go  that  I  may  prepare  a  place  for  you. 
And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will  come  again,  and 
will  receive  you  to  myself ;  that  where  I  am  there  you  may  be 
also ! "  Nothing  could  be  more  tender  between  men.  If  he 
paused  a  moment,  thinking  of  the  meeting  in  the  spiritual  world 
after  all  the  trials  and  contlicts  of  this,  he  added  very  soon,  "  And 
where  I  go  you  know  the  way."  Thomas,  the  honest  and  despon- 
dent skeptic,  said,  "  Lord,  we  do  not  know  where  you  are  going ; 
and  how  can  M^e  know  the  way  ? "  Jesus  answered  him,  "  I  am  the 
way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life.  No  one  comes  to  the  Father  except 
through  me.  If  you  had  known  me  you  should  have  known  my 
Father  also  ;  and  henceforth  you  know  Ilim  and  have  seen  Ilini." 


*  For  the  benefit  of  readers  who  know 
nothing  of  Greek,  it  is  proper  to  say, 
what  scholars  know,  that  this  verb  in 
the  original  fpisteuete)  is  the  same  in 
the  indicative  and  in  the  imperative, 
and  that  we  have  the  ancient  MSS.  with- 
out punctuation.  This  gives  us  choice 
of  many  readings.  1.  That  of  the  com- 
mon version,  "Ye  believe  in  God;  be- 
lieve also  in  me,"  where  it  is  rendered  as 
indicative  in  the  first  clause,  and  im- 
perative in  the  second.  2.  That  which 
I  have  chosen  above,  where  both  are 
imperative,  and  a  slight  difference  in 


punctuation  gives  a  great  difference  in 
sense.  3.  "  You  believe  in  God  and 
you  believe  in  me."  But  the  trouble 
was  that  their  faith  in  God  and  in  Jesus 
was  weakening.  4.  "Believe  in  God, 
then  you  will  believe  in  me."  In  the 
rendering  which  I  have  chosen  the  con- 
sistency of  tenses  is  maintained.  The 
first  TTdTTeueTf,  pisteuete,  is,  as  it  were 
the  text  of  this  consolatory  discourse. 

■f  This  passage  might  bear  the  follow- 
ing translation:  "But  if  not,  I  would 
not  have  told  you  that  I  go  to  prepare 
a  place  for  you." 


TIIE    SIXTH   DAT. 


623 


■     Philip,  leaning  towards  materialism  and  demanding  evidences 

of  which  his  senses  might  take  cognizance,  now  says,  "  Lord,  show 

us  the  Father  and  it  is  sufficient  for  us."     Jesus       ^^.,.  , 

,  Pniiip  3  mate- 

answered,  "  Am  I  so  long  tune  with  you,  and  yet    sialism. 

have  you  not  known  me,  Philip  ?  lie  who  has 
seen  me  has  seen  the  Father,  *  and  how  then  do  you  say,  '  Show 
us  the  Father  ? '  Do  you  not  believe  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and 
the  Father  is  in  me  ?  The  words  which  I  speak  to  you,  I  speak  not 
of  myself ;  but  the  Father  who  dwells  in  me  does  his  works.f 
Believe  me  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  me.  But  if 
not,  believe  the  works  themselves.  I  most  assuredly  say  to  you, 
He  who  believes  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do,  shall  he  do  also,  and 
greater  than  these  shall  he  do,  because  I  go  unto  the  Father.:}; 
And  whatsoever  you  shall  ask  in  my  name  that  will  I  do,  that  the 
Father  may  be  glorified  in  the  Son.  If  you  shall  ask  me  anything 
in  my  name,  I  will  do  it.  If  you  love  me,  keep  my  command- 
ments, and  I  will  ask  the  Father,  and  lie  will  give  you  another 
Advocate,§  that  he  may  abide  with  you  forever,  the  Spirit  of  Truth, 
which  the  world  is  not  able  to  receive,  because  it  does  not  see  it  nor 
know  it.     You  know  it,  for  it  dwells  with  you  and  shall  be  in  you." 

"  I  will  not  leave  you  orphans.  I  am  coming  to  you.  Yet  a 
little  while  and  the  world  sees  me  no  more ;  but  you  see  me. 
Because  I  live,  you  shall  live  also.  In  that  day  you  shall  know 
that  I  am  in  my  Father,  and  you  in  me,  and  I  in  you.  He  who 
has  my  commandments  and  keeps  them,  he  it  is  who  loves  me ; 
and  he  who  loves  me  shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  I  will  love 
him  and  will  manifest  myself  to  him." 

Here  occurred  another  interruption,  showing  how  deeply  planted 


*  If  this  reply  does  not  make  a  dis- 
tinct and  explicit  claim  to  divinity  on 
the  part  of  Jesus,  it  would  seem  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  to  frame  a  proposi- 
tion in  Greek  or  English,  which  could 
^Miether  the  claim  be  well  founded  is 
a  question  for  another  department ;  but 
the  historian  is  obliged  to  record  that 
Jesus  claimed  to  be  The  Fathek  of 
the  Universe,  the  unoriginated  God. 

f  Not  as  a  human  being,  but  as  a 
God,  he  claims  to  speak  his  marvellous 
words  and  do  his  miraculous  acts. 

X  Which   simply  means   that   moral 


works  are  greater  than  miracles,  being 
an  imperishable  plane  concerned  with 
spirit  and  not  with  matter,  always  bene- 
ficent, and  involving  not  simply  divine 
autocratic  volition,  but  such  divine 
power  of  truth  as  moves  the  free-will 
of  men. 

§  A  legal  term.  Jesus  had  been  the 
assistant  of  his  disciples,  standing  up 
for  them  and  defending  him  ;  after  his 
departure,  the  Spirit  of  Truth  which 
should  dwell  in  them,  and  in  every 
emergency  assist  them,  should  be  theil 
Advocate. 


624 


THE   LAST   AVEEK. 


in  the  minds  of  the  Apostles  was  the  idea  of  a  splendid  temporal 

reign  of  the  Messiah.     Judas  Thaddens  (IVIatt.  x.  3),  "  not  Iscariot," 

^,    , ,  was  puzzled  at  the  thouo-ht  of  a  Messiah  who  should 

Thaddeus  puz-    ,.     ,,       t,  c   •,         ■, 

zled.  l"^it  the  display  ot  his  glory  to  the  small  circle 

of  his  immediate  followers.    He  asked,  "  Lord,  and 

how  is  it  that  yon  are  about  to  manifest  yourself  to  us  and  not  to  the 

world  ? " — meaning  the  whole  world.    To  make  him  comprehend 

in  some  measure  the  spirituality  of  his  teachings,  Jesus  replied, — • 

"If  any  one  love  me,  lie  will  keep  my  -word,  and  my  Father  wall  love  him, 
and  we  will  come  to  him  and  make  our  aljodc  with  him.  He  who  does  not 
love  me,  does  not  keep  my  commandments.  And  the  word  Avhich  you  hear 
is  not  mine,  but  tlie  Father's,  who  sent  me.  But  the  Advocate,  the  Holy 
Spirit,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  lie  shall  teach  you  all  things, 
and  remind  you  of  all  things  tliat  I  have  said  to  you. 

"  Peace  I  leave  with  you.  My  peace  I  give  to  you ;  not  as  the  world  gives, 
do  I  give  to  you.  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid. 
You  have  heard  that  I  said  to  you,  tliat  I  am  going  away  and  am  coming  to 
you.  If  you  loved  me,  you  would  rejoice  because  I  go  to  the  Father ;  for  my 
Father  is  greater  than  I.*  And  now  I  have  told  you  before  it  come  to  pass, 
that,  when  it  has  come  to  pass,  you  might  believe.  No  longer  will  I  talk 
much  with  you,  for  the  ruler  of  the  world  is  coming,  and  in  me  he  has 
nothing. t  But  that  the  world  may  know  tliut  I  love  tlie  Fatlier,  and  as  the 
Father  has  commanded  me  so  I  do,  arise,  let  us  go  hence." 

Section  2. —  Valediciori/  and  Last  Prayer. 

It  was  probably  at  this  point  that  they  saug  some  portion  or 
the  whole  of  the  Great  Ilallel,  Avhicli  comprised  the  cxv.,  cxvi., 
cxvii.,  and  cxviii.  Psalms.  Maimonidos  {De  Sor 
crif.  Pasch.,  viii.  14)  says  that  it  was  sung  while 
the  Paschal  lamb  was  being  eaten.  But  it  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  confined  so  strictly  to  any  particular  portion  of  the 
feast.  A  part  may  have  been  sung  now  and  a  part  then.  Jesus 
resumed  his  discourse  in  the  chamber,  after  the  Ilallel,  or  else 
when  they  had  passed  the  city  walls,  and  before  they  had  crossed 


The  Hallel. 


*  In  this  he  seems  to  draw  a  distinc- 
tion between  the  merely  human  soul 
which  made  bim  a  man  and  the  eternal 
Godhead  which  he  believed  to  exist  in 
his  nature,  which  was  the  greater  part  of 
him,  and  which  was  that  that  spoke  the 
words  and  wrought  the  miracles  which 
he  represented  as  done  by  the  Father. 

f  Simply  meaning  that  all  the  power 


in  the  world  could  avail  nothing-  against 
him,  if  he  did  not  freely  and  voluntari- 
ly surrender  himself.  The  God  that 
was  in  him  marked  out  a  course  for  the, 
Man  that  was  in  him,  and  he  intended 
to  follow  it.  But  the  world,  and  the 
prince  or  ruler  of  the  world,  must  never 
for  a  moment  fancy  that  it  or  he  had 
conquered  Jesus. 


TITE    SIXTH    DAT.  625 

the  Kedi'on.  lie  did  not  liurrj.  lie  had  lingered  in  the  cham- 
ber delivering  a  consolatory  disconrse  to  his  disciples,  and  now  he 
walked  slowly,  or  paused  and  stood,  and  talked  with  them,  lie  knew 
what  Judas  was  doing,  and  he  neither  hastened  nor  retaixled  events. 
It  is  not  known  what  suggested  the  opening  of  the  out-door  dis- 
courses, if  the  remainder  of  this  discourse  was  delivered  in  the 
open  air.  They  may  have  been  passing  vineyards  ;  Kature  was 
perpetually  inspiring  the  speeches  of  Jesus.     lie  resumed  : — 

"  I  am  the  vine,  the  true  one,  and  my  Father  is  the  husljanclman.  Every 
branch  in  me  not  bearing  fruit,  He  removes  it,  and  every  branch  bearing  fruit 
He  prunes  it  that  it  may  bear  more  fruit.  Already  ye  are 
clean  through  the  word  which  I  have  sjDoken  to  you. 
Abide  in  me  and  I  in  you.  As  the  branch  is  not  able  to  bear  fruit  of  itself, 
except  it  abide  in  the  vine,  so  cannot  you,  exce^jt  you  al.)ide  in  me.  I  am  the 
vine,  you  the  branches.  He  who  abides  in  me  and  I  in  him,  tlie  same  bears 
much  fruit ;  for  without  me  you  can  do  nothing.  If  any  one  do  not  abide  in 
me,  he  is  cast  forth  as  a  branch,  and  is  withered  ;  and  tliey  gather  it  and  cast 
it  into  the  fire,  and  it  is  burned.  If  you  abide  in  me,  and  my  words  abide  in 
you,  whatsoever  things  you  wish,  seek,  and  it  shall  ])c  done  to  you.  In  this  is 
my  Father  glorified  tliat  you  bear  much  fruit,  and  Ijocome  my  disciples.  As 
the  Father  has  loved  me,  I  also  have  loved  you.  Al^ide  in  my  love.  If  yru 
keep  my  commandments  you  shall  abide  in  my  love  ;  even  as  I  also  have  kept 
my  Father's  commandments  and  abide  in  His  love. 

"  These  things  have  I  spoken  to  you  that  my  joy  might  abide  in  you,  and 
your  joy  might  be  made  full.  This  is  my  connnandment,  Tliut  you  love  one 
another  as  I  have  loved  you.  Greater  love  than  tliis  has  no  man.  that  he  lay 
down  his  life  for  his  friend.  You  are  my  fi-iends,  if  you  do  whatever  I  com- 
mand you. 

"  No  longer  do  I  call  you  slaves,  for  the  slave  does  not  know  what  his  lord 
is  doing.  But  I  have  called  you  friends,  for  all  things  tliat  I  have  heard 
from  my  Father  I  have  made  known  to  you.  You  have  not  chosen  me,  l>ut  I 
have  chosen  you,  and  appointed  you,  that  you  shall  go  and  bear  fruit,  and  that 
your  fruit  shall  remain  ;  that  whatever  you  shall  ask  of  the  Father  in  my  name 
He  may  give  it  to  you. 

"  These  things  I  command  you,  that  you  love  one  another.  If*  the  world 
hate  you,  you  know  that  it  hated  me  fii-st.  If  you  were  of  the  world,  the 
world  would  love  its  own ;  but  because  you  are  not  of  the  world,  but  I  have 
cliosen  you  out  of  the  world,  on  tliis  account  the  world  hates  you.  Remc'iii- 
ber  the  word  which  I  have  spoken  to  you,  Tlie  slave  is  not  greater  than  liis 
lord.  If  they  persecuted  me  tliey  mil  also  persecute  you.  If  they  liave  kejjt 
my  word  they  will  keep  yours  also.  But  all  these  things  they  will  do  to  you, 
on  account  of  my  name,  because  they  do  not  know  Him  who  sent  me. 

"If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  to  them  they  would  not  liave  sin  ;  but  now 
they  have  no  excuse  for  their  sin.     He  who  hates  me  hates  my  Father  also.    If 
I  had  not  done  among  them  works  which  no  other  man  has  done,  they  would 
40 


626  THE   LAST   W^EEK. 

not  have  sin.  But  now  have  they  both  seen  and  hated  both  me  and  my 
Father.  But  tliat  it  might  be  fulfilled,  tlio  word  which  in  their  law  is  written 
of  them,  'They  hated  me  causelessly.'*  But  when  the  Advocate  is  come, 
whom  I  will  send  to  you  from  the  Father,  the  Spirit  of  Truth  which  proceeds 
from  the  Father,  he  shall  testify  concerning  me.  And  you  also  shall  bear  wit- 
ness, because  you  have  been  with  me  fi-om  tlie  beginning. 

"  These  things  have  I  spoken  to  you  that  you  sliould  not  lie  offended.  For 
they  shall  make  you  excommunicated ;  more,  the  hour  is  coming  that  who- 
ever kills  you  will  think  that  he  offers  a  service  to  God,  And  these  things 
will  they  do  to  you,  because  they  have  not  kno^\^l  the  Father  nor  me.  But 
these  things  have  I  told  you  that  when  the  hour  shall  come  you  may  remem- 
ber that  I  spoke  of  them;  and  these  things  I  did  not  say  to  you  at  the  begin- 
ning, because  I  was  with  you. 

"  But  now  I  am  going  away  to  Ilim  who  sent  me,  and  none  of  you  asks  me 
'  Whither  are  you  going? '  But  because  I  have  said  those  things  to  you,  sor- 
row has  filled  your  heart.  Nevertheless,  I  tell  you  the  truth.  It  is  protitable 
to  you  that  I  go  away.  For  if  I  go  not  away  the  Advocate  will  not  come. 
But  if  I  depart  I  will  send  him  to  you.  And  when  he  is  come  he  will  convict 
the  world  of  sin,  and  of  rigliteousness,  and  of  judgment:  of  sin,  because 
they  do  not  believe  in  me ;  of  righteousness,  because  1  go  to  my  Father,  and 
you  see  me  no  more ;  and  of  judgment,  because  the  ruler  of  this  world  is 
judged. 

"  Many  things  yet  have  I  to  say  to  you,  but  you  cannot  l)car  them ;  but  wlien 
he  the  Spirit  of  Ti'utii  is  come  lie  will  guide  you  in  the  crutli,  for  lie  shall  not 
speak  from  out  of  liimself ,  but  whatever  he  "hears  he  shall  speak ;  and  he 
will  tell  you  things  to  come.  He  shall  glorify  me,  for  he  shall  receive  of 
mine  and  announce  to  you.  All  things  that  the  Father  has  are  mine.  There- 
fore I  said  that  he  takes  of  mine  and  shall  announce  to  you. 

"  A  little  while  and  you  shall  not  see  me ;  and  again  a  little  while  and  you 
shall  sec  me." 

Then  said  some  of  his  disciples  among  themselves  :  "  What  is 
this  that  he  is  saying  to  us,  ^A  little  while  and  ye  shall  see  me  no 
more,  and  again  a  little  while  and  ye  shall  see 
ine  :  and,  Because  I  go  to  the  Father?  '  what  is 
this  '  little  while  ? '  AVe  do  not  understand  what  he  is  saying." 
Jesus  knew  that  they  were  about  to  ask  him,  and  anticipated  them 
by  resuming : — 

"Do  you  inquire  among  yourselves  because  I  said,  A  little  while  and  you 

shall  not  see  me,  and  again  a  little  while  and  you  shall  see  me  ?     I  most 

assuredly  say  to  you.  That  you  shall  weep  and  lament,  but 

The  discourse  resumed.  i  i     ,     11       •    •  ir  1     n  1  j>   1    1     * 

the  world  shall  rejoice.  You  shall  be  sorrowful,  but  your 
Borrow  shall  De  turned  into  joy.  A  woman  when  she  is  about  to  bring  forth 
hath  sorrow,  because  her  hour  is  come  ;  but  when  she  has  given  birth  to  the 

*  See  Psalm  xxxv.  19,  and  Ixix.  4. 


THE    SIXTH    DAT.  027 

cliUJ  she  remembers  the  anguish  no  more,  for  joy  that  a  man  is  bom  into  the 
world.  And  ye,  tliercfore,  now  indeed  }iave  sorrow,  but  I  will  see  you  again, 
and  your  heart  shall  rejoice,  and  your  joy  no  one  takes  fiom  you. 

"And  in  tliat  day  you  shall  ask  me  nothing.  I  most  assuredly  say  to  you, 
Whatever  you  shall  ask  the  Father  in  my  name,  lie  sliall  give  it  to  you. 
Hithei'to  you  have  asked  nothing  in  my  name.  Ask  and  you  shall  receive, 
that  your  joy  may  be  made  full.  These  things  have  I  spoken  to  you  in  pro- 
verbs :  the  hour  is  coming  when  I  shall  no  longer  speak  to  you  in  j)roverbs, 
but  I  shall  tell  you  plainly  concerning  the  Father.  In  that  day  you  shall  ask 
in  my  name ;  and  I  do  not  say  to  you  that  I  will  pray  tlie  Father  for  you,  for 
the  Father  liimself  loves  you,  because  you  have  loved  me,  and  have  believed 
that  I  came  from  God.  I  came  forth  from  the  Fatlier,  and  have  come  into 
the  world:  again  I  leave  the  world  and  go  to  the  Father." 

Some  one  of  his  disciples  said  to  him :  "  Now  you  arc  speaking 
in  frankness,  and  not  speaking  a  proverb.     Now  wc  know  that 
you  know  all  things,  and  have  no  need  that  any 
one  sliould  ask  y(jn.     By  this  we  believe  that  you    u  k  * 
came  fortli  from  God."     Jesus   answered  :  "  Do 
you  now  believe  ?     IJehold,  the  hour  is  coming,  and  tlie  hour  has 
cotne,  that  you  shall  be  scattered,  every  one  to  his  own,  and  shall 
leave  me  alone.     And  I  am  not  alone,  because  the  Father  is  with 
me.     These  tilings  ha\e  I  spoken   co  you,  that  in  me  you  might 
have  peace.     In  the  world  you  have  anguish  ;  but  be  courageous, 
I  have  contjuered  tlie  world  ! " 

Then  Jesus  lifted  up  his  eyes  and  prayed  audibly,  while  the  dis- 
ciples must  have  listened  in  perplexity  and  awe.  And  this  is  the 
prayer  as  John  records  it : — 

"  O  Fatlier,  the  hour  has  come.     Glorify  Thy  Son  that  Tliy  Son  may  glorify 
Tliee.     As  Thou  hast  given  him  power  over  all  tlush,  that  lie  should  give  per- 
petual life  to  every  one  whom  Tliou  hast  given  him.     And 
tliis  is  the  iierpetual  life,  that  they  might  know  Tliee  tlie   The  Prayer  of  Jesus. 
only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  Thou  hast  sent.     I  have  glorified  Thee 
on  the  earth.     I  have  finished  the  work  which  Thou  gavest  me  to  do. 

"  And  mnv  glorify  Thou  me,  O  Father,  -with  Thyself  by  the  glory  which  I  had 
with  TliL'e  before  the  world  was.  I  have  shown  Thy  name  to  the  men  whom 
Thou  gavest  me  out  of  the  world.  They  were  Thine,  and  Thou  gavest  them 
to  me.  And  they  have  kept  Thy  word.  Now  they  know  that  all  things,  what- 
ever Thou  hast  given  me,  are  from  Thee,  for  I  have  given  them  the  words  Thou 
gavest  me,  and  they  have  received  them,  and  have  kno^vii  surely  that  I  came 
out  from  Thee ;  and  they  have  believed  that  Thou  didst  send  me.  I  pray  for 
them.  For  the  world  I  pray  not,  but  for  those  whom  Thou  hast  given  me  ; 
for  they  are  thine.     And  Thou  hast  given  them  to  me,  and  I  am  glorified  in 


628  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

tliem.  And  I  am  no  longer  in  the  world,  and  these  are  in  the  world,  and  I  am 
coming  to  Thee. 

"  O  Holy  Fatlier,  keep  them  in  Thy  name,  whom  Thou  liast  given  me,  that 
they  may  be  one  as  we.  When  I  was  with  them  I  kept  tliem  in  Thy  name 
and  guarded  them,  and  not  one  of  them  is  lost,  except  the  son  of  ])erditi()n, 
that  the  Scripture  miglit  l^e  fulfilled.  And  iiow  I  am  coming  to  Thee,  and 
these  things  I  am  speaking  in  the  world,  that  they  may  have  my  joy  fulfilled 
in  themselves.  I  have  given  them  Thy  word,  and  the  world  has  hated  tliem 
because  they  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  I  am  not  of  the  world.  I  do  not 
pray  that  Thou  wouldst  take  them  out  of  the  world,  but  that  Thou  wouldst 
keep  them  from  evil.  They  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  I  am  not  of  the 
world.  Make  them  holy  in  the  truth:  Thy  word  is  truth.  As  Tliou  hast 
sent  me  into  tlie  world,  I  also  have  sent  tliem  into  tlie  world,  and  for  their 
sakes  I  make  myself  holy  that  they  also  may  be  made  holy  in  the  truth. 

"  But  not  for  these  alone  do  I  pray,  but  for  those  also  who  believe  on  me 
through  their  word,  that  they  all  may  be  one,  even  as  Thou  art  in  me  and 
I  in  Thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us,  that  the  world  may  believe  that 
Thou  has  sent  me.  And  the  glory  wlii.cli  Thou  hast  given  me  I  have  given 
them,  that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we :  I  in  them,  and  Thou  in  me,  that 
they  may  be  made  perfect  in  one  ;  and  that  the  world  may  know  that  Thou 
didst  send  me,  and  hast  loved  them,  as  Thou  hast  loved  me. 

"  O  Father,  that  which  Thou  hast  given  me  I  will  that  where  I  am  they 
also  may  be  -with  me,  that  they  may  behold  my  glory,  which  Thou  hast  given 
me;  for  Thou  lovcdst  me  before  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

"  O  righteous  Father,  the  world  also  has  not  knoAAm  Thee,  but  I  have 
known  Thee,  and  these  lifive  known  tliat  Thou  didst  send  me.  Thy  name 
I  both  have  made  known  to  them,  and  will  make  it  known,  that  the  love 
wherewith  Thou  hast  loved  them  may  be  in  them,  and  I  in  them ! " 


Section  3. — Gethsemane. 

Perhaps  at  the  close  of  this  prayer  they  sang  another  portion  of 
the  Great  IlalleL     Then  they  went  to  the  Mount  of  Olives,  cross- 
ing the  brook  Kedron,  the  name  signifying  "  Mud- 
.  dy   Brook."     It  was  probably  through  what   is 

called  St.  Stephen's  Gate  that  Jesus  and  his 
band  passed  down  and  crossed  the  Kedron,  which  runs  about  200 
feet  from  the  city  walls.  On  the  slope  of  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
which  rises  hei'efrom,  and  near  the  road  leading  on  to  Bethany, 
was  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  meaning  an  "  oil-press," — tlie 
garden  having  derived  its  name  most  probably  from  an  oil-press 
which  belonged  to  the  estate.  Whether  we  now  know  the  precise 
spot  where  Jesus  was  in  agony,  and  where  he  was  betrayed,  is 


THE   SIXTH    DAY. 


629 


somewhat  uncertain ;  but  it  is  quite  certain  that  it  could  not  have 
been  far  from  the  plot  which  tlie  Latin  Cliurch  has  recently 
l>()U£>;ht  and  enclosed.  We  cannot  say  that  the  eig-ht  venerable 
trees,  which  are  so  impressive  to  all  travellers,  were  standing  in 
the  days  of  Jesus.  It  is  probable  tliat  they  were  not,  as  Josephus 
informs  us  that  Titus  cut  down  all  the  trees  round  about  Jerusa- 
lem {B.  J.,  vi.  1, 1),  and  that  the  Tenth  Legion  Avere  posted  about 


KIDRON  VALLEY.  FROM  AKELDAMA. 


the  Mount  of  Olives  (v.  2,  3,  and  vi.  2,  8).  But  these  trees  must 
have  been  planted  very  early  by  the  hands  of  those  who,  cherish- 
ing the  memory  of  Jesus,  desired  to  mark  the  traditionary  spot. 
Dr.  Thomson  is  inclined  to  place  the  garden  in  the  secluded  vahj 
several  hundred  yards  to  the  north-east  of  the  present  Gethsemane. 
In  any  case  it  was  near  the  city,  and  Judas  and  the  other  disci- 
ples knew  that  Jesus  was  accustomed  to  frequent  it  for  private  de- 
votion. 


630  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

Ilavino"  entered  Getlisemane  a  c;reat  heaviness  fell  on  him,  and 
he  said  to  his  disciples :  "  Sit  down  and  pray  that  you  do  not  en- 
ter into  temptation,  wliile  I  go  and  pray  yonder." 
e  gar  en.     j^^  ^^^^^^  ^vitli  him  Peter  and  the  two  sons  of 

Zebedee,  James  and  John.  They  walked  farther  into  the  garden. 
lie  began  to  be  sorrowful,  and  terrified,  and  depressed.  They 
must  have  perceived  it,  l)iit  lie  opened  his  heart  to  these  friends 
and  said :  "  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful,  even  nnto  death ; 
remain  here  and  watch  with  me."  It  seemed  to  be  a  sense  of 
abandonment  coming  upon  him.  "Nameless  conti-arieties  of 
sensation  overwhelmed  him,  and  choked  and  straitened  his  heart, 
as  if  they  would  have  stifled  and  killed  him."  Ilis  appeal  to  his 
tjiree  friends  is  very  pathetic. 

He  went  a  little  faither  from  the  three  disciples,  about  a  stone's 
throw.  He  had  prt>bal)ly,  as  Dean  Alford  conjectnres,  gone  with 
his  three  friends  into  a  portion  of  the  garden  from  Avhich  the 
moonlight  would  be  excluded  by  the  rocks  and  l)uildings  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  gorge.  It  was  the  vernal  eqninox,  and  this 
must  have  l)een  7icar  midnight,  so  the  moon,  being  two  days  from 
its  full,  would  be  able  to  cast  shadows  thns.  As  his  anguish 
deepened  he  went  into  the  deepest  gloom  of  the  garden. 

He  kneeled  down,  he  fell  upon  his  face,  he  prayed.     His  prayer 

was :  "  O  my  Father,  if  it  ho  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me  ; 

yet,  not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt."     How  long 
Solitarj'  prayer.     '  .  -r>       i 

he  thus  agonized  we  cannot  know.     Jiut  he  must 

have  had  some  comfort  from  his  prayer,  for  after  some  time  he 
returned  to  the  three  disciples  and  found  them  all  asleep.  The 
travel  and  excitement  of  the  day  had  proved  too  much  for  them. 
They  certainly  did  not  comprehend  the  crisis  which  had  come  in  the 
afPairs  of  Jesus.  He  addressed  Peter  with  the  intensely  pathetic 
appeal,  "AVhat,  could  you  not  watch  with  mo  one  hour?  Pise, 
watch  and  pray,  that  you  do  not  enter  into  temptation.  The  spirit 
indeed  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak."  He  left  his  poor,  heavy- 
eyed,  and  exhausted  friends,  and  went  back  and  ])rayed,  saying: 
"  O  my  Father,  if  this  may  not  pass  away  except  I  drink  it.  Thy 
will  be  done." 

He  came  the  second  time  to  his  disciples  and  found  them  all 
.  ,  asleei).     Down  on  his  soul  fell  a  great  horror  of 

A.  jiorTor 

desertion.     It  was  past  the  midnight.     Over  the 
hill  in  Bethany,  Lazarus  and  Martha  and  Mary,  and  perhaps  his 


THE   SIXTH   DAT.  631 

own  mother,  for  slie  was  at  the  feast,  were  sleeping.  In  fi'ont 
lay  Jerusalem,  the  moon  sailing  on  above  and  beyond  the  city, 
whose  walls  on  this  side  grew  darker  from  top  to  bottom ;  and 
within  those  walls  they  were  plotting  to  destroy  him  withont  fair 
trial.  Judas  had  left  him  on  an  errand  that  was  to  be  disastrous. 
Here  lay  Peter,  James,  and  John,  asleep,  near  his  scene  of  un- 
speakable anguish.  There  lay  the  other  eight,  asleep  also.  His 
country  was  under  the  Roman,  whose  garrison  filled  yonder 
tower  of  Antonia.  The  church  was  arrayed  against  him.  His 
mother  was  awaj-,  and  Mary  Magdalen,  his  true  friend.  He 
was  alone. 

He  staggered  back  and  fell  upon  the  ground,  and  the  third 
time  he  ])rayed  this  prayer  of  exquisite  pain  and  perfect  submis- 
sion.    The  horror  of  his  position  lay  heavy  on 

-r      1  .  1  1  1  The    sweat    of 

hnn.     in  his  agony  he  prayed  more  earnestly ;    ^^i^^^ 

and  his  sweat  was  as  it  were  clots  of  blood  falling 
dovra  to  the  ground.  His  friends  afterward  believed  that  an 
angel  appeared  to  him  and  gave  him  succoi'.  That  he  was 
strengthened,  and  his  serenity  in  some  measure  restored,  appears 
from  the  tone  of  his  address  to  his  disciples,  and  by  his  whole 
bearing  in  what  immediately  followed.  He  said  :  "  Do  you  sleep 
on  now  and  rest."  Then  he  suddenly  said:  "It  is  enough.  Be- 
hold, the  hour  is  here,  and  the  Son  of  Man  is  betrayed  into  the 
hands  of  sinners.  Rise ;  let  us  go.  See,  he  that  betrays  me  is 
here ! " 

And  while  he  was  speaking  these  words,  Judas,  who  knew  the 
place,  and  knew  that  it  was  a  resort  of  Jesus  and  his  disciples, 

probably  havinsj  souo-ht  him  in  vain  in  the  cham- 

r  ii-iii?i.  1  The  Betrayal. 

ber  where  he  had  left  hnn,  came  upon  the  party. 

He  was  accompanied  by  a  band  of  men  whom  he  had  received 
from  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees.  They  were  not  all  Roman 
soldiers,  but  some  Avere  servants  of  the  priests  and  some  were 
members  of  the  Sanhedrim.  They  had  no  official  authority  to  do 
as  they  did.     They  were  the  minions  of  the  church  party. 

This  brings  us  to  an  examination  of  what  a  learned  Jewish 
physician,  M.  Salvador,  of  Paris,  pronounces  "  the  most  memo- 
rable trial  in  all  history."  This  writer  produced  a  work,  entitled 
The  Institutio7is  of  Moses  and  the  Hebrew  People.  At  his  OAvn 
request,  M.  Dupin  the  elder,  a  French  lawyer  of  distinction, 
reviewed  the  chapter  on  the  "  Trial  and  Condemnation  of  Jesus." 


632  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

We  shall  be  indebted  to  both  works,  and  we  make  this  general  ac 
knowledgment  to  save  specific  references.  Candor  ought  to  com- 
[)el  any  Christian  writer  to  admit  that  it  was  not  a  question  of 
"  deicide,"  a  name  invented  to  represent  an  imj^ossible  sin,  as  the 
church  party  did  not  believe  that  Jesus  was  a  God  in  any  sense. 
The  simple  question  is.  Did  he  receive  justice  as  a  Hebrew  citizen 
uiRlcr  Hebrew  law  ? 

The  Mosaic  law  provided  three  securities  for  justice  in  a  crim- 
inal proceeding,  namely,  publicity  of  the  trial,  entire  liberty  of 

^     .  ,  defence  for  the  accused,  and  safeojuards  ai>;ainst 

Jewish  crmiiiial     ..  ,       ,       .  -n        i      i  i  , 

l^^  false  testnnony.     i!  or  the  latter  there  must  be  at 

least  two  witnesses.  According  to  the  Hebrew 
text,  "  One  witness  is  no  witness."  Testimony  was  rendered  un- 
der oath.  If  a  witness  against  the  accused  perjured  himself,  he 
was  compelled  to  undergo  the  punishment  which  would  have  be- 
fallen the  accused  if  he  had  been  convicted.  If  the  accused  were 
convicted,  the  witnesses  by  whose  evidence  he  perished  dealt  the 
first  blow,  in  proof  of  the  truth  of  their  testimony.  A  woman 
could  not  be  a  witness,  because  she  might  not  have  the  courage 
to  deal  such  a  blow,  Xo  man  could  testify  against  himself.  The 
testimony  was  required  to  be  exceedingly  specific.  The  very 
hour,  as  well  as  day,  place,  and  circumstances  nnist  be  mentioned. 
There  were  twenty-three  judges.  Those  who  believed  the  accused 
to  be  innocent  s]^oke  first,  those  who  believed  him  guilty  spoke 
afterwards,  '■'  and  -with  the  greatest  moderation."  Th'e  most  pro- 
found attention  was  given  to  the  accused  when  he  wished  to 
speak.  Of  the  twcnty-thi-ce  votes  eleven  M'ould  acquit,  while  it 
I'oquired  thirteen  to  condenm.  If  acquitted,  the  accused  M'as  dis- 
chai'gcd  instantly ;  if  condemned,  the  sentence  was  not  pro- 
uoiniced  until  the  third  day.  On  the  third  day  any  judge  who 
had  been  in  favor  of  condemning  might  change  his  vote,  so  as  to 
acquit,  but  one  who  had  once  voted  for  acquittal  could  not  change 
his  vote  so  as  to  condeimi.  If,  then,  at  least  thirteen  judiz'es 
voted  for  condeuniation,  the  prisoner  was  led  forth  slowly.  The 
judges  remained  on  the  bench.  An  ofticer  was  stationed  at  the 
door  with  a  flag,  while  another,  on  horseback,  accompanied  the 
prisoner,  looking  back  constantly,  as  he  would  be  recalled  by  the 
waving  of  the  flag  if  any  testimony  in  favor  had  been  brought 
before  the  judges.  On  his  own  declaration  that  he  recalled  some 
reasons  which  had  escaped  him,  the  prisoner  could  be  brought 


THE    SIXTH    DAY,  633 

back  to  the  judges  as  often  as  five  times.  As  the  procession  ad- 
vanced slowly,  a  herald  with  a  loud  voice  proclaimed,  "  This  man 
[stating  his  name  and  surname]  is  led  to  punishment  for  [here 
the  crime  was  named].  The  witnesses  who  have  sworn  against 
him  are  [here  their  names  were  recited].  If  any  one  has  evi- 
denc^e  in  his  favor  let  him  come  forth  and  give  it  quickly." 

This  is  an  epitome  of  M.  Salvador's  representation  of  the  ad- 
ministration of  criminal  law  among  the  Hebrews.  "We  shall  now 
see  whether  Jesus  had  a  fair  trial. 

We  may  recall  that,  before  tampering  with  Judas,  the  church 
party  had  determined  that  Jesus  should  die,  thus  pronoimcing 
sentence  upon  him  before  any  beginning  of  even 
a  show  of  trial.  Then  they  had  appointed  emis- 
saries,  employing  evil  men,  for  none  but  wicked  men,  feigning 
themselves  to  be  good,  could  be  engaged  in  such  work,  to  dog  the 
Bteps  of  Jesus  and  entangle  liim  in  his  talk.  There  was  nothing 
done  by  Jesus  which  any  one  was  willing  to  lay  voluntarily  be- 
fore the  authorities  and  denounce  as  a  crime  against  God  or  social 
order.  So  far  from  this,  they  arrested  him  before  any  allegation 
was  made,  and  they  did  this  ci-aftily  and  stealthily,  so  that  "  the 
people"  might  not  know.  They  desired  to  postpone  the  arrest 
until  the  termination  of  the  Passover  should  ha\c  emptied  the 
city  of  the  multitudes  from  all  parts  of  the  conntiy.who  had 
heard  and  seen  Jesus,  not  one  of  whom  had  accused  him  of  any 
crime,  and  many  of  whom  might  have  given  testimony  in  his  favor. 
When  circumstances  hurried  up  the  operations  of  Judas  they 
seized  Jesus,  rushed  him  through  a  mock  trial,  and  crucified  him 
in  the  space  of  less  than  ten  hours.  We  shall  examine  each  point 
in  the  progress  of  this  affair  in  the  light  of  the  Hebrew  law  as 
stated  by  M.  Salvador,  a  learned  defender  of  his  ancestors  and 
their  action  in  the  case  of  Jesus. 

In  the  first  place  it  was  unjust  to  begin  to  prosecute,  not  to  say 
persecute,  him  before  any  charges  had  been  laid  before  the  Grand 
Council.  In  the  next  place  it  was  a  gross  irregu- 
larity to  attempt  to  take  him  privately,  and  not  " 
give  him  the  benefit  of  all  the  publicity  of  a  most  open  trial 
in  clear  daylight,  and  not  in  tlie  night.  This  was  enhanced  by 
employing  a  spy,  and  bribing  him  to  assist  in  their  unlawful  proce- 
dure. They  go  about  to  take  him  without  any  regular  and  legal 
Roman  or  Jewish  order  for  his  arrest.     The  Sauhedi'im  had  had 


634  THE  LAST   WEEK. 

a  conclave,  but  not  a  regular  sitting,  and  did  not  proceed  as  a 
court  of  law,  but  rather  as  a  band  of  conspirators.  They  took 
counsel  how  they  might  slay  him,  as  John  says  (xi.  53),  not  how 
they  might  administer  justice  in  his  case.  And  I  think  we  lOiall 
see  how  the  whole  procedure  was  the  execution  of  a  foregone 
conclusion,  and  was  the  condemnation  of  a  man  before  trial. 

The  signal  of  Judas  was  a  kiss.  He  was  not  to  lay  liands 
on  his  Master,  nor  join  this  mob  in  their  attack.  lie  was  simply 
to  designate  Jesus,  and  this  was  the  preconcerted 
sign,  the  selection  of  which  perlia])s  intimates 
that  Jesus  was  accustomed  to  receive  this  affectionate  mode  of 
salutation  from  his  apostles,  wlien  they  had  been  separated  for 
a  season.  Judas  approached  him  and  said,  so  as  to  be  heard  by 
the  band,  "Ilail,  Kabbi,"  and  kissed  him.  The  reply  of  Jesus 
was  most  mild,  and  to  Judas  must  have  been  painfully  cutting. 
Matthew  repeats  it  as,  "  Friend,  for  what  are  you  here  ?  "  Luke 
says  that  Jesus  said,  "Do  you  betray  the  Son  of  Man  with 
a  kiss  ? " — and  his  manner  of  narrating  it  might  im])ly  that 
Jesus  prevented  the  kiss  by  tlie  question ;  but  Mattliew  and 
Mark  distinctly  affirm  that  Judas  actually  kissed  Jesus ;  all 
the  historians  showing  that  Jesus  knew  the  intent  of  this  salu- 
tation. 

Upon  this  Jesus  stepped  forward  to  the  crowd  and  said, 
"  "VVliom  do  you  seek  ?  "  They  replied,  "  Jesus  the  Nazarene." 
lie  answered,  "  I  am  he."  ^Yliat  there  was  of 
majesty,  innocence,  and  spiritual  power  in  his 
presence  and  reply  we  may  conjecture  ivom  the  fact  that  though 
they  were  all  armed,  and  were  many,  coming  out  against  a  man 
whose  friends  were  few  and  unprepared  for  conflict,  they  stag- 
gered backwards  and  fell  to  the  ground.  Here  was  a  man 
capable  of  inspiring  such  awe,  and  yet  never  voluntarily,  so  far 
as  we  can  perceive,  putting  forth  any  influences  to  serve  or 
save  himself.  lie  stood  alone  in  that  gai'den,  in  the  bi'oad 
light  of  the  full  paschal  moon,  and  the  band  of  conspirators 
and  ruffians  who  had  come  to  take  him  lay  prone  on  the  ground. 
He  recalls  them  by  asking  a  second  time,  "  ^Yliom  seek  ye  ? " 
And  they  made  the  same  reply  as  before,  "  Jesus  the  Nazai-ene." 
He  said  to  them,  "  I  have  told  you  that  I  am  he ;  if,  therefore, 
you  seek  me,  let  these  go  away,"  so  that  his  disciples  might  not 
Buffer  with  him. 


THE   SIXTH   DAT.  G35 

Tliey  then  advanced  to  seize  him,  and  liis  disciples,  perceiving 
what  would  follow,  said,  "Lord,  shall  we  smite  with  the  sword?" 
The  impetuous  Peter  did  not  wait  for  a  reply,  hut 
immediately  made  a  blow  at  the  nearest  man, 
who  happened  to  be  one  Malchus,  a  ser\ant  of  the  high-priest, 
and  cut  off  his  right  ear.  M.  Dupin  argues  that  the  fact  that 
Peter  was  not  arrested,  cither  at  this  moment  or  afterwards,  when 
he  was  recog-nized  bv  a  relative  of  Malchus  at  the  house  of  the 
high-priest,  is  proof  that  this  was  an  illegal  seizure,  otherwise 
Peter's  resistance  would  have  been  "  an  act  of  rebellion  by  an 
armed  force  against  a  judicial  order."  Jesus  healed  the  priest's 
ser\ant  with  a  touch.  lie  also  restrained  his  disciples,  who, 
under  the  awe  which  the  presence  of  Jesus  inspired  in  his  per- 
secutors, might  have  perhaps  delivered  him.  He  said  to  Peter, 
"  Petui-n  your  sword  into  its  place ;  for  all  who  take  the  sword 
shall  perish  hy  tlie  sword.  Do  you  think  that  I  am  not  able 
to  pray  unto  my  Father,  and  He  shall  foi-thwith  give  me  more 
than  twelve  legions  of  angels?  But  how  then  should  the  Scrip- 
tui'e  be  fulfilled,  that  thus  it  must  be?  The  cup  which  my 
Father  has  given  me,  shall  I  not  drink  it?" 

He  did  not,  however,  forbear  to  let  the  multitude  understand 
that  he  knew  the  illegality  of  what  they  were  doing.  "Have 
you  come  out  as  against  a  thief,  with  swords  and 
clubs,  to  take  me?  I  sat  daily  teaching  in  the 
Temple,  and  ye  laid  no  hold  upon  me.  But  this  is  the  houi-, 
and  the  power  of  darkness.  All  this  has  come  to  pass  that 
the  writings  of  the  prophets  might  be  fulfilled."  It  was  a  dis- 
tinct intimation  to  the  mob  that  he  was  suffering  voluntarily, 
and  quite  as  distinct  an  intimation  to  his  disciples  that  he  was 
going  to  suffer  certainly.  So  they  understood  it,  and  forsook 
him  and  fled. 


b;i6 


THE   LAST   WEEK. 


Section  4. —  The  Trial. 

Tlien  the  band  and  the  captain  and  oflicers  of  the  Jews  \a,6 
"snds  on  Jesus,  and  bound  him  and  led  him  away.  This  wmp 
another  outra^'e.  He  was  alone  and  unarmoo. 
IJe  olfered  no  resistance  to  his  captors,  but  jiaa 
come  forward  and  surrendered  liimselt  voiui- 
tarilv,  and  yet  they  treated  him  as  a  conaemuuij 
malefactcjr  or  resisting  culprit. 


tnaav     mom- 
'UK!.     A  iresn  out 


MAP   OF  JERUSALEM. 


They  took  Jesus  to  I'he  house  of  Annas.     Annas  had   lieen 
high-priest.     He  was  lirst  appointed  to  that  olhce  about  a.d.  7, 
by  Qulrinius,  Proconsul   of   Syria,  but  was  de- 
posed by  Valerius  Gratus,  Procurator  of  Judaea, 
aDout   seven   years   later,  who  gave  the   office  to   Isuiuel,  and 


THE    SIXTH    DAT.  G37 

then  to  Ellezer,  the  son  of  Annas,  who  held  it  only  a  year,  wag 
succeeded  by  Simon,  who  held  it  another  year,  and  then  it  fel? 
into  the  hands  of  Caiaphas,  the  son-in-law  of  Annas.  Annas  had 
not  been  high-priest  for  nearly  twenty  years ;  but  as  father-in-law 
of  the  actual  liigh-priest,  and  his  sagan  or  substitute,  and  having 
held  the  \\vA\  office  himself,  he  exerted  great  influence.  Kever- 
theless  the  carrying  of  Jesus  to  Annas  was  a  vexations  and  irre- 
gular procedure,  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  Hebrew  law,  as 
subjecting  a  ma'^,  before  any  trial  or  condemnation,  to  an  insult- 
ing inspection. 

Annas  had  no  right  to  question  Jesus.  He  was  fiot  the  proper 
person  to  deal  with  the  case.  He  had  no  jurisdiction.  If  he  had 
had,  it  was  not  lawful  to  put  a  man  in  a  position 
to  condemn  himself :  indeed,  accoi'ding  to  Jewish  ... 
law,  his  own  words  could  not  be  used  against  liim- 
self.  So  that  any  catechising  of  Jesus  in  i*egard  to  his  disciples 
and  his  doctrines  was  unlawful.  It  was  a  compliment  to  Amias, 
but  an  insult  to  Jesus,  as  a  citizen,  to  be  carried  forward  to 
gratify  the  curiosity  of  this  bad  old  man,  who  was  one  of  the 
conspirators  against  the  life  of  the  prisonei*.  There  was  an 
opportunity  now  to  do  Jesus  simple  justice.  If  Annas  hud 
been  right-minded  he  would  have  taken  Jesus  into  his  house, 
and,  even  if  under  guard,  have  kept  him  until  the  daylight.  His 
great  personal  influence,  his  relations  with  the  high-priest  (who 
had  married  his  daughter)  and  with  the  Sanhedrim,  would  have 
justified  Annas  herein.  Instead  of  which  he  aided  and  abetted 
those  lawless  men  in  their  persecution  of  Jesus.  He  sent  him 
bound,  in  the  night,  to  tlie  palace  of  Caiaphas. 

This  palace  must  have  been  near  the  chamber  in  which  the 
Sanhedrim  held  its  sessions.     The  night  was  wearing  away.     It 
was  growing  so  cold  that  while  the  Sanhedrim 
was  being   unlawfully   assembled,  for  it   could  ^^^^ 

not  meet  at  night  or  on  the  Sabbath,  they  made  a  fire.  Until 
the  council  could  be  gathered,  Caiaphas  seems  to  have  taken 
upon  himself  the  catechising  of  Jesus,  which  he  had  no  ]-iglit 
to  do  personally,  but  only  in  his  place  as  President  of  the  San- 
hedrim. He  asked  him  of  his  doctrines  and  his  disciples,  witli 
evident  malice  of  intent  to  criminate  the  prisoner  and  inculpate 
his  friends. 
His  dignified  reply  was,  "I  spoke  openly   to   the  world.     I 


638 


THE   LAST   WEEK. 


at  all  times  taught  in  the  synagogue  and  in  the  Temple,  where 

all  the  Jews  resort,  and  I  have  said  nothing  in  secret.     Why 

do  you  question  mef      Question  those  who  heard  me  what  I 

said   unto  them:   behold,  they  know  what  I  said."      Here  he 

th]-ew  himself  nj)on  the  great  reserved  Hebrew  rights,  freedom 

of  speech  and  being  confronted  by  one's   accusers.      Caiaphas 

must  have  felt  that  his  proceeding  was  at  least  irregular.     If  he 

had  been  conducting  a  trial  he  should  have  called  for  witnesses. 

The  reply  of  Jesus  was  just  what  any  Hebrew  would  naturally 

give    under    the   circumstances,   provided   he   had    intelligence 

_,  enough  to  know  and  courao;e  enouo-h  to  assert 

The    reply    of    ,  .       *?  ,  ^  r-     i  i     •       •     ,      «. 

jgg^g_  his  rights.     Jjut  one  oi  the  ecclesiastical  omcers 

who  stood  by  struck  Jesus  with  the  palm  of  his 
hand  and  said,  "  Do  you  answer  the  high-priest  so  ? "  The  reply 
of  Jesus  is  full  of  indescribable  dignity  and  forbearance;  "H  I 
have  spoken  evil,  bear  witness  of  the  evil :  but  if  well,  why  do 
you  smite  me  ?  "  Here  is  another  speech  which  shows  that  Jesus 
knew  his  rights  and  was  aware  that  they  were  invaded.  The 
man  who  struck  him  might  have  borne  testimony  against  him,  if 
they  were  both  together  in  a  court  having  jurisdiction;  but  if  he 
did  net  appear  as  a  witness  ho  had  no  right  to  insult  hi»n  by 
striking  him  when  he  was  bound.  This  was  an  additional  out- 
rage which  the  high-priest  permitted  to  be  perpetrated.  It 
accumulates  the  proof  that  Jesus  never  had  a  fair  trial  as  a 
citizen.  When  another  high-priest  commanded  those  who  stood 
by  Paul,  when  he  was  up  for  a  hearing,  to  smite  him  on  the 
mouth,  the  intrepid  Apostle  answered,  "  God  shall  smite  you, 
you  whited  wall ;  for  do  you  sit  to  judge  me  after  the  laws 
and  command  me  to  be  smitten  contrary  to  law  ? "  (Acts 
xxiii.  3.) 

All  this  persecution  of  Jesus,  it  is  to  be  noticed,  took  place  in 
the  night,  contrary  to  law,  which  demanded  daylight  and  utmost 
publicity. 

In  the  mean  time  Peter  began  to  recover  his  self-possession. 
He  desired  to  learn  what  was  happening  to  his  Master,  and  so 
went  to  the  palace  of  Caiaphas  and  lingered 
outside.  He  was  joined  by  "  another  disciple  " 
(John  xviii.  15)  whose  name  is  not  given.  It  has  been  assumed 
to  be  John.  There  seems  little  ground  for  the  presumption. 
"\7e  can  only  speculate.     The  probabilities  are  that  it  was  Judas. 


THE    SIXTH   DAT.  639 

Wlioever  that  other  disciple  was,  he  was  "known  to  the  high- 
priest."  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  John  was ;  while 
M'e  know  that  that  very  week  Judas  had  been  with  this  digni- 
tary making  arrangements  for  the  betrayal  of  Jesus.  This  will 
also  account  for  the  freedom  with  which  he  entered  the  palace  of 
tlie  high-priest,  and  the  interest  he  could  make  for  the  admission 
of  Peter.  John  would  have  been  in  almost  as  much  danger 
as  Peter,  as  he  was  generally  as  prominent  in  the  group  al)0ut  tlie 
Teacher.  On  the  supposition  that  this  other  disciple  was  Judas 
the  whole  histor}^  becomes  easy.  Peter  might  have  been  ad- 
mitted on  the  supposition  that  he  was  an  accomplice  with  Judas 
in  the  delivery  of  Jesus.  On  any  of  the  theories  which  have 
been  advanced  on  his  character  and  motives  it  was  natural  that 
Judas  in  his  excitement  should  follow  Jesus  into  the  palace  of 
the  higJi-priest  to  see  the  result,  and  would  be  relieved  by  the 
presence  of  another  disciple. 

However  that  may  have  been,  Peter  entered.  In  the  court 
of  the  palace  the  slaves  and  officers  had  made  a  fire,  and  stood 
warming  themselves.  Peter  went  up  to  the 
fire  and  warmed  himself  with  them.  It  may  be 
that  the  maid  who  kept  the  door  began  to  fear  that  she  was 
admitting  strangers  too  freely,  or  she  may  have  seen  the  look 
of  concern  on  the  face  of  Peter.  She  went  up  to  him  and  said, 
"And  are  you  not  one  of  this  man's  disciples?"  He  denied  it 
before  them  all,  saying,  "  I  am  not ;  I  do  not  know  him,  nor  do  I 
understand  what  }ou  are  saying." 

This  peremptory  challenge  disconcerted  Peter,  and  he  walked 
out  into  the  court.     Perhaps  he  put  on  the  air  of  a  man  insulted 

before  a  company.     But  an  excitement  had  been 

1  I        1  •  A       i.1  -1  i  His  second  de- 

begun   by  his  presence.     Another  maid-servant, 

probably  passing  him  in  the  court  and  coming  up 

to  the  fire,  stated  her  belief  that  the  uneasy  man  out  there  was  a 

disciple  of  Jesus.     AVliile  Peter  Avas  out  in  the  court-yard  the 

cock  crew.     But  it  does  not  seem  to  have  recalled  the  prediction 

of  Jesus.     Upon  his  return  to  the  fire  the  wliisper  went  round  : 

"  This  fellow  was  also  with  Jesus  the  Nazarene,"  until  one  boldly 

blurted  out  the  charge,  and  still  another  directly  put  the  question 

to  him  :  "  Are  you  not  one  of  his  disciples  ? "     He  made  a  second 

distinct  denial,  backing  it  up  with  some  profane  expression,  and 

assertinof  that  he  did  "  not  know  the  man." 


640  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

These  denials  seem  to  have  occurred  while  the  high-priest  was 
examining  Jesus.  There  was  an  interval  of  an  hour,  which  was 
spent  in  assembling  the  Sanhedrim  and  in  indnfeing  men  to  be- 
come witnesses.  It  was  cold.  Jesus  was  in  the  hall  inside,  which 
opened  probably  on  the  court  wliere  Peter  and  the  servants  and 
officers  were.  The  embarrassing  examinations  to  which  Peter 
had  been  subjected  began  to  be  painful.  He  must  have  re- 
collected the  pi'ominent  jiart  he  had  taken  in  the  affair  of  Getli- 
semane.  lie  endeavored  to  throw  suspicion  from  himself  by 
engaging  in  free  conversation  with  the  others,  as  being  no  more 
personally  interested  in  what  was  going  forward  than  they  were. 
But  it  did  not  succeed.  His  xcry  garrulousness  aroused  suspi- 
cion. One  said,  "  Of  a  truth  tliis  man  was  with  him ;  for  he  is  a 
Galilgean :  his  speech  betrays  liiui."  Jesus  was  of  Galilee.  The 
Galilseans  were  a  turbulent  race.  Most  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
were  known  to  be  GaliLieans.  Their  dialect  was  not  that  of  cul- 
tivated Jews,  nor  of  even  the  uncultivated  inhabitants  of  the  me- 
tropolis. So  they  made  his  accentuation  a  proof  against  him. 
This  called  special  and  unfriendly  attention  to  him.  A  slave  of 
the  high-priest  and  brother  of  that  Malchus  whose  ear  Peter  had 
hacked  with  his  sword,  regarding  him  carefully,  brought  the 
charge  home  upon  him,  saying,  "  Did  I  not  see  you  in  the  garden 
with  liim  ? " 

This  was  too  much  for  Peter.     lie  could  not  retreat  from  his 
former  denials.     He  was  at  the  point  to  be  discovered.     His  im- 
petuous sword-thrust  in  the  garden  was  about  to 
His  third  denial.    ,       ,  ■,  ,  .  tt         '     •  ^   i  -i        j 

1)0  turned  upon  hnn.     He  was  m  mortal  peril  and 

in  mortal  fear.  There  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  plunge  for- 
ward. He  broke  into  cursing  and  swearing,  and,  amid  dreadful 
imprecations,  denied  that  he  ever  had  any  knowledge  of  "this 
man  "  of  whom  they  were  speaking.  Amid  his  ungrateful  denials 
and  horrid  blasphemies  the  cock  crew  a  secoud  time.  And  Jesus, 
whose  smiting  Peter  had  witnessed,  turned  and  looked  upon 
him.  It  was  the  last  look  Peter  received  from  the  eyes  of  his 
Master  before  his  death.  The  look  and  the  crowing  of  the  cock 
came  together,  and  Peter  saw  liow  truly  had  come  to  ])ass  what 
Jesus  had  so  pathetically  predicted,  that  before  the  cock  should 
crow  twice  he  should  deny  his  Master  thrice.  Covering  his  head 
with  his  mantle  he  flung  himself  out  of  the  company  and  went  off 
weeping  bitterly. 


THE    SIXTH   DAT.  641 

"We  now  return  to  the  examination  of  Jesus,  The  night  had 
been  spent  in  a  frnitless  search  for  witnesses  willing  to  render 
such  testimony  as  the  persecutors  of  Jesus  sup- 
posed sufficient  to  'convict  him.  Only  two  were 
necessary,  but  these  could  not  be  obtained.  The  bribes  they  were 
able  to  offer,  of  security  and  gain,  could  not  move  Judas  and 
another  to  testify  against  him.  The  day  began  to  break  over 
Olivet,  The  Sanhedi'im  was  assembled.  "  The  priests,  the 
elders,  and  the  scribes"  were  there,  three  classes  of  men  having 
special  enmity  against  Jesus.  They  led  the  prisoner,  perhaps  in 
solemn  procession,  from  the  palace  of  the  high-priest  into  the 
council-chamber  on  the  Temple  mount. 

In  the  examination  which  followed  there  finally  came  forward 
two  witnesses.  The  testimony  of  the  first  was  :  "  lie  said  '  I  will 
destroy  this  temple  made  with  hands,  and  in  three 
days  I  will  build  another  made  without  hands.' " 
The  testimony  of  the  second  was :  "  This  man  said,  '  I  am  able  to 
destroy  the  temple  of  God,  and  to  build  it  in  three  days.'  "  The 
friends  and  biographers  of  Jesus  asserted  that  both  statements 
were  false,  both  in  form  and  in  intention.  The  nearest  that  the 
words  of  Jesus  approached  any  formula  that  could  have  been 
even  wrested  into  either  of  these  statements  is  when  he  said,  "  De- 
stroy this  temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up,"  pointing 
probably  to  his  body,  at  least  his  friends  say  that  he  signified  that 
(John  ii.  19),  and  that  he  spoke  in  this  evasive  way  as  being  a 
proper  reply  to  his  enemies  under  the  circumstances.  But  the 
first  of  these  witnesses  made  the  impression  that  he  had  threat- 
ened to  destroy  the  Temple,  and  the  second  that  he  merely  asserted 
his  power  to  do  so.  Their  testimony  did  not  agree,  and  "  one 
witness  is  no  witness." 

Then  the  high-priest  rose  up  and  said  to  Jesus,  "  Do  you  answer 
nothing  to  what  these  witness  against  you  ? "  But  Jesus  held 
his  peace.  The  testimony  refuted  itself.  Then  they  asked  him, 
"  If  you  are  the  Christ,  tell  us."  He  replied,  "  If  I  tell  you,  you 
will  not  believe  ;  and  if  I  shall  question,  you  Avill  not  answer." 

It  will  be  perceived  that  his  persecutors  desired  to  obtain  e\i- 
dence  against  him  on  two  counts, — first,  blasphemy ;    secondly, 
sedition :  on  the  first  they  could  condemn  him  to 
death  as  lords  spiritual,  and  on  the  second  the  Bo- 
man  power  could  execute  him.     If   they  could  prove  only  the 


642  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

former,  as  it  was  a  mere  question  of  religion,  tlie  secular  arm 
would  not  destroy  him,  and  the  right  to  inflict  capital  punishment 
had  been  taken  away  from  the  Jews.  If  they  proved  only  the 
latter,  they  would  leave  to  him  all  his  moral  influence  over  tlie 
people,  in  whose  eyes  any  rebellion  against  Rome  was  a  high  vir- 
tue. If  both  together  could  be  made  out,  the  prisoner  would 
perish.  They  could  have  found  ample  proof  that  Jesus  had  vio- 
lated the  Sabbath,  according  to  their  law  of  observance ;  but  the 
testimony  would  have  showii  that  he  had  always  therewith  con- 
nected the  performance  of  a  miracle.  They  could  have  proved 
that  he  had  denounced  the  clergy  and  the  church,  and  set  the 
traditions  and  ceremonials  of  Pharisaism  at  naught ;  but  that  would 
have  excited  in  his  behalf  the  friendly  feeling  of  the  Sadducees, 
who,  as  well,  despised  churchism.  There  was  a  narrow  path  to 
tread,  and  they  persistently  kept  in  it.  They  could  not  prove  the 
necessary  allegations,  and  they  attempted  illegally  to  extort  con- 
fessions from  the  prisoner  which  they  might  use  to  his  damage. 

Then  Caiaphas  solenmly  said  to  him,  "I  adjure  you  by  the  liv- 
ing God,  that  you  tell  us  if  you  are  the  Christ  [the  Messiah]  the 
Son  of  God."  He  calls  upon  tlie  prisoner  on 
oatr""^  ^""^^  *'''  oath  to  testify  in  regard  to  himself  while  he  is  on 
trial  on  a  criminal  and  capital  charge,  "  a  gross 
infraction  of  that  rule  of  morals  and  jurisprudence,"  says  Dupin 
"  which  forbids  our  placing  an  accused  person  between  the  dan 
ger  of  pei-jury  and  the  fear  of  inculpating  himself,  and  thus  mak- 
ing his  situation  more  hazardous."  But  when  the  high-priest  per- 
sisted, Jesus  replied,  "You  have  said  it;  moreover  I  say  to  you, 
From  this  time  you  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  sitting  on  the  right 
hand  of  power,  and  coming  on  the  clouds  of  heaven." 

Among  the  ancients  the  deity  was  represented,  hieroglyphically, 

as  being  in  the  clouds,  to  signify  his  celestial  habitation.     Traces 

of  the  reduction  of  that  picture  to  language  are 

•'The clouds."  fo^-ind  through  the  sacred  books  of  the  Jews. 
"  Jehovah  rideth  upon  a  swift  cloud,"  Isa.  xix.  1 ;  "  The  clouds 
are  the  dust  of  His  feet,"  Xahura  i.  3 ;  "I  saw  in  the  night  vi- 
sions, and  behold,  one  like  the  Son  of  Man  came  with  the  clouds 
of  heaven,"  Daniel  vii.  13.  It  is  very  probable  that  Jesus  had 
special  reference  to  this  vision  of  Daniel,  as  well  as  general  refer- 
ence to  the  idea  contained  in  this  pictorial  representation,  which, 
reduced  to  our  language,  would  mean  a  claim  upon  the  part  of 


THE   SIXTH   DAT.  643 

Jesus  to  have  a  divine  relation  to  the  world  and  to  be  about  to  be 
acknowledged  as  a  divine  person.  It  is  not  for  a  moment  to  bo 
supposed  that  he  intended  his  words  to  be  taken  literally,  or  that 
the  Sanhedrim  so  took  them.  Literally  they  amount  to  nothing, 
unless  one  should  take  them  as  the  harmless  exaggeration  of  a 
weak  head.  But  Jesus  was  no  such  man,  and  the  hour  was  too 
soleimi  for  anything  of  the  kind.  He  was  on  trial  for  his  life  ; 
he  obviously  believed  that  his  hour  had  come  ;  and  he  was  speak- 
ing from  the  depths  of  his  nature.  lie  did  not  mean  that  he  was 
coming  on  the  clouds  of  heaven  literally.  It  were  a  ridiculous 
thing  ;  and  thus  far  we  have  found  nothing  ridiculous,  surely,  in 
the  character  and  words  of  Jesus,  how  many  soever  inexplicable 
things  we  may  have  discovered.  The  high-priest  did  not  so  un- 
derstand him,  else  he  w^ould  have  burst  into  laughter  instead  of 
exhi])iting  horror.  Jesus  meant  to  claim  divinity.  So  Caiaphas 
understood  him,  and  so  the  Sanhedrim.  Therein  was  the  blas- 
phem3\  If  this  be  not  the  meaning  of  Jesus,  this  part  of  his  his- 
tory seems  to  me  wholly  unintelligible. 

AVlien  the  high-priest  heard  the  reply  of  Jesus  he  "  rent  hi? 
clothes."  The  sacerdotal  robe  was  worn  only  «in  the  Temple.  It 
was  his  Simla,  or  upper  garment,  which  Caia^^has 

tore.     This  exijression  of  pain  and  fijrief  and  hor- 

^  r  &>  rage, 

ror  would  at  first  burst  forth  naturally,  afterward 
it  came  to  be  enacted  theatrically,  as  we  frequently  see  grief 
"  performed,"  at  some  of  our  modern  funerals.  It  became  so  ex- 
cessive that  it  was  moderated  by  ecclesiastical  law,  among  the 
regulations  of  which  was  one  (Levit.  xxi.  10)  forbidding  the  high- 
priest  to  rend  his  clothes.  We  learn,  however,  from  1  Macca- 
bees xi.  71,  and  from  Josephus,  B.J.,  ii.  15,  §  2,  4,  that  this  rending 
was  allowable  to  the  high-priest  in  cases  of  blasphemy.  To  this 
violent  gesture  Caiaphas  added  the  exclamation,  "  See !  he  has 
uttered  blasphemy !  "VYliat  further  need  have  we  of  witnesses  ? 
See,  now,  you  have  heard  the  blasphemy  !  AYhat  is  your  opin- 
ion?" Here  is  one  who  is  at  once  accuser  and  judge,  and  he 
presents  the  disgraceful  spectacle  of  a  judge  in  a  rage.  He  de- 
mands a  verdict  of  condemnation  based  upon  the  words  of  the 
prisoner,  as  those  words  are  interpreted  by  himself.  All  this  was 
contrary  to  well-established  Hebrew  law. 

The  whole  council  caught  the  temper  of  this  violent  man.  The 
judges  excitedly  asked  him  again,  "Are  you  then  the  Son  of 


G44-  THE   LAST  WEEK, 

God  ? " — "  I  am,"  said  Jesus.     They  cried  out,  "  He  deserves  to 
die."      The  oflicers,  the  slaves,  the  bystanders  generally  broke 

into  furious  revilings,  taunts,  and  insults.     Wliilo 
.  still  on  his  trial,  before  condemnation,  the  high 

l^riest  and  the  council  gave  him  over  to  the  bru- 
talities of  the  unofficial  people.  They  spat  in  his  face,  slave? 
slapped  him  with  the  palms  of  their  hands,  they  blindfolded  him, 
and  said,  "  Prophesy  to  us,0  Messiah,  who  is  he  that  struck  you." 
And  the  judge  and  the  jury  allowed  all  this.  Indeed  these  men 
probably  did  it  that  they  might  obtain  the  favor  of  their  masters. 
And  yet  it  is  maintained  by  such  learned  and  liberal  modern 
Jews  as  M.  Salvador  that  as  a  Hebrew  citizen  Jesus  was  fairly 
tried. 

While  sufferino;  these  thino-s  Jesus  heard  Peter  cursinc:  and 
Bwearing,  and  avowing  that  he  never  knew  him.  From  his  infuri- 
,ated  judges  he  turned  and  looked  upon  his  faithless  disciple. 
Jesus  was  most  completely  abandoned. 

Section  5. — Pilate. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Palestine  was  a  conquered  pro- 
vince, regularly  governed  by  the  concpierors.  Six  years  after  tho 
bii'th  of  Jesus,  Archelaus,  son  of  Herod,  had 
been  deposed,  and  Judiiea  and  Samaria  annexed 
to  the  province  of  Syria,  the  Prceses  or  governor  of  which  was 
the  highest  representative  of  Roman  imperialism.  Nevertheless 
a  special  procurator  was  appointed  for  Judaia,  and  the  office  at 
this  time  was  held  by  Pontius  Pilate.  The  procurator  ordinarily 
resided  at  Csesarea,  by  the  seaside,  but  usually  came  up  Avith 
troops  to  attend  the  great  festivals,  partly  for  the  enjoyment  he 
might  have  amid  the  excitements,  and  partly  because  it  was  his 
duty  to  keep  the  Roman  authority  before-  the  eyes  of  the  Jews, 
and  to  be  ready  to  repress  any  popular  outbreak  which  would  be 
likely  to  occur  when  so  many  people  were  assembled  at  the  me- 
trojjolis.  During  the  six  years  in  which  he  had  held  the  office 
Pilate  had  incensed  the  Jews  by  his  violence  and  oppression. 

The  Sanhedrim  had  no  right   to  inflict   capital   punishment. 

Wherever  Rome  extended  its  dominion  the  jiii^  gladll,  the  riglit 

of  the  sword,  the  power  over  life  and  death,  was 

ejii^ga  u.     ^q]^qii  fyQi^-i  ^\^q  conquered.     In   the   case  of  the 

Jews  all  minor  matters  were  left  in  the  hands  of  their  council, 


THE   SIXTH   DAT.  645 

especfally  tlie  settlement  of  all  religious  questions,  but  civil  cases 
were  tried  by  the  procurator,  and  capital  cases  by  the  Praeses.  In 
this  case  it  seems  to  have  been  deputed  to  the  procurator.  lie 
^vas  present  in  the  city.  It  was  the  beginning  of  Friday.  The 
PassoNcr  was  to  commence  on  the  evening  of  that  day.  They 
had  only  that  morning  to  secure  the  condemnation  and  execution 
of  Jesus.  If  delayed  until  the  festival  had  passed,  the  whole  coun- 
try might  be  aroused  and  a  great  reaction  in  his  favor  might  set  in. 
It  was,  therefore,  determined  to  keep  hira  bound  and  guarded,  and 
to  assemble  at  daybreak  and  push  their  plans  to  a  consummation. 

All  the  night  long  was  Jesus  buffeted,  tortured,  insulted.  They 
would  have  killed  him  if  they  had  dared;  but  Pome  looked  down 
on  them  from  the  tower  of  Antonia  and  kept  even  churchly  rage 
in  check. 

Day  began  to  dawn.    The  light  was  breaking  over  Olivet.   The 

earliest  movements  must  be  made.     The  procurator  must  be  seen 

as  early  as  practicable.   There  was  a  reassembling 

To  Pilate 
of  the  Sanhedrim.     In  the  niglit  session  they  had  * 

condemned  him :  but  beyond  tiiat  they  were  powerless ;  they 
could  not  execute  him,  and  they  coukl  not  see  Pilate  at  that  hour. 
Tlie  object  of  the  morning  meeting  was  to  concoct  plans  to  have 
him  put  to  death,  according  to  their  verdict.  This  could  be  done 
only  through  Pilate.  They  pre-arranged  their  methods.  They 
took  Jesus  bound,  making  as  imposing  a  procession  as  possible ; 
thus,  as  far  as  in  them  lay,  prejudicing  his  case.  The  palace 
of  Pilate  had  been  desecrated  in  their  eyes  by  having  been  the 
residence  of  a  Gentile.  These  scrupulous  officials,  intent  on  a 
Clime,  compassing  the  destruction  of  a  man  against  whom  they 
could  prove  nothing,  although  he  had  led  a  public  life  by  the 
space  of  three  years,  M-ere  so  cautious  that  they  would  not  defile 
themselves  by  entering  a  Gentile's  house,  because  the  Passover 
was  at  hand.  They  forgot  that  the  memljcrs  of  the  Sanhedrim 
were  bound  to  spend  the  day  fasting  in  which  they  had  con- 
demned a  man  to  death.     Churchisni  is  the  same  in  all  ages. 

They  sent  in  to  Pilate,  and  he  came  out,  as  his  custom  was. 
Then  commenced  a  play  of  passions  on  both  sides,  which  consti- 
tutes a  profoundly  interesting  study.     He   saw 

,  ,      ,  .  1       ,  ■".  ,  Play  of  passions. 

the  crowd,  the  (iouncil,  the  prisoner.     It  was  an 

unusual  hour.     It   must  be  an  unusual  case.      His   quick  ejQ 

interpreted  the  general  meaning  of  the  scene.     Turning  to  Caia- 


646  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

plias  and  the  Sanhedrim,  he  said,  "  Wliat    accusation  do  you 
bring  against  this  man  ?  " 

It  is  not  poetry,  it  is  criticism,  to  strive  to  know  what  looks  and 
gestures  accompanied  any  speech  of  any  historical  character.  It 
is  well  known  how  greatly  these  vary  the  sense  of  the  mere 
words.  If  we  could  know  i^recisely  the  motions  of  the  person, 
the  play  of  the  lips,  the  glance  of  the  eye  of  Jesus,  how  much 
more  intelligible  would  his  words  be,  and  how  our  interpretation 
of  them  might  be  changed.  And  still  more  how  we  should  bo 
helped  by  a  knowledge  of  the  precise  tone  and  emphasis  he  em- 
ployed. The  same  is  true  of  others,  and  here  of  Pilate.  He  may 
have  looked  at  Jesus  and  seen  him  pale  and  worn,  yet  calm  as  the 
morning  in  whose  light  he  stood.  He  may  have  contrasted  the 
face  of  the  prisoner,  so  free  from  passion,  witli  the  heated  and 
fierce  glare  in  the  countenances  of  Caiaphas  and  the  Sanhedrim, 
whose  excitement  and  anger  through  the  night  must  have  left 
their  traces  ;  and  Pilate  may  have  uttered  unfeigned  surprise  by 
the  exclgftnatory  question,  "  What  accusation  do  you  bring  against 
him  ?  "  as  if  intimating  that  if  either  party  should  be  plaintiff  it 
was  Jesus. 

But,  read  with  any  emphasis,  the  question  gave  the  churchmen 
plainly  to  understand  that  in  this  case  Pilate  did  not  intend  to 
pronounce  a  confirmation  of  any  sentence  they 
may  have  passed,  ordering  its  execution  without 
examination  and  perfunctoril3^    Unfortunately  for  liim  lie  had  in 
haste  done  such  things  before,  and  thus  emboldened  these  men  to 
venture  in  this  case  a  ^presumption  upon  his  judicial  carelessness. 
He  gave  them  to  understand  that  he  intended  to  take  cognizance 
of  this  case.     His  question  assumed,  what  the  Sanhedrim  knew 
to  be  true,  that  he  had  the  right  of  original  jurisdiction,  as  repre- 
sentative of  the  Koman  Emperor.     This  took  them  aback.     They 
had  not  expected  from  Pilate  such  assertion  of  his  rights.     They 
expected  of  him  simply  the  secular  sanction  to  their  ecclesiastical 
verdict.     They  expected  to  be  acknowledged  as  judges.     But  Pi- 
late took  the  bench,  and  put  them  on  the  stand  of  the  witnesses. 
This  touched  their  pride  to  the  quick,  while  it  seemed  to  inti- 
mate a  miscarriage  of  their  whole  plan.     Their 
ride^  ^  ^^^°^      arrogant  reply  was,  "  If  he  were  not  a  malefactor 
we  would  not  have  delivered  him   up   to   you." 
As  if  they  resented  the  insult  which  was  implied  in  his  words, 


THE   SIXTH   DAY.  647 

that  tliey  could  have  condemned  an  innocent  man.  But  Pilate 
■jvas  as  proud  as  Caiaphas.  In  reply  to  their  claim  to  be  judges, 
he  said,  "  Take  him,  and  judge  him  according  to  your  law."  As 
if  he  had  ironically  said,  "  Oh,  that  is  it !  You  do  not  vouchsafe 
to  inform  me  even  of  the  accusation  against  tliis  man.  You  claim 
to  be  judges.  Y^ou  know  your  liuiit.  I  am  sure  that  I  am  will- 
ing that  you  should  try  him  according  to  your  law,  and  condemn 
him,  and  punish  him  as  far  as  the  hiw  will  permit.  If  you  be 
judges,  take  the  case  away,  and  do  not  trouble  me  with  it."  This 
irony  was  stinging  ;  but  the  Roman  might  become  obstinate,  and 
insist  that  the  case  remain  with  them,  and  they  could  not  put 
Jesus  to  death  ;  and  so  the  whole  scheme  was  like  to  miscarry. 

This  brought  them  to  terms.     They  were  obliged  to  submit  the 
indictment.     If  they  had  had  all  power  in  their  hands  tliey  would 

have  stoned  him  for  blasphemy.     It  is  noticeable 
I         X  11  T        111-  11       Change    of 

that  Jesus  iiad  predicted  that  his  career  would    _j.q^q^ 

end  in  crucifixion,  the  Koman — rather  than  in 
stoning,  the  Hebrew — mode  of  execution.  The  probabilities  had 
all  been  in  favor  of  the  latter.  It  was  this  sudden  and  unex- 
pected obstinacy  of  Pilate  which  changed  the  current  of  affairs. 
For  a  moment  they  were  in  perplexity.  To  tell  Pilate  that  Jesus 
had  committed  blasphemy,  by  claiming  to  be  the  Son  of  God, 
would  go  for  nothing.  He  had  no  interest  hi  their  religious 
questions  :  he  was  utterly  a  pagan.  Tliey  changed  their  ground, 
and  said,  "We  found  this  one  perverting  our  nation,  and  forbid- 
ding to  give  tribute  to  Caisar,  saying  that  he  himself  is  Christ,  a 
King."  There  are  three  counts  in  this  allegation  ;  the  first  two 
being  to  the  nation  notoriously  false,  and  the  third  being  to  Pilate 
merely  ridiculous.  Jesus  had  explicitly  taught  the  people  to 
"  render  unto  Cnssar  the  things  that  are  Caesar^s  ;  "  but  the  bare 
fact  that  such  a  question  should  have  been  brought  to  him  is  an  in- 
dication of  the  unsettled  state  of  the  public  mind,  and  how  ready 
the  people  were  to  listen  to  any  suggestions  of  rebellion.  Caia- 
phas and  his  fellow-conspirators  knew  that,  in  the  sense  in  which 
Pilate  must  have  understood  it,  the  third  count  was  false.  Jesus 
had  aspired  to  no  temporal  rule,  and  had  done  nothing  to  make 
himself  a  rival  of  CiEsar,  but  had  simply  claimed  to  bo  the  Mes- 
siah, a  claim  in  which  the  representative  of  the  Roman  Emperor 
could  have  no  official,  and  scarcely  any  personal,  interest. 
When  Pilate,  from  the  portico  of  his  palace,  looked  down  upon 


648  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

the  meek  face  of  tlie  pro^^hct  from  Galilee  and  saw  his  liaiida 

bound,  and  the  spittle  of  the  slaves  on  his  beard, 

chaiffe  ^^^^    ^^^  general  friendlessness,  and   how   tho'- 

oughly  he  was  in  the   hands  of  his  enemies,  it 

must  have  seemed  the  most  aljsurd  thing  to  him  that  Caia])haH 

should  bring  such  a  man,  under  such  circumstances,  and  charge 

him  with  the  loftiest  political  ambition  and  the  most  immense 

political  enterprise.    And  then  a  suspicion  must  have  come  to  him 

that  there  was  something  l:)eliind  all  this  ;  that  if  Jesus  really  had 

entertained  ideas  of  re\olt,  these  priests  were  the  very  first  men 

to  foster  any  opposition  and  trouble  to  Rome,  and  the  very  last 

men  to  oppose  or  even  eml)arrass  the  movements  of  any  real 

rebel. 

But  as  the  allegation  had  been  made,  the  investigation  must  be 

had.     Pilate  went  into  the  praitorium,  so  as  to  take  his  official 

position.     The  Roman  trial  was  public.     Any  could  enter.     Jesus 

had  no  scruples,  and  when  he  was  called  went  in  at  once.     There 

werb  the  representatives  of  the  scrupulous  churchmen  present.   If 

they  could  not  go  in,  they  could  send  in  those  who  should  watch 

and  in  some  measure  influence  proceedings.     Friends  of  Jesua 

might  also  enter  and  report  to  those  outside. 

Pilate  said  to  Jesus,  "  Are  3'ou  the  King  of  the  Jews  ? "   AVhether 

Pilate  intended  it  or  not,  there  was  a  trap  in  the  cpiestion.     It 

could  not  have  a  categorical  answer.     If  Jesus 
In    the    praeto-         .  ,    ,.  ^^      ,,  -r^.,        r'  n      ^  i        ■ 

^•„^  said  "les,     to  Pilate  s  manner   or    thoumit    it 

mio-ht  seem  an  acknowlcflirment  of  the  charge  of 
sedition  they  were  making  against  him.  If  he  said  "  No."  it 
would  seem  an  abandonment  of  the  Messianic  claims  he  had  al- 
ready advanced.  His  reply  to  Pilate  was  a  question,  "  Do  you 
Bay  this  of  yourself,  or  did  others  tell  it  you  of  ine?"  To  a  man 
of  the  world  like  Pilate  it  should  have  showed  that  the  person  be- 
fore him  was  not  a  crazy  adventurer  from  the  rural  districts, 
whose  claim  to  be  Tiberias  himself,  if  he  had  made  it,  would  have 
been  as  harmless  as  any  other  utterance  of  wild  insanity.  It 
meant,  "  Do  you  put  that  question  to  me  in  the  Roman  or  the 
Jewish,  in  the  political  or  the  ecclesiastical  sense  ? " — "  Am  I  a 
Jew?"  Pilate  replied  rather  petulantly.  "  Your  own  nation  and 
the  high-priest  have  delivered  you  to  me !  AVhat  have  you  done  ? " 
Jesus  had  done  nothing.  His  abstinence  from  all  politics  was 
remarkable.     Ilis  enemies  could  bring  nothing  against  him.     The 


THE  SIXTH  DAY.  649 

charge  of  sedition  -was  an  nnfounded  calumny,  and  they  liad  not 
been  able  to  find  a  solitary  man  in  the  crowded  city  to  bear  wit- 
ness thereto. 

But  now  he  can  approach  an  answer  to  Pilate  which  shall  1)0 
consistent  at  once  with  his  innocence  and  his  claims.  lie  said : 
"  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.  If  my  king- 
dom were  of  this  world,  then  would  my  servants  p^j^^^g 
fight,  that  I  should  not  be  delivered  to  the  Jews. 
My  kingdom  is  not  from  hence."  Here  w^as  a  statement  which 
implied  that  there  was  a  kingdom  whose  defenders  were  not  the 
Koman  eagles.  To  an  imperial  official  there  seemed  no  kingdom 
that  was  not  Roman.  Or,  if  any  other  kingdom,  it  wonld  draw 
Bword  but  in  vain,  for  it  should  soon  succumb  to  Roman  power. 
But  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  was  totally  disengaged  from  secular 
governments,  reigning  under  and  over  and  through  them,  and 
would  survive  them,  and  did  not  need  the  defence  of  the  sword. 
But  a  kingdom  implied  a  king,  and  yet  such  a  kingdom  as  Jesus 
had  been  describing  seemed  a  mere  vague  idea ;  so  Pilate  asked, 
"  Are  you  not  a  king  then  ? " 

Now  Jesus  had  placed  his  judge  in  such  a  posture  that  the  an- 
swer about  to  be  given  should  not  be  deceptive :  "  Thou  sayest 
that  I  am  a  king.  To  this  end  was  I  born,  and 
for  this  pui-pose  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I 
should  bear  witness  concerning  the  truth.  Every  one  who  is  of 
the  truth  hears  my  voice."  It  was  the  kingdom  of  truth,  and  not 
of  physical  power,  in  which  he  claimed  to  be  supreme.  Such  a 
claim  threatened  no  danger  to  the  Emperor :  w^hy,  then,  should 
Pilate  care  for  it?  He  had  heard  such  things  l)efore.  There 
were  Greek  and  Roman  philosophers  who  taught  that  those  who 
lived  by  the  truth  were  kings  among  men.  And  it  seemed  to 
Pilate  that  it  was  the  same  proposition  he  had  heard  often,  now 
pronounced  by  a  Jew.  He  did  not  believe  that  men  could  reach 
the  ultimate  and  absolute  truth.  It  was  a  pretty  fancy  for  poetic 
dreamers,  a  fine  theory  for  recluses  and  philosophers,  but  there 
was  nothing  practical  in  it,  nor  useful  to  a  man  of  affairs.  It  may 
have  been  witlvsome  bitterness  of  regret  that  such  a  search  should 
be,  as  he  believed,  fruitless,  that  Pilate  exclaimed  with  a  sigh, 
"  "VVTiat  is  truth  ? "  as  he  passed  out  to  the  portico  to  announce  the 
acquittal  of  Jesus  to  the  priests,  w^hich  he  did  by  saying,  "  I  find 
no  fault  in  him." 


650  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

Then  the  vehemeiit  Sanhedrim  repeated  their  accusations.  Jesua 
said  not  a  word.  The  contrast  between  the  raging  churchmen 
and  the  meek  heretic  struck  Pilate  so  forcibly 
that  he  appealed  to  him :  "  Do  you  answef 
nothing  ?  See  how  many  things  they  witness  against  you."  Jesus 
kept  his  silence.  In  the  ecclesiastical  and  in  the  civil  courts 
Jesus  paid  no  attention  to  anything  that  did  not  touch  his  claims 
to  Messiahship.  When  that  was  invohed  he  was  perfectly  ex- 
plicit, giving  his  persecutors  and  his  judges  ample  ground.  On 
all  else  he  was  silent.  He  seemed  determined,  when  put  to  death, 
to  perish  in  his  claim  to  be  the  Son  of  God  in  a  sense  signifying 
that  he  was  God's  equal.  This  self-control  seemed  marvellous  to 
Pilate,  who  reiterated  his  judgment,  saying,  "I  find  no  fault  in 
this  man."  But  the  crowd  about  the  portico  was  fierce.  How- 
ever innocent  Jesus  might  be,  he  had  manifestly  rendered  himself 
odious  to  the  ecclesiastical  rulers.  It  placed  Pilate  in  a  trying 
position.  For  all  that  appeared,  he  should  have  set  Jesus  free : 
but  to  do  so  peremptorily,  before  he  had  allayed  the  passionate 
excitement  of  the  church  party,  would  be  to  peril  all  parties.  His 
parley  with  the  priests  was  in  the  interests  of  Jesus  and  justice. 

But  the  rabid  mob  shouted,  "  He  stirs  up  the  multitude  through- 
out all  Judffia,  even  beginning  from  Galilee  to  this  place."  Here 
was  a  distinct  charo-e  of  sedition :  but  the  namins^  of  Galilee  was 
an  outlet  for  the  perplexed  Pilate.  They  mentioned  it  as  a 
sinister  circumstance  that  this  man's  ministry  had  begun  among 
the  turbulent  Galilseans,  in  a  country  belonging  to  his  political 
adversary.  The  shrewd  Pilate  saw  in  it  a  solution  of  his  difti- 
culty. 

Section  6. — Herod. 

The  part  which  Ilerod  Antipas  had  taken  in  the  murder  of 

John  the  Baptist  has  been  narrated.     This  king,  Roman  in  office, 

Hebrew   in  faith,   licentious   in   life,   had  been 

Herod  and  Jesus.    ,  ,     ,    ,  ,.,.  ,  .  .^ 

haunted  by  superstitious  terror  ever  since  the 
assassination  of  John  in  prison.  AVIien  he  heard  that  another 
prophet  was  travelling  through  the  country,  preaching  with  a  skill 
the  effects  of  which  surpassed  those  of  the  vehement  eloquence  of 
John,  and  to  such  preaching  adding  the  wonder  of  miracles,  until 
the  whole  land  was  full  of  his  fame,  and  when  it  was  whispered 


THE   SIXTH   DAT.  651 

that  this  new  preacher  was  Elias,  or  one  of  tlie  old  prophets,  or 
perhaps  John  the  Baptist,  the  guilt}-  soul  of  Ilerod  adopted  the 
last  of  these  suppositions  and  said,  "  It  is  John."  At  iirst  he  en 
deavored  to  induce  Jesus  to  leave  the  country  by  conveying  to  him 
the  warning  that  if  he  remained  in  the  territory  of  Ilcrod  that 
prince  would  kill  him.  But  as  time  wore  away,  and  his  conscience 
hardened,  and  his  feelings  of  terror  were  allayed,  he  conceived  a 
curiosity  to  see  the  great  things  which  Jesus  did. 

There  had  come  a  cloud  between  Ilerod  and  Pilate.  Some  of 
the  turbulent  subjects  of  the  former  had  visited  Jerusalem  on  a  fes- 
tival occasion,  and  created  an  insurrection  which       „     ^       ,  „. 

....  ,         ,  Herod  and  Pi- 

Pilate  had  suppressed  by  mdiscrimniate  slaughter,    ^^^^^ 

not  stopping  to  send  them  for  trial  to  the  courts  in 

tlie  dominion  of  Ilerod.     This  had  made  an  estrangement  between 

the  rulers.     Now  the  Galilean  king  had  come  up  to  Jerusalem  to 

celebiate  the  Passover.     It  would  be  a  graceful  recognition  of 

Herod's  jurisdiction,  and  a  compliment,  to  send  this  distinguished 

prisoner  to  liim  for  trial,  and  it  would  free  Pilate  from  further 

proceedings.     Therefore  he  sent  him  to  Ilerod.     It  did  heal  the 

quarrel ;  but  it  did  not  relieve  Pilate  of  the  case. 

When  the  frivolous  Ilerod  saw  Jesus  he  was  glad.     There  was 

not  manliness  enough  in  him  to  see  that  this  was  a  most  perplex- 

ino-  affair,  in  which  the  empire,  his  own  tetrarchy, 

°  ,„,-r,,v  ii-  Jesus    sent    to 

the  weal  or  tlie  Jewish  people,  and  the  niterests    ggj-o^ 

of  his  ancestral,  religion,  as  well  as  the  fate  of  a 
great  and  good  man  might  be  involved.  It  was  an  opportunity  to 
have  an  exhibition  of  legerdemain  or  necromancy,  and  this  in- 
cestuous assassin  had  no  such  weight  on  his  seared  conscience  that 
he  could  not  enjoy  any  species  of  entertainment.  He  catechised 
Jesus  in  many  ways,  endeavoring  to  draw  him  at  least  into  con- 
versation. Jesus  looked  at  him  with  that  broad  look  which  inno- 
cent manliness  gives  to  crime.  He  could  have  spoken  wliat 
would  have  riven  Ilerod,  but  he  was  silent.  The  church  party 
stood  near,  and  were  vehement  and  violent  in  their  accusations ; 
but  not  a  word  could  be  extorted  from  Jesus.  He  had  never  be- 
fore met  any  man  or  woman  or  child  to  whom  he  would  not 
speak.  There  never  was  so  great  a  sinner  that,  with  any  expres- 
sion of  contrition,  could  not  have  a  word  from  Jesus.  But  Ilerod 
lived  and  died,  probably  the  only  man  who,  having  seen  Jesus, 
never  heard  the  tones  of  his  voice  nor  a  syllable  from  his  lips. 


652  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

There  was  no  point  of  contact  between  Jesus  and  Herod.  II 
he  had  addressed  Jesus  with  any  projDcr  desire  to  know  any 

proper  thini^,  Herod  would  doubtless  have  had  a 
Jesus  speechless.  ,«  ^,  ,mi  -n-i, 

word  irom  the  great  ieacher.  rilate  was  a  time- 
serving coward,  and  Caiaphas  a  hypocritical  bigot,  but  Jesus 
talked  with  them.  Herod's  frivolous  licentiousness  had  eaten  his 
whole  manhood  out.  Fretted  by  the  profound,  the  majestic,  the 
awful  silence  of  Jesus,  Herod  and  his  military  guard  set  him  at 
naught,  and  mocked  him,  and  arrayed  him  in  a  gorgeous  robe,  and 
sent  him  back  to  Pilate.  If  we  were  writing  a  poem  instead  of  a 
history,  we  might  indulge  in  descriptions  of  the  probable  reflec- 
tions of  Herod  after  the  speechless  prophet  of  Galilee  had  gone 
out  of  his  presence.  Although  Herod  was  so  mean  that  he  could 
allow  an  uncondemned  man,  who  had  been  tortured  all  night,  to 
remain  bound  and  be  insulted  in  his  presence,  even  that  bad 
prince  did  not  have  the  heart  to  say  that  there  was  in  him  any- 
thing worthy  of  death. 

Section  7. — ^ack  to  Pilate. 

Back  to  Pilate  is  Jesus  now  sent.  We  do  not  know  whether 
Pilate  was  in  the  tower  of  Antonia,  and  Herod  occupying  the 
palace  of  his  father,  which  is  said  to  have  exceeded  the  Temple  in 
splendor,  but  in  any  case  the  distance  was  not  great.  The  troubled 
procurator  discovered  that  he  had  appeased  Herod,  but  had  not 
shifted  the  responsibility  of  this  most  perplexing  case.  When  he 
saw  Jesus  brought  back,  wearing  a  robe  of  mockery,  it  plainly 
confirmed  his  suspicion  that  the  accused  M'as  innocent.  The 
greater  part  of  his  pul^lic  life  had  been  passed  in  the  territory  of 
Herod,  who  nnist  have  known  the  fact  if  Jesus  had  been  a  sedi- 
tious person.  His  treatment  of  the  prisoner  plainly  said  that 
Herod  regarded  his  kingly  pretension  as  a  harmless  vagary,  not  fit 
to  be  treated  seriously  by  any  ruler. 

Then  Pilate  called  the  Sanhedrim  to  him  and  addressed  thein 

thus :  "  You  have  brought  this  man  to  me  as  one  who  perverts  the 

people,  a  revolutionary  demagogue.     And  see,  1 

Pilate  and  the  j^^^^.g  examined  him  in  your  presence,  and  have 
Sanhednin.  „         ^  „,.,.  ,.  ,  ^,  . 

found  no  fault  ni  this  man  touching  those  things 

whereof  you  accuse  him.   Neither  did  Herod,  for  he  sent  him  to  us ; 

and  see,  nothing  deserving  of  death  has  been  done  by  him.    I  will 


THE    SIXTH   DAr.  653 

scciiirge  and  release  liim."  It  is  quite  evident  that  Pilate  had  no 
feolings  of  malignity  against  Jesus.  He  was  really  desirous  of 
releasing  him,  while  desirous  at  the  same  time  of  pleasing  the 
Sanhedrim  as  far  as  practicable.  He  appeals  to  the  fact  that  he 
had  taken  cognizance  of  the  case  ;  had  heard  the  indictment ;  had 
openly  conducted  the  trial  in  tlieir  presence,  so  that  they  could  put 
in  any  proofs  they  thought  likely  to  convict,  and  he  had  been 
willing  to  convict,  and  had  shown  his  willingness  by  sending  the 
prisoner  to  Herod,  a  native  prince  and  a  co-religionist  of  theirs,  as 
the  ruler  in  whose  jurisdiction  the  most  of  the  life  of  Jesus  had 
been  spent,  and  where,  as  they  had  alleged,  Jesus  had  stirred  up  the 
peoj)le.  No  proof  of  seditious  behavior  had  appeared.  This  man 
might  be  a  wild  enthusiast,  but  he  was  not  a  dangerous  revolution- 
ist.    He  should  therefore  scourge  him  and  release  him. 

This  was  a  great  error,  and  most  un-Roman.  The  man  wag 
innocent  or  guilty.     If  innocent,  his  release  was  imperative ;  if 

ffuilty,  the  iudo-e  should  not  have  been  endeavor- 

°        "^  ,  .  -r-K       -r-v.i  1      11-  ^^,•      ^      A  grave  error. 

ing  to  protect  hnn.     But  Pilate  had  his  pohtical 

difficulties,  and  office  was  sweet  to  him.     Moreover,  he  may  have 

hoped  to  satisfy  the  rancor  of  the  churchmen  by  the  scourging  of 

this  young  heretic,  and  thus  spare  the  young  man's  life. 

In  the  mean  time  the  ecclesiastical  party  were  busy  with  the 
multitude,  inciting  them  to  violent  demonstration.  They  had  been 
telling  the  people  that  Jesus  had  blasphemed  before  the  Sanhe- 
drim, the  high  council  of  the  nation,  claiming  to  be  Jehovah.  It  is 
always  to  be  remembered  that  the  people  expected  the  Messiah  to 
be  a  man,  and  not  a  God,  not  even  an  angel,  certainly  not  Jehovah. 
Blasphemy  was  the  supreme  crime  in  their  code  of  ethics.  It  was 
because  Jesus  was  a  good  man,  such  a  very  good  man,  and  exer- 
cised such  great  moral  power,  that  they  regarded  him  as  about  to 
be  their  Messiah.  If,  however,  he  had  blasphemed  in  the  presence 
of  the  elders  of  his  people,  he  could  be  nothing  to  them  but  a  de- 
ceiver. The  passions  of  the  mob  were  adroitly  plied  by  these 
M-ily  and  bitter  ecclesiastics,  and  they  were  prepared  to  show  an 
outbreak  of  passionate  reactionary  feeling  against  Jesus. 

Pilate  docs  not  seem  to  have  calculated  on  this  state  of  affairs 
when  he  resolved  to  appeal  from  the  clergy  to  the 
laity,  from  the  priests  to  the  people.   He  must  have    ^^^^^  jl^^^^ 
known  something  of  the  personal  popularity  of 
the  young  prophet,  and  hoped  to   be  able  to  array  the  people 


654  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

against  their  rulers.  For  tliat  purpose,  apparently,  lie  gathered 
them  together,  and  when  they  were  assembled  they  reminded  him 
of  the  custom  which  had  added  to  the  festivity  of  the  Passover  by 
the  release  of  some  prisoner.  How  long  tliis  had  been  a  custom 
we  know  not,  nor  can  we  now  determine  whether  it  was  of  purely 
Jewish  of  purely  Homan  origin.  The  Romans  were  accustomed 
to  propitiate  conquered  peoples  by  acts  of  political  grace.  A 
parallel  between  a  malefactor  and  the  goat  slain  on  atonement- 
day  may  have  inclined  the  Israelites  to  execute  great  criminals 
on  festivals,  and  their  disposition  to  release  a  prisoner  at  the  feast 
might  be  referred  to  the  goat  which  was  let  go  free  into  the  desert. 

At  any  rate  the  custom  existed,  and  when  Pilate  came  before 
the  mob  they  broke  into  a  demand  tliat  he  should  comply  with  the 
custom,  which  gave  them  any  prisoner  they  might 
demand,  no  matter  what  his  crime.  It  seems  to 
have  flashed  upon  Pilate  as  a  bright  idea.  He  could  now  turn  this 
demand  to  the  account  of  Jesus.  He  agreed  that  it  was  the  custom, 
and  that  he  was  prepared  to  observe  it,  and  then,  that  they  might 
come  to  his  aid  against  the  priests,  he  fell  upon  another  expedient. 
There  lay  in  the  prison  at  that  moment  a  man  named  Barabbas, 
whose  general  notoriety  as  a  robber  liad  cidminated  in  an  act  of 
sedition  in  the  very  metropolis,  in  Avhich  outbreak  it  was  well 
known  that  he  had  committed  murder.  As  the  ringleader  of  the 
insurrectionists,  who  also  lay  bound  with  him,  it  ^\•as  generally 
supposed  that  on  this  day  he  would  be  crucified.  lie  had 
been  tried  and  convicted  for  the  very  crime  which  had  been 
charged  on  Jesus,  namely,  sedition.  No  one  doubted  the  guilt  of 
Barabbas,  while  no  one  could  bring  a  particle  of  proof  to  fasten 
the  char^re  on  Jesus.  The  conti-ast  was  strikino;.  Ao;reeino:  to 
observe  the  custom,  he  narrows  the  choice  to  a  selection  betw^een 
Jesus  and  Barabbas,  not  having  apparently  the  shadcnv  of  a  doubt 
that  the  popular  voice  would  at  once  release  Jesiis  from  his  peiil 
and  Pilate  from  his  perplexity. 

To  his  utter  astonishment  the  people  preferred  Barabbas. 
'     His  trouble  was  increased  at  this  moment  by  another  circum- 
stance.    It  had  formerly  been  forbidden  the  governors  of  con- 
quered provinces  to  carry  their  M'ives  with  them  t(j 

,  the  provincial  capitals.     This  rule  had  been  modi- 

dream.  , 

fied  so  as  to  allow  the  ladies  to  accompany  their 
lords,  the  governors  being  held  responsible  for  any  intrigues  or 


THE   SIXTH   DAT.  655 

derelictions  of  their  spouses.  Pilate's  Avife, — M'hose  name  as  Clau- 
dia Procla,  and  whose  fame  as  a  woman  of  devout  habits,  leaning 
kindly  to  the  religion  of  the  people  whom  her  husband  ruled,  tra 
dition  has  preserved, — moved  by  a  morning  dream,  sent  a  messengej 
to  her  husband  beseechina^  him  to  have  nothino;  to  do  ao-aiust  Jesus, 
who,  she  was  persuaded,  was  a  good  man.  The  message  came  to 
Pilate  while  he  was  on  the  judgment-seat,  and  while  he  was 
endeavoring  to  solve  the  problem  of  saving  Jesus  and  ])lacating 
the  church  party,  bent  on  his  ruin.  Worldly  man  as  he  was,  there 
was  doubtless  a  tinge  of  superstition  in  his  heart.  lie  may  have 
had  no  clear  theological  opinioTis,  no  fixed  religious  convictions, 
but  all  the  peoples  among  whom  he  had  travelled  believed  in  gods, 
and  there  was  something  in  this  prisoner  which  strangely  influ- 
enced him  ;  perliapsAe  was  a  god,  and  perhaps  the  gods  gave  warn 
ing  in  dreams.  It  may  have  occurred  to  his  recollection  what  had 
been  rife  in  Pome,  that  the  night  before  the  great  Ciiesar  was  assas- 
sinated, his  wife  Calphurnia  dreamed  that  her  husband's  bloody 
body  fell  across  her  knees.     Thus  his  perplexity  w^as  increased. 

He  could  scarcely  persuade  himself  that  the  people  had  made 
this  choice.  He  was  not  much  of  a  democrat.  He  could  not  have 
believed  that  most  monstrous  falsehood,  Yoxjpopu- 
h  vox  Dei  est.  But  a  few  days  before,  the  multi-  '^®  unstable 
tude  had  come  trooping  into  Jerusalem,  shout- 
ing preans  to  this  extraordinarily  popular  prophet.  They  certainly 
could  not  now  prefer  Barabbas  to  him,  for  Barabbas  had  made 
the  highway  dangerous  and  had  been  a  common  villain.  Moi-e- 
over,  he  had  been  condemned  for  that  of  which  their  leaders  had 
accused  Jesus.  It  is  this  which  had  made  Pilate  all  along  sus- 
picious of  the  churchmen :  they  preferred  a  political  charge  against 
Jesus,  while  he  knew  that  in  their  hearts  they  did  not  love  the 
Poman  yoke.  But  Pilate  was  giving  way.  He  had  already 
agreed  to  scourge  an  innocent  man.  They  pushed  him.  Tliey 
cried  out  "  all  at  once."  It  was  the  roar  of  what  Burke  calls  tlie 
Bellua  PojpuliLS,  that  wild  beast  the  People.  It  was  becoming 
fi-ightf ul.  "  Xot  this  man  !  "  "  Away  witli  this  fellow !  "  "  Pelcase 
Barabbas  to  us !  "  AVliat  is  the  governor  to  do  in  this  case  ?  Jesus 
is  charged  with  sedition,  and  the  Jews  are  proving  their  loyalty 
to  Pome  by  urging  liis  destruction;  but  they  are  proving  tlieir 
disloyalty  by  demanding  the  release  of  a  man  convicted  of  leading 
a  seditious  insurrection. 


656  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

Standing  on  his  judgment-seat,  before  the  tessellated  pavement, 
Pilate  demanded :    "  AVliat  shall  I  do,  then,  with  Jesus,  who  is 
called  Christ,  whom  ye  call  King  of  the  Jews  ? " 
j(.  "  Crucify  liim,  crucify  him,"  they  exclaimed.    A 

third  time  the  governor  interposed  :  "  "What  evil 
has  he  done  ?  Prove  a  caj^ital  crime.  I  have  found  no  cause  of 
death  in  him.  I  will  release  him,  after  having  scourged  him." 
But  that  proposition  did  not  pacify  them.  They  cried  out  the 
more  exceedingly,  saying,  with  loud  voices,  "Let  him  be  cru- 
cified !  "  When  the  populace  united  with  the  priests  Pilate  gave 
way.  lie  had  shown  a  weakness  of  which  the  priests,  who  hated 
him,  took  advantage.  Perhaps  he  reasoned  thus :  Things  have 
reached  such  a  pass  that  quiet  can  no  more  be  restored  without 
bloodshed.  To  release  Jesus  will  not  save  him  from  this  furious 
mob,  who  will  tear  him  in  pieces.  An  insurrection  will  be  raised. 
I  shall  be  compelled  to  call  out  the  troops.  Then  several  will 
perish.     I  shall  have  to  give  him  up ! 

The  weak  ruler  sent  for  a  ewer  of  water,  and  standing  in  his 
place  he  washed  his  hands  before  them  all,  and  again  declared 
the  innocence  of  Jesus,  but  by  this  symbolic  act 
his  hards  endeavored  to  throw  all  responsibility  from  him- 

self, saying  to  the  mob,  "  I  am  innocent  of  the 
blood  of  this  just  person  !  But  see  you  to  it !  "  The  infuriated 
multitude  answered  :  "  His  blood  be  on  us  and  on  our  children  !  " 
Then,  deceiving  himself  and  drugging  his  conscience,  Pilate  con- 
sented to  their  demand,  and  released  Barabbas  to  tliem. 

Then  Pilate  caused  Jesus  to  be  scourged.     The  Poman  scourg- 
ing surpassed  the  Hebrew  in  all  the  particulars  of  severity.     In 
the  latter  only  the  shoulders  were  bared  ;  in  tho 
"    '    former  the  whole  person  :  in  the  latter  tlie  stripes 
were  limited  to  forty,  save  one  ;  in  the  former  there  was  no  limit. 
It  was  the  punishment  given  to  a  slave.     The  stripes  of  the  hisli 
were  loaded  with  bones  or  metallic  frjigments.     The  scourging 
of  those  who  were  to  be  crucified  was  so  frightful  that  tlie  con- 
demned frequently  escaped  the  cross  by  dying  under  the  thongs. 
Then  the  soldiers  of  Pilate  took  Jesus  aAvay  into  the  common 
hall,  called  the  Praetorium,  probably  in  the  castle  of   Antonia, 
and  gathered  the  whole  company  of  the  guard, 
which  usually  numbered  about  400  men.      They 
stripped  him  again,  and  on  his  torn  and  bleeding  shoulders  put  a 


EOCE   HOMO    ABCH. 


THE   SIXTH    DAT.  657 

scarlet  robe,  probably  some  old  military  coat  from  the  wardrobe 
of  tlie  guard-room.  Then  they  plaited  a  crown  from  the  twig3 
of  some  thorny  groM'th.  It  may  have  been  the  Syrian  acacia,  the 
thorns  of  which  are  as  long  as  an  ordinary  finger.  But  we  can- 
not know  what  particular  kind  of  thorns  were  used.  It  is  cnouo-h 
that  they  intended  to  mock  him,  and  that  they  were  not  wanting 
in  cruelty.  The  more  painful  as  well  as  humiliating  the  instru- 
ment of  their  mockery,  the  more  acceptable  it  would  be.  Then 
they  put  a  reed  in  his  hand  as  a  mock  sceptre.  Then  they  knelt 
before  him  and  ridiculed  him  and  his  nation,  saying :  "  Hail ! 
King  of  the  Jews."  And  they  spat  on  liim.  He  was  bound. 
The  reed  ^^-as  laid  in  his  hands,  but  he  did  not  hold  it.  He  was 
perfectly  passive.  It  fell.  Some  of  the  guard  seized  it,  and  with 
it  drove  the  tliorn-cro\v^n  down  upon  his  head.  They  smote  and 
mocked  him,  ^-arying  their  indignities. 

Pilate  looked  on  this  wild  scene.  We  can  conjcctnre  Ws 
thoughts  from  his  actions.  He  must  have  regarded  this  whole 
affair  with  mingled  feelings  of  perplexity,  a\ve, 
and  apprehension.  He  had  never  seen  such  a  P^^^^^^  in  trouble, 
sufferer.  Most  majestic  amid  ridicule,  most  serene  amid  tor- 
tures, here  was  a  man  fit  to  be  king  anywhere.  Yet  he  had  not 
sought  to  use  his  marvellous  person^.!  influence  for  personal  ad- 
vancement, Tliere  was  Barabbas,  coarse  and  brutal,  bein^  the 
vilest  kind  of  person  and  doing  the  very  things  which  the  priests 
had  chai-gcd  upon  Jesus.  If  being  seditious  Avas  such  a  heinous 
crime  in  their  eyes,  why  should  they  not  desire  tlie  destruction  of 
Barabbas,  who  had  been  convicted  of  repeated  acts  under  cir- 
cumstances of  great  aggravation,  and  why  should  they  desire  the 
destruction  of  Jesus,  who  was  charged  with  sedition,  but  against 
whom  there  was  proved  no  single  seditious  word  or  act  ?  It  was 
a  great  ]>uzzle.  Some  other  basis  than  loyalty  to  Rome  lay  under 
this  extraordinary  zeal  of  the  priests.  Pihite  determined  to  make 
one  more  effort  to  save  the  life  of  this  wonderful  sufferer. 

Taking  Jesus,  thorn-crowned,  covered  about  with  the  old  robe 
that  burlesqued  royalty,  faint,  worn,  haggard,  as  he  must  have 
been  after  the  niglit  and  morning  of  agony  and 
torture,  he  placed  the  prisoner  once  more  before  ''^^^  Homo." 
the  people,  reasserting  his  conviction  of  the  innocence  of  Jesus. 
He  pointed  to  this  weak  and  apparently  helpless  man.  Ho 
showed  how  lonely  and  friendless  and  powerless  he  seemed. 
42 


658  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

Jerusalem  should  be  too  luagnauiinous,  and  Rome  too  lofty,  to 
crush  out  this  poor  peasant-prophet  for  fear  lie  should  become 
too  strong  for  Church  and  State.  lie  said  to  them  :  "  Ecce 
Homo  !  Behold  the  man."  As  if  he  had  said  :  "  Can  that  be  a 
dangerous  person?"  It  was  a  pathetic  appeal.  Even  Pilate's 
voice  may  have  been  unsteady  in  making  this  utterance.  But 
the  church  hate  was  not  to  be  touched.  Jesus  was  to  be  de- 
stroyed. "  Crucify  him  !  Crucify  him  !  Give  him  the  extreme 
punishment  of  a  slave,"  they  cried.  Pilate  said :  "  Take  you 
him  and  crucify  him  ;  for  I  find  no  fault  in  him." 

The  crafty  priests,  determined,  if  possible,  to  make  Pilate  a 
tool  in  their  hands  by  inducing  him  to  acknowledge  their  verdict, 
making  him  thus  not  a  judge  in  a  court  of  ori- 
Pi  a  e  grows  ^j^^^j  jurisdiction,  but  a  mere  recorder  of  their 
authoritative  decisions,  said  to  Pilate :  "We  have 
a  law,  and  according  to  the  law  he  ought  to  die,  because  he  made 
himself  the  Son  of  God."  AVliat  definite  idea  this  last  phrase 
conveyed  to  the  mind  of  pagan  Pilate  m'C  cannot  tell,  but  the 
whole  statement  made  his  soul  afraid.  He  was  growing  weaker 
and  more  superstitious.  He  went  back  into  the  judgment-hall 
and  sent  for  Jesus  and  said  to  him :  "  AVhence  are  you  %  "  The 
wonderful  prisoner,  who  had  uttered  no  complaint,  and  showed 
no  nervousness,  and  seemed  to  take  less  interest  in  the  whole 
tragedy  than  any  spectator,  held  his  peace.  "What!"  said  Pi- 
late, "  do  you  not  s|»eak  t(j  me  ?  Do  you  not  know  that  I  have 
power  to  crucify  you,  and  power  to  release  you?"  Jesus  an- 
SAvered :  "You  could  have  no  power  against  me,  unless  it  were 
given  you  from  above  ;  on  this  account  he  who  has  delivered  me 
to  you  has  the  greater  sin."  In  the  judgment  of  Jesus,  Caiaphas 
is  worse  than  Pilate. 

All  this  increased  in  Pilate  a  desire  to  release  Jesus.  The  pris- 
oner was  guilty  of  no  crime,  was  apparently  capable  of  no  dis- 
turbance, had  no  marks  of  wickedness  in  his 
Je!i^^*°"^^^'^  history  or  his  manners,  had  been  very  popular 
with  the  masses  in  the  rural  districts,  had  dis- 
played the  most  extraordinary  composure  during  a  period  of 
extraordinary  peril,  had  the  reputation  of  a  miracle-worker,  had 
excited  the  dreams  of  Claudia  Procla,  had  called  himself  the  Son 
of  God,  and  was  manifestly  the  object  of  intense  hatred  on  the 
part  of  the  priesthood.     Again  Pilate  sought  to  release  Jesus 


THE    SIXTH    DAT.  659 

J  Jut  the  churclimen  had  kejt  their  strongest  form  of  argument  for 

their  last.     They  return  to  the  political  aspect  of  the  affair,  and 

])ut  it  before  Pilate  thus :  "  If  you  release  this  man  you  are  not  Cae- 

gar's  friend  :  whoever  makes  himself  a  king  speaks  against  Csesar." 

The  phi-ase  "  Csesar's  friend,"  Amicus  Ccesaris,  had  not  only 

the  ordinary  signification  of  the  words,  but  was  a  title  of  honor 

which  the  Emperors  were  accustomed  to  bestow 

,,     .  ,    ,.  T  1  •         -    J     Caesar's  friend, 

upon  their  representatives  ruhng  over  subjugated 

peoples.  It  was  a  most  ingenious  way  of  putting  the  case.  It 
struck  Pilate  on  liis  weakest  side.  He  was  a  lover  of  place,  an 
office-seeker,  who  considered  the  loss  of  his  political  position  the 
gi-eatest  misfortune,  as  is  shown  in  the  fact  that  when  that  did 
befall  him  he  retired  to  Gaul  and  committed  suicide.  The  priests 
knew  their  man,  and  Pilate  knew  how  insecurely  already  he  held 
his  seat,  and  that  such  an  accusation,  if  pressed  with  show  of  evi- 
dence, would  be  his  ruin  at  Pome.  Tiberius  was  suspicious. 
Pilate  had  been  closeted  with  Jesus.  The  trial  had  been  infor- 
mal. They  now  had  much  to  show.  If  he  had  only  taken  the 
strong  and  dignified  position  which  became  an  Imperial  Procura- 
tor, and  released  Jesus  as  soon  as  he  was  convinced  that  he  waa 
innocent,  and  began  to  feel  perhaps  that  he  "vvas  divine,  Pilate 
would  have  saved  himself ;  but  he  had  vacillated  so  long  and 
grown  so  weak  that  this  last  push  toppled  him  from  all  his  intel- 
lectual and  moral  proprieties.     He  fell. 

Jesus  was  brought  forth  and  placed  in  the  judgment-seat,  in 
what  was  called  the  Pavement,  from  the  tessellated  jjavement  in 
front  of  the  iudo-e,  and  in  Hebrew  Gabbatha,  the 
ot,.™oIog,oLr,iehisnot,„itceW.  TheW  J"-  — 
mal  ceremonials  of  a  trial  were  now  resumed. 
Pilate  was  going  to  condemn  Jesus ;  but,  enraged  at  the  defeat  of 
his  efforts  to  release  him,  he  called  the  attention  of  the  Jewish 
leaders  to  the  pale  and  poor  prisoner  at  the  bar,  and  said  in  de- 
rision, "  Behold  your  king  ! "  But  they  called  out,  "  Away, 
away,  crucify  him  ! "  Still  taunting  them,  knowing  that  by  pro- 
nouncing the  sentence  he  should  be  secure  at  Rome,  and  venting 
I  lis  rage  on  them  he  said,  "  Shall  I  crucify  your  king  ?  "  They 
answered,  "  We  have  no  king  but  Caesar !  " 

It  was  the  shriek  of  a  dying  nationality.  Their  earliest  ances- 
tors had  lived  under  a  theocracy  whose  king  had  held  court  in  a 
pillar  of  flame  and  or.  the  top  of  rocking  Sinai.     They  had  had 


660  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

no  king  but  Jehovah.     Their  descendants  had  had  snch  kings  as 
the  great  David  and  the  super-splendid  Solomon.     This  very  gen- 
eration of  men,  who  were  howling  around  a  pagan 

i-x^^"^    "*'    court-house  to  secure  tlie  condemnation  of  Jesus, 
tionality.  .  . 

had  had  hopes  of  a  theocratic  Messiah.  But 
tlieir  thirst  for  innocent  blood  was  uncontrollable.  They  throw 
up  all  hopes  of  the  future  as  they  did  all  traditions  of  the  past. 
They  lifted  the  casket  that  contained  the  treasure  of  their  nation- 
ality and  flung  it  into  the  maelstrom  of  the  Roman  dominion. 
"  "We  have  no  king  but  Caesar."  The  nationality  of  Abraham  and 
David  and  Solomon  and  the  Maccabees  was  surrendered  in  spirit, 
as  it  had  been  captured  in  form,  to  an  imperialism  whose  repre- 
sentative was  the  dark,  suspicious,  cruel,  and  debased  Tiberius. 
"  We  have  no  king  but  Caesar  !  "  Judaism's  "  loyalty  "  was  Ju- 
daism's doom.  So  perishes  every  church  and  people  and  man 
that  will  "  have  no  king  but  Caesar." 

Then  Pilate  sealed  their  fate  and  his  own  by  delivering  Jesus 
to  be  crucified.     What  the  precise  form  of  sen- 
tence was  in  this  case  we  cannot  now  know.    The 
usual  formula  was,  "Ibis  ad  crucem,"  "  Go  "to  the  cross." 

Section  8. — The  Last  of  Judas. 

I  think  it  is  most  probable  that  tliis  is  the  point  at  which  Judas 
reappears.     The  condemnation  by  the  Sanhedrim  would  not  have 

aroused  him,  on  any  theory  of  his  motives.     If 

His  hopes  and    i  .jt  j.ti  t. 

.  he  expected  Jesus  to  display  superhuman  power 

and  deliver  himself  it  was  not  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  this  would  occur  until  he  was  placed  in  extremis^  aftei 
his  condemnation  by  the  Roman  authorities.  The  verdict  of  the 
ecclesiastical  council  could  have  little  terror  for  any  disciple  of 
Jesus,  and  every  Jew  knew  that  it  could  not  issue  in  capital  pun- 
ishment without  the  sanction  of  the  procurator.  But  Judas,  who 
seems  to  have  been  with  Peter  in  the  palace  of  tlie  high-priest, 
most  probably  watched  every  movement  of  all  the  parties,  and  as 
Pilate  or  the  priest  had  seemed  to  have  the  better  of  the  argument 
the  hopes  or  fears  of  Judas  had  risen  or  fallen. 

But  now,  when  he  plainly  saw  that  Jesus  had  received  the  con- 
demnation of  the  church,  and  the  sentence  had  been  ratified  by 
the  State,  and  that  "  the  Master  "  did  not  pass  out  of  their  midst, 
but  had  submitted  to  scourging  and  mockery  and  insult,  and  waa 


THE    SIXTH    DAT.  ggj 

apparently  not  going  to  put  forth  any  effort  for  his  own  rescue 
Judas  felt  the  whole  ground  give  way  under  him.     Tlie  one  huo-e 
dark  fact  fell  on  his  whole  superstructure  of  rea- 
sonings and  it  fell.     He  was    smitten  with  re-      .T^e&^^ound 
morse.     He  had  expected  no  such  issue  of  his    ^'^^^  ^''"'^' 
conduct.     As  by  a  flash  of  lightning  in  a  tempestuous  midnight  a 
precipice  is  discovered  by  the  ti-aveller  to  be  at  his  very  feet,  so 
JiKlas  now  suddenly  saw  the  abysses  of  horrible  meanings  wliich 
were  in  the  words  that  Jesus  had  spoken  at  the  Sui)per  concern- 
ing his  betrayer.     The  whole  of  the  beautiful,  beneficent  life  of 
Jesus  rose  up  before  him.     He  reviewed  all  the  personal  kindness 
and   forbearance   he   had  received  from  the  Galihiian  prophet. 
There  was  nothing  in  the  whole  character  or  life  of  Jesus  which 
Judas  could  recollect  as  being  any  mitigation  of  the  offence  of 
betraying  him.     If  Jesus  had  ever  done  a  wrong,  or  spoken  a 
word  which  could  warrant  the  suspicion  that  he  might  in  some 
way  be  injurious  to  the  people,  Judas  would  have  employed  it  as 
an  argument  to  justify  himself  to  himself.     But  the  life  of  Jesus 
was  faultless,  even  Judas  being  judge.     He  probably  felt  that 
this  death  was  to  be  a  martyrdom  so  conspicuous  that  it  would  be 
seen   by  far-off  generations,  and  that  his  o^vn  name  would    be 
taught  to  the  children  of  men  from  age  to  age  as  the  synonym  of 
treachery. 

It  WHS  too  much  for  him.     He  had  had  two  days  and  nights  of 
intensest  anxiety.     He  gave  way  under  it  all.     He  rushed  into 
the  midst  of  the  cruel  churchmen,  now  ready  to 
despise  their  base  instrument,  seeing  that  they       ^®  returns  to 
had  gained  their  end.     They  were  probably  ar-    *^^  ^'''^^*'' 
ranging  for  the  crucifixion  in  the  same  chamber  in  which  he  had 
first  met  them,  when  the  plan  for  designating  and  an-esting  Jesus 
was  concocted.     How  gladly  they  received  a  recreant  discTple  of 
Jesus  in  the  time  of  their  political  perplexity,  and  how  courteous 
they  were  to  him  so  long  as  they  hoped  to  get  anything  out  of 
him,  and  how  glumly  they  met  him  when  he  came  back  corroded 
with  remorse!      He  acknowledged  his   guilt,  hoping   somehow 
vaguely  that  it  would  cover  the  case  and  avert  the  fate  of  Jesus. 
He  shrieked  in  their  hearing,  "I  have  simied,  in  that  I  have  be- 
trayed innocent  blood  !  "     He  seemed  to  think  that  his  confession 
might  convince  them  that  the  whole  proceeding  was  wrong,  and 
that  they  would  probably  take  measures  to  secure  a  re^'ersal  of 


662  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

the  sentence,  wliicli  lie  perceived  Pilate  would  be  most  ready  to 
grant.  But  he  did  not  understand  the  men  in  whose  service  he 
had  enlisted.  Their  cold  reply  was,  "  What  is  that  to  us  ?  Do 
you  see  to  it."  It  was  ccruched  in  curter  words  than  the  English 
can  well  put  it :  "  What  to  us  ?     You  see ! " 

They  were  not  seeking  justice  and  judgment :  he  was  a  fool  if 
he  thought  so.     They  wanted  to  kill  a  man  who 

-    J  was  in  their  way ;  that  was  all :  his  being  iimoceut 

or  guilty  was  nothing.  They  had  needed  Judas 
as  a  tool ;  that  was  all :  they  had  used  him,  and  now  flung  him 
away. 

His  guilty  solitude  was  thus  manifested  to  Judas.     God  and 

man.  Church  and  State,  seemed  turning  against  him.     He  went 

into  the  Temple,  which  was  now  deserted.     The  priests  were 

away,  and  the  worshippers.     The  fate  of  the  Galilsean  prophet 

kept  all  Jerusalem  intent  and  absorbed.     His  dread  loneliness 

came  down  on  the  betrayer  like  a  crushing  despair.     He  walked 

into  tlie  holy  place,  where  none  but  the  priests  should  go.     He 

was  alone  with  the  great  God,  but  lost  to  all  distinctions  between 

sacred  and  profane.     He  was  desolate,  darkened,  and  doomed. 

The  bag  with  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  was  in  his  hand.     He 

flung  it  down  in  the  sanctuary  ;  flung  away  the  remembrancer  of 

his   guilty  error ;  flung  down,  for  the  priests  to 

™  gaze  upon,  the  proof  of  the  utter  uno-odliness  of 

money  away.  ... 

proscriptive  churchism.  Then  he  rushed  out  to 
some  desert  j^lace,  and,  all  shattered,  the  wretched  man  met  a 
clouded  fate,  the  record  of  which  by  the  biographers  of  Jesus  only 
serves  to  confound  our  speculations  as  to  the  precise  mode  of  his 
death.  His  life  went  out  in  a  tumultuous,  nameless  anguish  and 
horror. 

In  the  gallery  of  the  Apostolic  portraits  a  rumpled  black  cloth 
falls  down  over  the  face  of  Judas. 

When  the  ecclesiastics  learned  that  the  money  was  in  the  Tem- 
ple, the  scrupulous  murderers  were  sorely  perplexed.  The  killing 
of  Jesus  was  not  so  much  matter  for  their  consciences ;  but  here 
was  a  question  for  careful  ritualists  to  study.  Here  was  money 
which  it  would  not  be  correct  to  waste,  and  which  by  i;crtain 
interpretations  of  the  law  could  not  be  put  directly  to  tlie  pur- 
poses of  the  sanctuary.  They  devised  a  method.  There  was  a 
piece  of  ground — of  little  importance,  having  been  spoiled  for 


THE    SIXTH   DAT. 


663 


cultivation  by  the  potteries— adjoining  the  Ilill  of  Evil  C  mnsel, 
on  which  Caiaphas  liad  a  country-seat,  in  which  it  is  said  that  the 
death  of  Jesus  had  been  resolved  upon.  This  pother's  Fieli. 
they  bought  with  the  money  Judas  returned, 
and  named  it  Aceldama,  and  dedicated  it  to  the  interment  of 
strangers,  that  is,  of  such  pagans  as  became  proselytes  to  Judaism, 
for  they  were  too  scrupuk)us  to  mingle  tlie  dust  of  believers  who 
were  only  converts  with  that  of  the  sons  of  Abraham. 

Section  9. —  Going  to  CaUary. 

After  other  mockings  they  took  the  robe  from  Jesus,  and  re- 
placed his  own  garments,  and  led  him  away  to  crucify  him.     It 

was  a  part  of  the  i)unishment  that  the  convicted  . 

i  1  Beaxing  the  cross, 

person  should  bear  his  own  cross.  Jesus  was  no 
exception.  The  cross  was  not  that  huge  combination  of  timber 
usually  imagined  and  put  into  pictures.  A  man  of  ordinary 
strength  would  have  little  difficulty  in  carrying  it;  but  Jesus 
had  passed  through  so  mucli  anguish  of  mind  and  torture  of  body 
that  his  strength  failed  him.  He  does  not  appear  to  have  been  a 
person  of  prodigious  powers  of  endurance,  but  rather  a  man  of 
delicate  organization.  When  he  fell  under  the  cross  the  proces- 
sion met  a  man  coming  from  the  country.  It  was  odd  that  he 
should  be  moving  in  a  contrary  way  wlien  all  the  people  had  been 
profoundly  interested  in  this  tragic  affair,  and  were  pouring  along 
the  streets  to  see  what  might  be  its  issue,  lie  happened  at  the 
juncture  needed.  Eoman  and  Jew  equally  were  too  proud  to  do 
this  menial  and  degrading  service. 

This  man,  whose  name  was  Simon,  came  frt)m  Cyrene,  in  xVfri- 
can  Libya,  where  many  Jews  resided,  who  supported  a  synagogue 

in  Jerusalem.     Whether  he  had  come  to  Jerusa- 

•  1     1     1  The  Cyrenian. 

lem  to  the  festival,  or  had  lately  resided  there,  we 

camutt  tell.  It  is  not  probable  that  he  was  a  disciple  of  Jesus ; 
but  it  is  not  improbable  that,  coming  suddenly  upon  this  procession, 
and  seeing  three  men  bearing  their  own  crosses,  and  one — paler 
and  more  delicate  than  the  others— lying  prone  beneath  a  load  he 
had  not  strength  to  carry,  Simon  should  have  uttered  some  excla- 
mation of  natural  pity.  It  was  eiKjugh  to  suggest  and  warrant  a 
military  impressment.  They  made  him  bear  the  cross  of  Jesus. 
The  artists  have  generally  misled  us  as  to  the  appearance  of  one 


664  THE   LAST    WEEK. 

crucified,  and  tlic  structure  of  the  cross.     It  is  not  known  how 
early  the  mode  of  capital  punishment  by  crucifixion  was  adopt- 
ed.    Traces  of  the  cross  have  been  found  among 
j,^.Qgg  the   Scythians,  Persians,  Egyptians,  Carthagini- 

ans, Greeks,  and  Komaus.  It  was  not  a  Hebrew 
mode.  The  corpse  of  a  criminal  who  had  been  executed  might 
be  hung  upon  a  tree,  but  even  then  it  was  not  permitted  to  re- 
main all  night  (Deut.  xxi,  22,  23).  Jesus  suffered  the  extreme 
})unishment  dealt  by  Romans  to  slaves  Avho  had  been  convicted  of 
a  capital  offence.  There  were  three  kinds  of  crosses :  the  ct'ux 
decussaia,  X  ;  the  crux  commissa,  T  ;  and  the  crux  immissa,  -j". 
The  cross  on  which  Jesus  died  is  represented  by  tradition  to  have 
been  the  crux  imonissa.  The  upi-ight  piece  was  made  just  long 
enough  to  hold  the  body  a  few  inches  from  tlie  ground,  and  to  be 
sufficiently  in  the  ground  to  suj^port  itself  and  its  burden.  There 
was  no  support  for  the  feet,  as  the  painters  now  make  in  the  pic- 
tures, but  on  the  upright  part  was  a  projection,  or  seat,  on  which 
the  weight  of  the  body  rested.  It  would  have  torn  the  hands  and 
feet  fearfully  if  the  whole  weight  of  the  body  had  depended,  as 
Jeremy  Taylor  says,  '*'  on  four  great  wounds." 

After  Jesus  had  been  relieved  of  the  burden  of  the  cross  by 
Simon  the  Cyrenian,  the  procession  moved  forward.  It  was  the 
custom  for  the  heralds  to  carry  the  accusation  of  each  convict 
before  him,  written  on  a  tablet  whitened  with  gypsum.  Some 
such  epigraph,  we  suppose,  was  carried  before  Jesus,  as  it  was 
afterwards  nailed  to  the  cross.  The  procession  grew  as  it  pro- 
ceeded. People  came  forth  of  tlieir  houses.  A  great  company 
of  persons  had  gathered,  and  there  were  many  women  among 
them,  drawn  together  by  the  strange  curiosity 
„  T        1    °  which  is  felt  to  see  those  who  are  about  to  die. 

01  Jerusalem. 

These  women,  without  special  sympathy  Avith 
Jesus  as  a  religious  teacher,  but  having  their  womanly  compas- 
sions stirred  by  seeing  the  sufferings  of  a  man  whose  appearance 
contrasted  with  that  of  the  robbers,  who  were  also  carrying  their 
crosses  to  the  place  of  crucifixion,  broke  out  into  bewailing 
lamentations.  It  was  a  touch  of  nature.  The  men  were  all 
against  him.  The  temper  of  the  mob  was  opposed  to  any  pity  for 
him.  These  women  did  not  love  him  as  tenderly  as  Mary  of 
Bethany,  as  passionately  as  Mary  of  ^Rlagdala ;  but  they  were 
women,  and  women  instinctively  know  the  true  man ;  and  they 


THE   SLSTn   DAT. 


665 


wept.  It  moved  Jesus.  It  was  the  only  incident  on  the  way  to 
the  crucilixion  wliich  seems  to  liave  arrested  his  attention.  lie 
said  nothing  when  he  fell  beneath  the  cross.  He  said  nothing 
when  they  lifted  it  from  his  shoulder  and  gave  it  to  Simon.  But 
who  can  bear  a- woman's  tears?  Jesus  turned  and  said. to  them, 
•' Daughters  of  Jerusalem,  weep  not  for  me,  but  weep  for  your- 
selves, and  for  your  children ;  for  see !  the  days  are  coming  in 
which  they  shall  sa}',  'Happy  are  the  barren,  and  the  wombs  that 
bare  not,  and  the  breasts  that  suckled  not.'  Then  shall  they  begin 
to  say  to  the  mountains,  '  Fall  on  us ; '  and  to  the  hills,  '  Cover  us.' 
For  if  they  do  these  things  in  the  green  tree,  what  shall  be  done 
in  the  dry  ?  " 

The  spirit  of  prophecy  came  upon  him.     He  seemed  to  see 
what  would  occur  on  that  spot  forty  years  afterwards.     Touched 

by  the  womanlv  tribute  of  tears,  he  did  n(:»t  rciect     _  ,     . 

•'  "  J  J  Jesus  prophesies. 

tlie  proffered  sympathy,  but  seemed  to  feel  that 
he  was  gazing  into  the  eyes  of  now  happy  young  mothers  whose 
old  age  should  be  crushed  by  a  catastrophe  of  the  most  over- 
whelming character.  lie  forgot  his  grief  in  theirs.  Beyond  his 
cross  and  sepulchre  he  saw  the  Koman  investment  of  the  holy 
city,  the  siege,  the  suffering,  the  horrors,  starving  mothers  snatch- 
ing food  out  of  the  mouths  of  their  own  children,  and  other  starv- 
ing mothers  killing  and  roasting  and  eating  their  own  offspring ; 
while  men  and  women  and  children  went  creeping  through  sub- 
terranean passages  and  foulest  sewers;  and  others,  fleeing,  hid 
themsehes  in  crevices  of  mountain  rocks  from  the  storm  which 
was  sweeping  Jerusalem.  This  address  to  the  women  was  the  last 
utterance  of  patriotism  which  came  from  the  mouth  of  Jesus. 

He  was  then  brought  to  a  place  which  was  called  Golgotha  in 
the  Hebrew  tongue,  meaning  "  Skull."  '''^  The  site  of  the  true 
Calvary  has  of  late  years  been  a  subject  of  pro- 
found interest  to  topographers.  That  the  present 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is  over  the  i)lace  where  Jesus  died, 
as  it  is  professed,  cannot  be  believed  by  those  who  examine  the 


Golgotha. 


*  "  Golgotha  means  Skull,  and  the 
place  is  not  called  Kpayiuy  roiros,  i.  <?. , 
place  of  skulls,  but  Kpaviov,  i.  e.,  skull. 
Luke  usesKpoj/fou." — Lange. 

The  word  "Calvary"  occurs  in  our 
authorized  version    only    once.    Luke 


xxiii.  33,  and  there  it  is  not  a  proper 
name  in  the  original,  but  was  adopted 
literally  by  our  translators.  The  He- 
brew Golgotha,  the  Greek  Kranion,  and 
the  Latin  Calsaria  all  mean  the  same 
thing,  a  skull. 


666 


THE   LAST   WEEK. 


history  and  the  spot  free  from  the  influence  of  tradition.  Toe 
much  stress  has  been  laid  on  the  erection  of  a  lasiUca  on  this  spot 
in  the  early  centuries.  Churches  may  have  been  built  to  com- 
memorate fa('ts  when  there  was  no  intent  to  designate  sites,  as  we 
know  that  the  Church  of  the  Ascension,  built  by  the  Empress 
Helena,  is  not  within  sight  of  the  spot  from  which  Jesus  ascended. 
The  true  site  must  meet  all  the  conditions  of  the  history.  These 
are  six,  namely  :  1.  It  was  without  the  then  existing  walls  of  Je- 
rusalem, Matt,  xxvii.  31,  22 ;  xxviii.  11 ;  and  Paul  in  Hebrews 
xiii.  12.  2,  It  was  near  the  city,  John  xix.  20.  3.  It  was  popu- 
larly known  as  "  The  Skull,"  Matt,  xxvii.  33 ;  Mark  xv.  22 ;  Luke 
xxiii.  33  ;  John  xix.  27.  4.  It  was  near  a  gate  to  a  leading  thor- 
oughfare. Matt,  xxvii.  39;  Mark  xv.  29;  Luke  xxiii.  26.  5.  It  was 
a  conspicuous  spot,  Matt,  xxvii.  55;  Mark  xv.  40;  Luke  xxiii.  49. 
6.  It  was  near  sepulchres  and  gardens,  John  xix.  38-42.  Kot  one 
of  these  propositions  can  be  affirmed  of  the  spot  on  which  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Scjnilchre  stands,  which  is  a  low  place  in- 
side the  old  walls,  off  the  thoroughfares,  and  wlicre  no  tombs  would 
be  allowed.  All  these  six  particulars  meet  in  an  elevation  called 
the  Grotto  of  Jeremiah,  a  short  distance  north  of  the  Damascus 
Gate.  It  is  outside  the  city.  It  is  near.  It  is  conspicuously 
shaped  like  a  skull,  and  from  almost  every  point  of  view  reminds 
the  beholders  of  a  skull.  It  is  near  what  is  still  the  entrance  to 
the  great  thoroughfare  from  the  north  of  Judaea  and  all  Upper 
Syi'ia.  It  can  be  seen  fi-om  almost  every  elevation  about  Jerusa- 
lem, and  looks  down  on  hills  that  look  down  on  the  modern  Church 
of  the  Sepulchre.  According  to  Josephus,  it  was  a  place  of  tombs 
and  gardens ;  and  even  now  "  the  number  of  rock  tombs  at  this 
place,  and  the  extent  and  beauty  of  some  of  them,  impress  the 
stranger  with  the  wealth  and  splendor  of  the  ancient  Jewish  capi- 
tal."    (Dr.  Porter's  Iland-hook,  i.  93.)* 

When  they  reached  the  spot,  before  proceeding  to  crucify  him, 
they  offered  liim  a  drink  composed  of  sour  wine,  in  which  myrrh 
had  been  dissolved.  There  seems  no  proof  that 
this  was  a  Homan  custom.  Lightfoot  quotes  from 
the  Talmud :  "  To  those  that  were  to  be  executed  they  gave  a 
grain  of  myrrh  infused  in  Avine  to  drink,  that  their  senses  might 


The  sour  wine. 


*  See  True  Site  of  Calvary,  by  Mr. 
Fisher  Howe,  published  by  A.  D.  F. 
Randolph  &  Co.,  New  York,  a  capital 


treatise  on  this  whole  question,  contain- 
ing much  authority  in  support  of  the 
position  taken  in  the  text  above. 


THE    SIXTH    DAY.  C67 

be  dulled  ,  as  it  is  said, '  Give  strong  drink  to  them  that  are  ready 
to  die,  and  wine  to  those  that  are  of  a  sorrowful  heart.' "     But 
this  narcotic  Jesus  refused.     He  would  have  nothing  to  dim  the 
clearness  of  his  vision  or  enfeeble  the  vigor  of  his  intellect. 
Then  they  crucified  him. 

Section  10. — From  Nine  o'clock  to  Noon. 

It  was  now  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Friday,  7th  of 
April. 

On  each  side  of  him  was  a  thief  crucified.     It  does  not  appear 

that  Jesus  was  submitted  to  any  torture  beyond  that  which  was 

inseparable  from   crucifixion,  and  beyond   what 
,  ,  ,  T  1        TT-      1     •  -x!     1  Jesiis  praya  for 

the  two  thieves  endured,  iiis  l)eing  crucmea  j^jg  tormeutors. 
with  them  may  have  been  intended  as  an  indig- 
nity ;  but  perhaps  simply  came  to  pass  because  it  was  customary 
to  have  executions  at  this  feast.  His  disciples  declared  tliat  in 
that  fact  was  a  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  in  Isaiah  (liii.  12),"  He 
was  numbered  with  the  transgressors."  AVliile  his  executioners 
were  performing  their  work,  Jesus  prayed  for  them :  "  Father, 
forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do."  It  was  touching 
and  characteristic.  He  does  not  say,  "I  forgive  you."  That 
would  be  to  allude  too  distinctly  to  the  wrongs  he  was  suffering. 
He  thought  of  their  guilt,  not  his  own  sufferings.  It  was  a  prayer 
of  pure  unselfishness. 

When  they  had  set  up  the  cross  they  sat  down  to  watch  it,  as 
their  duty  was.     The  usage  was  to  crucify  convicts  naked,  and 

the  clothinoj  fell  to  the  executioners  as  a  perqui- 

XI  p    T  111  T  n«      1  The  seamless 

Bite.     In  the  case  or  Jesus  tliey  had  no  diihculty     garment. 

with  his  outer  garments,  but  when  they  came  to 
his  inmost  article  of  dress  they  found  it  a  strange  fabric,  witliout 
a  seam,  woven  throughout.  It  may  have  been  the  product  of  ma- 
ternal love.  It  may  have  been  the  handiwork  of  the  tender  and 
loving  Mary  of  Lethany,  or  the  passionate  Mary  of  ]\Iagdala. 
ilow  little  did  love  think,  as  love's  fingers  Avove  it,  to  what  tor- 
ture the  precious  body  it  was  to  cover  should  finally  come.  There 
was  something  about  it  which  made  even  rude  Roman  soldiers 
pause.  They  determined  not  to  tear  it ;  and  so  cast  lots.  Again 
his  disciples  saw  a  prophecy  fulfilled.  In  Psalm  xxii.  IG,  IS,  it 
is  said,   "  The  assembly  of  the  wicked  have  enclosed  me ;  they 


668  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

pierced  mj  hands  and  my  feet.  They  part  my  garments  among 
them,  and  cast  lots  for  my  vesture."  This  their  loving  hearts  ap- 
plied to  Jesns. 

When  Pilate  felt  himself  compelled  to  sentence  Jesus  he  made 
out  the  accusation  on  which  he  had  condemned  him.     This  iuia 

Th  ii"-r  h  pi'ohably  been  carried  before  Jesus,  and  was  now 
attached  to  the  cross  over  his  head.  It  was  writ- 
ten in  Hebrew,  and  in  Greek,  and  in  Latin — in  the  language  of 
the  populace,  of  the  cultivated  foreigners,  and  of  the  Eoman 
officials.     It  was  this  : — 

"JESUS  OF  NAZARETH,  THE  KING  OF  THE  JEWS." 

The  Homan  judge  thus  decided  that  Jesus  had  no  guilt ;  that 

notliing  had. been  substantiated  against  him;  for  this  is  no  crime 

„       ,        ,.  ,    that  his  name  should  be   Jesns,  that  he  should 
Cffisar  s  verdict,      ,  /        ^ 

either  have  been  born  or  have  lived  in  Nazareth, 
that  he  should  have  been  literally  or  somehow  figuratively  a  king 
of  the  Jews.  It  is  the  assertion  of  Caesar's  government  that  Jesus 
was  without  crime.  Personally  to  Pilate  it  was  more.  It  was  a 
gratification  to  be  able  to  fling  this  slur  in  the  faces  of  the  persis- 
tent ecclesiastics  who  had  coerced  him.  It  is  as  if  lie  had  said, 
"  This  poor  forlorn  peasant,  hanging  on  this  cross,  is  good  enough 
king  for  these  Jews."  Or  it  might  mean,  "  They  said  they  would 
have  no  king  but  CoBsar :  I  ci'ucify  Jesus :  if  he  be  their  king  he 
is  a  dead  king,  and  the  nails  by  which  I  fasten  him  to  the  cross 
bind  them  to  their  rejection  of  all  kings  but  Caesar." 

The  high-priests  were  not  slow  to  see  this.  They  chose,  not- 
withstanding their  averment  that  they  would  have  no  king  but 
Caesar,  to  leave  that  question  open.  They  were  very  loyal  eccle- 
siastics, and  the  history  of  the  world  shows  how  far  such  men  are 
to  be  trusted.  Pilate  had  no  faith  in  them.  They  rushed  back 
to  his  palace,  where  he  must  have  sat  moody  over  the  events  of 
the  da}'  in  which  he  had  played  so  conspicuous  and  disagreeable  a 
part.  They  called  his  attention  to  the  character  of  the  epigraph 
on  the  cross.  They  prayed  him  to  change  it,  at  least  so  as  to  show 
that  it  was  only  a  claim  set  up  by  Jesus.  His  surly  answer  was, 
"  What  I  have  written,  I  have  written."  With  that  he  dismissed 
them. 

Crucifixion  was  a  tedious  mode  of  execution.  The  soldiers 
took  out  their  implements  for  gaming  and  sat  down  to  play  while 


THE    SIXTU   DAY.  660 

they  keep  guard  over  the  crucified.  At  ahiiost  every  public  cxo- 
cution  there  are  displays  of  bitter  feeling  and  outbreaks  of  o-rim 
humor.  It  is  not  a  means  of  grace  to  see  a  fello-w- 
being  tortured,  however  guilty.  The  ci-oss  was  set  '^''^"'  ''^'^^'^• 
up  beside  a  tborouglifare.  Those  who  passed  by  saw  it.  Some  one 
of  these  recollected  what  had  been  testified  at  the  trial,  so  called, 
and  he  wagged  his  head  and  taunted  Jesus,  saying,  "  You  Mho  de- 
stroy the  Temple,  and  build  it  in  three  days,  save  yourself,  if  you 
are  the  Son  of  God,  and  come  down  from  the  cross."  This  revib 
ing  was  not  confined  to  the  lower  populace.  The  chief  priests 
took  it  up,  and  probably  walking  in  front  of  the  cross,  or  stand- 
ing near  enough  for  Jesus  to  hear,  they  said  among  themselves, 
not  addressing  him,  "He  saved  others;  he  cannot  save  himself. 
If  he  be  the  Messiah,  let  him  save  himself.  He  is  the  kino-  of  Is- 
rael! Let  him  now  come  down  from  the  cross,  and  we  will  be- 
lieve on  him.  lie  trusted  in  God ;  let  Ilim  now  deliver  him,  if 
He  will ;  for  he  said,  'I  am  Son  of  God.'  " 

The  spirit  of  re^•iling  spread  itself.  The  Eoman  soldiers,  hav- 
ing no  ecclesiastical  bias  and  no  theological  views,  began-  to  echo 
the  taunt  of  the  populace  and  the  priests.  They 
offered  him  vinegar  to  drink.  They  mocked.  S^^«y°^™«l^- 
They  also  said,  "  If  you  are  the  king  of  the  Jews,  save  yourself." 
That  apparently  forlorn  and  helpless  peasant-prophet  on  the  cross 
made  great  contrast  with  Cajsar's  grandeur  on  the  Palatine  Hill 
in  Rome,  and  with  the  barbaiic  splendor  of  some  of  the  kings 
these  soldiers  had  helped  to  conquer.  The  soldiers  said  to  him 
directly,  "If  you  are  the  king  of  the  Jews,  save  youi-self."  They 
would  like  to  see  him  do  it.  It  would  be  a  niarvel  to  see  a  man 
disengage  himself  from  the  cross.  If  he  should  attempt  it,  he 
would  find  Eoman  valor  superior  to  any  legerdemain  or  terrify- 
ing magic.  If  the  Jews  around  these  soldiers  were  not  utterly 
obtuse,  they  must  have  felt  that  this  insult  reacted  upon  them  in 
their  civil  and  their  ecclesiastical  positions.  These  rude  warriors 
from  the  Tiber  \vere  stamping  out  their  State  and  their  Church 
in  Jesus. 

Even  one  of  the  thieves,  in  the  recklessness  Avhich  often  befalls 
men  who  are  about  to  pei-ish,  began  his  raillery. 
"If  you  are  the  Messiah,"  said \e,"  save  youi--    ^ J^^« ^^^P^^^^* 
self  and  us,  ray  comrade  and  myself."     This  man 
is  a  perplexing  study.     Mature  calls  for  sympathy  in  behalf  of" 


670  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

one  who  was  in  like  sufferings  with  himself.  He  knew  nothing 
against  Jesus  personally.  If  they  had  not  been  friends  in  life 
they  might  have  been  friendly  in  death.  The  world  was  all 
against  them  both ;  m- liy  should  they  not  make  common  cause,  and, 
as  far  as  possible,  sustain  each  other  in  this  last  dark  passage  of 
their  lives?  But  no;  he  turns  upon  him,  he  joins  the  mad  crowd 
of  persecutors.  Is  it  that  it  was  some  relief  to  this  man  to  have 
the  tide  of  the  public  hate  turned  away  from  himself  towards  Je- 
sus ?  Is  it  that  we  are  always  gratified  to  find  that  there  are 
others  more  obnoxious  than  ourselves  ?  Wliatever  the  motive  or 
the  temper  of  the  man,  his  conduct  was  another  pain  inflicted  on 
Jesus. 

Cut  the  other  robber  was  not  so  obdurate.  lie  rebuked  his 
comrade.     "  Do  you  not  fear  God,  seeing  that  you  are  in  the 

same   condemnation  ?     And   we   indeed   iustly : 
The  penitent       -  ■    •  . ,         i  -,     \ 

^j^jgj^  tor  we   are   receiving   the   due   reward   or   our 

deeds;  but  this  man  has  done  nothing  amiss." 
lie  then  turned  his  eyes  towards  Jesus  and  said,  "  Jesus,  remem- 
ber me  when  you  shall  come  in  your  kingdom."  Here  was  a 
marvellous  confession.  What  this  man  could  have  known  of  Je- 
sus prior  to  this  time  we  have  now  no  means  of  learning.  He 
may  have  known  his  whole  history,  and  much  as  it  had  interested 
him,  he  had  not  until  this  moment  been  able  to  see  in  Jesus  the 
sign  of  his  being  Israel's  king.  He  may  have  been  of  that  class 
of  turbulent  Jews  who  restlessly  longed  for  the  coming  kingdom 
and  the  coming  king,  those  Chiliasts  who  looked  for  a  thousand 
years  of  temporal  glory  to  Israel,  and  were  not  unwilling  occa- 
sionally to  make  a  blow  at  the  Roman  power,  however  futile  that 
blow  might  be.  In  any  event,  he  had  seen  Jesus  coming  forth  to 
execution  ;  had  heard  his  prophecies  to  the  daughters  of  Jerusa- 
lem ;  had  heard  his  great  prayer  for  his  executioners ;  had  regarded 
his  bearing  under  the  storm  of  abuse  which  had  been  poured 
upon  him  ;  had  seen  the  superscription  on  the  cross  ;  had  witnessed 
the  intense  excitement  of  the  ecclesiastics.  But,  after  all,  thei-e 
arc  those  things  producing  faith  which  cannot  be  described.  He 
believed  in  Jesus. 

Jesus  did  not  repel  his  faith.  He  accepted  it.  The  man  had 
a  sense  of  guilt  and  helplessness.  He  believed  in  the  power  of 
Jesus  to  save  him  somehow.  He  was  so  humble  and  modest  that 
he  did  not  interrupt  the  suffering  Jesus  with  a  plea  that  he  would 


THE    SIXTH   DAT.  C71 

lie!])  him  now.  He  was  willing  to  die  for  liis  offence  against  soci 
ety.  But  he  felt  that  Jesns  was  a  royal  personage  and  had  a  kin"- 
doni.  He  plaintively  begged  that  when  he  began 
his  reign  Jesus  would  not  wholly  forget  his  feJlow-  Z^^'"  ^''''^P*' 
sufferer  in  Golgotha.  The  accents  of  the  plead- 
ing came  to  Jesus  amid  the  hisses  and  groans  and  taunts  and 
hateful  nproar  of  his  infuriated  enemies.  Jesus  looked  at  tlie 
dying  man  and  smoothed  his  rough  passage  to  eternity  with  this 
reply :  "  I  assuredly  say  to  you  that  you  shall  be  with  me  in  para- 
dise to-day." 

■\niat  jierfect  confidence  is  here  ;  Avhat  an  assurance  of  power ; 
what  a  claim  over  the  future ;  what  a  pledge  to  another !  He 
spoke  as  one  to  whom  ])aradise  belonged— who  held  the  keys  of  the 
gardens  of  the  Future  and  Innnortality.  Bound  upon  the  cross 
he  ruled  the  spiritual  world,  and  pledged  to  meet  his  fellow-suf- 
ferer on  the  hither  side  of  the  grave.  Together  on  the  ci-oss,  they 
should  be  together  in  happiness.  There  was  no  confusion  of  idea? 
hei-e,  no  loss  of  confidence,  no  breakdown,  no  des])air.  He  makea 
no  i-eply  to  raillery,  but  has  a  quick  loving  answer  for  faith. 

Jesus  M-as  not  totally  forsaken  by  his  friends.  The  majority  of 
the  disciples  had  been  scattered  by  the  tragic  events  of  the  pre- 
ceding night.  Judas  had  betrayed  him,  and 
Peter  had  denied  him,  and  the  others  had  fled,  '^^^  ^^^  *'''*^" 
except  John  and  the  women.  The  beloved  dis- 
ciple came  back.  Love  in  him  was  stronger  than  terror.  The 
women  came  in  full  force  from  the  first,  and  through  the  morn- 
ing "  all  his  acquaintance,"  that  had  come  from  Galilee,  became 
Bympathijiing  witnesses  of  his  sufferings,  ximong  the  women  are 
named  his  mother,  and  his  aunt  Mary,  wife  of  Cleophas,  Salome, 
the  mother  of  James  and  John,  and  Mary  of  Magdala.  There 
were  many  other  women.  These  all  stood  afar  oft".  Modesty 
would  have  deterred  a  neai-er  ai^i)roach  to  the  naked  person  of 
the  holy  man  they  all  so  tenderly  loved  and  greatly  revered. 

During  the  first  three  hours  he  seems  to  have  had  no  conver- 
sation with  his  friends.  As  it  neared  noon  there  was  coming 
upon  him  a  renewal  of  that  heart-agony  which 
had  made  the  bloody  sweat  of  Gethsemane.  He  ^^""^  °°''"- 
looked  upon  his  friends.  He  made  no  explanation  of  his  position 
as  being  so  contrary  to  all  they  had  hoped  and  desired.  It 
seemed  as  if  his  was  to  be  a  lost  cause,  and  as  if  his  very  name 


672  TIIE   LAST   WEEK. 

was  being  consigned  to  endless  ignominy.  lie  saw  liis  mothei 
standing  near.  She  and  John  liad  aj^proached,  drawn  by  theii 
intense  love,  which  controlled  every  other  sentiment,  whether  ol 
fear  or  disappointment. 

The  relation  between  Jesus  and  Mary  was  peculiar.  Mary  waa 
his  mother.     He  had  spent  his  earlier  years  in  her  society.     Even 

after  the  display  of  his  extraordinary  sj^irituality 

His  mother,  .    .       ^  £  i  i  •     i    i.      i, 

at  twelve  years  oi  age  he  was  subject  to  her. 

She  treated  him  with  a  kind  of  maternal  authority  which  was 

strangely  mingled  with  aAve,  as  for  a  superior  being.     There  had 

been  miraculous  circumstances  about  his  birth.     She  never  forgot 

them.     There  is  a  veil  over  the  years  intervening  from  his  twelfth 

to  his  thirtieth  year  of  age.     We  do  not  know  the  temper  and 

style  of  the  intercourse  between  this  exceptional  mother  and  this 

marvellous  Son.     But  after  he  entered  on  his  ministry  it  is  clear 

to  see  that  his  whole  behavior  was  such  as  to  impress  her  that  she 

had  no  maternal   control  over  him.     Yery  distinctly  and  firmly 

was  this  done  in  Cana  of  Galilee,  at  the  changing  of  water  into 

M'ine.     It  M'ill  bo  recollected  that  on  another  occasion,  when  his 

kinsmen  began  to  think  that  much  zeal  was   crazing  him,  and 

went  to  take  him  home,  Mary  accompanied  them,  and  when  she 

sent  him  her  name,  as  having  some  authoi'ity,  he  returned  for 

answer  that  he  loved  those  who  listened  to  his  teaching  more  than 

his  kinsfolk  who  were  not  believers ;  that  they  were  more  to  him 

than  even  his  mother,  when  she  stood  in  the  way  of  his  high  and 

holy  w^ork. 

It  seems  really  a  very  difficult  relation  to  understand,  and  much 
more  difficult  to  maintain.  If  it  be  gi-anted  that  he  foresaw  the 
spread  of  his  religion,  it  is  very  plain  to  see  that  he  determined 
that  no  one,  not  even  a  woman,  not  even  his  mother,  should  have 
a  share  in  the  worship  which  the  world  was  to  give  him. 

I]ut  he  had  a  clean,  clear  human  heart.  He  saw  the  sword  en- 
tering Mary's  soul.  He  did  not  call  her  "mother;"  he  gave  him- 
self no  such  indulgence.  Looking  at  John  he 
ary  given    o    gj^j^^]^  "'W'f^jyjjj^i^^  gQQ  yQ^ij.  gQj;^  | "     Looking  at  Mary, 

and  addressing  John,  he  said,  "  Behold  your 
mother!"  It  is  as  if  the  feehng  he  had  fc^r  Mary  in  that  hour 
was  a  sentiment  he  entertained  towards  all  womanhood  that  ia 
stricken  and  forsaken.  "AYoman  :  "  that  was  the  dying  son's  title 
for  his  mother.     He  had  no  title  for  his  nearest  male  friend. 


THE   SIXTH   DAY.  673 

But  he  met  tlieir  several  necessities.  Mary  needed  some  cnc  to 
take  his  phice ;  John  needed  a  chai'ge  to  divert  his  heart  from 
its  breaking  grief.  It  was  an  announcement  of  fitness.  Her 
nephews,  who  had  been  his  plaj'fellows,  and  Mary's  other  sons, 
were  not  spiritual  kinsmen  of  Jesus.  John  was.  It  was  fitting 
that  these  two  should  live  thereafter  in  near  relationship  and 
found  a  household  which  should  be  a  rallying-point  for  all  the 
believers  in  Jesus. 

John  immediately  took  Mary  away  from  the  painful  spectacle 
of  the  cross,  and  ever  thereafter  she  lived  in  his  house. 

The  ecclesiastical  party  had  rolled  back  from  Pilate's  palace  to 
Golgotha,  and  liad  been  engaged,  as  we  have  seen,  in  heaping  in- 
dignities and  insults  on  the  dying  Jesus. 

Section  11. — From  Noon  until  Three  o'clock. 

It  was  mid-day — the  sixth,  the  sacred  hour.  The  sun  was  in  the 
splendor  of  a  Syrian  noon.  Then  came  a  mysterious  thing.  The 
earth  began  to  darken.  It  was  not  an  eclipse.  It  was  at  the  full 
of  the  niocni  of  the  Passover.  The  darkness  did  not  begin  in  the 
sky,  but  on  the  earth,  as  we  learn  from  Luke,  who,  of  all  the  bio- 
graphers of  Jesus,  seems  the  most  careful  observer  of  physical 
phenomena.  The  darkness  spread  itself  outward  and  upward 
until  the  sun  was  shrouded.     It  was  a  darkness 

whi(;h  obliterated  outlines.  The  Temple,  the  tower, 

J-      '  '    ness. 

the  city  walls  disappeared.  The  people  in  Jeru- 
salem could  no  longer  see  the  crowd  swaying  about  in  Golgotha. 
The  priests  lost  sight  of  their  victim.  The  crucified  thieves  could 
no  more  see  each  other.  The  Koman  soldiers  could  not  discern 
their  dice.  Mary  of  Magdala  could  not  see  Jesus.  For  three 
hours  men  stood,  or  sat,  or  lay  down.  Jesus  was  in  an  agony.  It 
was  a  long  three  hours  for  the  sufferers,  for  the  persecutors,  for 
Pilate,  for  the  friends  of  Jesus.  ^Yliat  was  said  or  done  we  know 
not.  A\niat  was  thought,  we  can  only  conjecture.  The  world 
had  dropped  down  into  the  core  of  darkness.  All  M'as  night. 
Heaven,  earth,  the  heart  of  man,  the  minds  of  the  wicked  and 
the  souls  of  the  just  were  in  darkness.  When  Mary's  son  was 
being  born,  mid-night  became  a  splendor.  When  Mary's  son  was 
being  slain,  mid-noon  became  a  horror. 

Tlie  eighth  hour  came.     That  darkness  passed  away  as  myste- 
43 


674  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

rionsly  as  it  had  come.  The  pent  up  agony  of  Jesus  found  vent. 
He  shrieked.  His  cry  was  articuLate.  The  biographers  have  pre- 
served  the  veiy  syllables.  It  was  in  his  mother 
tongue,  the  Aramaean,  and  reminds  us  of  an 
observed  fact,  that  men  in  dying  frequently  speak  their  original 
dialect  most  accurately.  The  words  with  which  Jesus  thrilled 
the  crowd  were  these :  ■'?np=iu  n:ab  Tibx  "^n'bx,  Elohee\  Elohee\ 
lammawh'  sehalctJianee ,  "My  God,  n.y  God,  why  hast  Thou 
forsaken  me?" 

On  any  theory  of  the  nature  of  Jesus  and  his  character  these 
woi-ds,  under  the  circumstances,  are  mysterious.  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  he  was  not  moi-e  afraid  of  dying  than 
mystery.  q\\^qy  men,  nor  more  afraid  of  being  dead.  Hia 
shrinking  from  death,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  detect,  was 
merely  the  instinct  of  life.  He  could  have  saved  himself.  Up 
to  "Wednesday,  nay,  even  up  to  Thursday  night,  there  do  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  any  insuperable  obstacles  to  his  escape  from 
the  ecclesiastical  party,  his  return  to  Galilee,  or  his  departure  into 
another  country  until  this  storm  should  be  overpast.  Of  all  this 
he  was  plainly  aware,  and  yet  declined  to  avail  himself  of  them. 
He  had  not  rushed  upon  death.  He  did  not  flee  from  it.  He 
had  at  other  times  passed  through  infuriated  mobs  and  walked 
away  as  if  possessing  a  charmed  life.  Now  he  makes  no  effort  to 
escape.  He  had  exhibited  superordinary  power  in  healing  dis- 
eases, in  controlling  the  elements,  in  raising  the  dead.  He  no 
more  attempts  to  exercise  that  power  for  his  own  deliverance  than 
the  vulgar  thief  who  is  crucified  at  his  side  attempts  a  miraculous 
deliverance  of  himself.  Jesus  had  always  professed  to  experience 
in  his  inner  consciousness  an  unbroken  oneness  with  the  eternal 
God,  of  whom,  as  related  to  himself,  he  spoke  as  Father,  giving 
the  word  an  emphasis  deeper  than  any  other  man  ever  gave  to 
his  claim  of  human  relationship  with  man  or  God.  Now  he 
speaks  not  as  if  he  and  the  Father  were  one,  as  he  had  often  as- 
serted, but  as  if  they  were  two,  and  not  only  distinct  but  now 
separated.  In  its  form  it  is  an  intensely  passionate  appeal.  AVhat 
did  it  signify  ?  He  was  a  good  man  dying  in  martyrdom  for 
loftiest  and  most  precious  things.  He  was  not  God-forsaken.  No 
man  ever  is  who  does  not  forsake  God.  Is  there  any  better  ex- 
planation than  that  in  his  great  spiritual  agony  there  was  a  sub- 
jective, not  an  objective  abandonment?     He  felt  as  though  God 


TIIE   SIXTH   DAY.  675 

and  all  were  lost.     lie  was  certainly  enduring  an  agony  with 

which  the  pains,  the  fevers,  the  thii-sts,  the  misery  of  crucifixion, 

had  nothing  to  do.     It  was  Gethsemane's  hour  and  power  of 

darkness — whatever  that  was — once  beaten  down,  now  risen  up 

again  and  rushing  upon  the  soul  of  the  dying  Jesus.     As  it  smote 

him  he  shrieked  this  articulate  utterance  of  his  sense  of  agony. 

The  light  came  back  to  the  hills,  the  city,  and  Golgotha.     Men 

raised  themselves.     The  cloud  had  rolled  away,  and  with  the 

clearing  sky  came  the  loud  cry  of  Jesus.     Per- 

.  ^  .     \     .  ,  .  n  1  '  The   Ught   re- 

haps  in  that  darkness  the  consciences  or  his  mur-    ^^^^^^^^ 

derers  began  to  be  painfully  uneasy.  They  caught 
the  first  words  of  the  cry,  "Elohee,  Elohee."  Elijah  among  the 
Jews  was  the  patron  of  the  distressed.  Moreover,  it  had  been 
prophesied  that  Elijah  was  to  precede  the  Messias.  Some  said, 
''lie  calls  Elijah."  The  others  said,  "Stop!  let  us  see  if  Elijah 
will  come  to  save  him."  I  cannot  think,  with  Meyer,  that  this  was 
"  a  blasphemous  Jewish  joke,  by  an  awkward  and  godless  pun  upon 
Eli ;"  and  yet  almost  all  the  strong  names  among  the  commentators 
hold  this  opinion  as  firmly  as  Meyer,  or  under  some  modification. 
C(juld  even  they  indulge  in  joking  then  ?  The  horror  of  the  three 
hours  of  darkness  is  followed  by  a  scream  fi-om  the  central  cross ; 
and  that  gentle,  holy,  low-voiced  prophet,  who  had  not  cried  in 
their  streets  nor  been  ever  boisterous,  who  had  been  silent  before 
the  high-priest,  and  silent  before  the  procurator,  and  silent  amid 
the  jeers  and  hisses  of  a  mob,  and  silent  under  that  pall  of  super- 
natural darkness,  now  thrills  the  multitude  by  a  cry  so  fearful  and 
so  ])ierciiig  that  if  ever  human  call  had  answer  from  the  invisible 
world,  and  was  calling  for  any  other  soul,  that  soul,  it  would  seem, 
must  come.  Perhaps  the  power  as  well  as  the  hour  of  darkness 
had  passed  away.  Perhaps  Elijah  was  about  to  come.  Perhaps 
the  tawny,  terrible  prophet  of  Carmel  would  in  a  few  moments 
descend  into  Golgotha,  set  free  the  prisoner  from  the  cross,  and 
with  superhuman  power  tear  down,  and  with  the  fierceness  of  one 
to  M'hose  prayer  fire  fell  from  heaven,  scatter  priest  and  procura- 
tor, Church  and  State,  Jew  and  Gentile,  and  inaugurate  the 
splendoi's  of  the  Messianic  reign. 

This  cry  continued  to  puzzle  the  materialists  who  stood  around 
this  extraordinary  sufferer,  until  another  saying  came  from  Jesus, 
lie  simply  said,  "  I  thirst."  Physiologically  and  psychologically 
this  may  indicate  that  his  agony  was  closing.     The  spirit  which 


676  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

had  been  so  strnng  up  that  it  could  think  of  nothing  which  merelj 
concerned  his  body,  was  now  relaxing.     lie  was  passing  from  out 

the  hour  and  from  under  the  power  of  darkness, 
and  d'es  S^^^^o  *^^^^  *^'f  ^  battle  victorious  but  wounded.     It 

may  be  noted  as  indicating  him  to  be  in  the 
full  possession  of  his  faculties,  in  the  fuliiess  of  his  bodily 
strength,  and  by  no  means  suffering  death  as  an  effect  of  cruci 
fixion,  seeing  that  tliis  is  only  the  beginning  of  that  terrible  thirst 
which  burns  in  those  who  are  lingering  on  the  cross.  This  cir- 
cumstance seems  quite  incidentally  mentioned  by  John  (xix.  28) 
and  by  some  other  of  the  biographers,  and  yet  it  is  of  great  im- 
portance. In  response  one  of  the  Ttoman  soldiers  ran  and  took  a 
branch  of  hyssop,  a  plant  probably  growing  near,  the  stock  of 
which  we  know  was  about  two  feet  long.  So  low  did  the  cruci- 
fied hang  that  when  the  soldier  fastened  a  sponge  to  this  stock, 
and  filled  it  with  the  sour  common  wine,  or  vinegar,  which  they 
mingled  with  their  water,  it  was  quite  easy  to  lay  it  on  the  mouth 
of  Jesus.  lie  took  it,  and  said,  "  It  is  finished."  Then  calling 
out  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commit  my 
spirit,"  he  bowed  his  head  and  died. 

The  darkness  which  had  come  upon  the  whole  land  had  reached 
its  consummation  in  an  earthquake,  which  rent  the  rocks  in  the 

neighborhood,  and  so  moved  the  Temple  that,  at 
An  earthquake.     ,,  ,  ,  ,  .  , 

tlie  very  hour  when  worshippers  were  tnrongnig 

into  tlie  holy  place,  and  the  priests  were  kindling  the  lamps  before 
the  veil  which  divided  the  holy  from  the  holiest  place,  that  strong, 
well-woven,  annnally-renewed  veil  split  from  top  to  bottom,  and 
laid  open  befoi'C  the  startled  attendants  that  sacred  spot  where  the 
wings  of  the  cherubim  overshadowed  the  mercy-seat  in  the  ark  of 
the  covenant,  a  spot  no  feet  but  those  of  the  Iligh-priest  might 
tread,  arid  a  sight  which  no  eyes  but  his  might  behold.  The  stone 
sepulchres  around  the  city  were  broken  by  this  convulsion  in  na- 
ture, and  the  stone  doors  were  jarred  off  their  hinges,  and  a  few 
days  after  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  were  visited  by 
lioly  people  whom  they  had  seen  dead  and  buried. 

The  Roman  centurion  who  was  in  charge  of  the  execution  re- 
mained with  his  guard  through  all  these  terrifying  phenomena. 
They  had  ceased  to  amuse  themselves  with  dice. 
They  stood   watching   the  victim.     "When   their 
commander  saw  what  was  done  he  exclaimed,  "  Certaiidy  this  was 


THE   SIXTH    DAT.  677 

a  rin-hteous  man.  Certainly  tin's  Avas  a  Son  of  God."  lie  had 
seen  men  die,  civilized  and  barbarian.  He  knew  what  Roman 
fortitude  was.  He  kjiew  what  the  crucifixion  M-as.  Ihit  here  was 
something  different  fi-om  all  he  had  e^  er  witnessed.  Tlie  fact  is 
that  Jesns  did  not  seem  to  come  under  the  supreme  effects  of 
physical  torture.  He  did  not  seem  to  die,  in  the  sense  that  the 
Boul  M-as  pressed  from  the  body  by  pain,  but  he  "gave  up  tlie 
ghost."  It  was  apparently  a  voluntary  dismissal  on  his  own  pait 
of  his  soul  from  his  body.  Xo  felon  ever  died  so.  Moreover  the 
mythology  of  his  country  had  trained  the  soldier  to  believe  that  in 
earlier  days  the  gods  had  come  among  men.  He  l(X)ked  at  Jesus. 
His  mind  ran  rapidly  over  the  phenomena  which  had  filled  the 
last  six  hours.  The  conviction  came  upon  him,  that  if  ever  any 
of  the  kith  and  kin  of  the  gods  had  dwelt  in  flesh,  this  was 
one  of  them.  The  Jews  had  condemned  a  good  man:  that  was 
an  outrage.  They  had  caused  the  crucifixion  of  a  god  :  that  was 
a  horror.  It  was  the  verdict  of  a  pagan  on  one  of  the  crimes  of 
Ihe  church.  Conscience  began  to  do  its  work  in  some  of  the  com- 
mon Jewish  people.  They  smote  their  breasts  and  went  home 
from  this  frightful  scene,  not  knowing  Avhat  form  the  vengeance 
of  Jehovah  nn'ght  take. 

Section  X'i.—From  Three  o'clock  until  Evening. 

This  was  Friday,  3  o'clock  p.m.  That  eveniiig  was  to  \>q^\w  the 
Sabbath— the  specially  sacred  Sabbath  of  the  Passover  festival. 
There  remained  only  two  or  three  hours.  Ac- 
cording to  Hebrew  law,  if  one  had  been  stoned  /  f  "^li«ti«  «i^- 
to  death  tor  blasphemy,  and  his  corpse  hung  upon 
a  tree,  it  nnist  be  remcned  before  night  (Deuteronomy  xxi.  23), 
and  this  regulation  would  be  scrupulously  observed  on  the  eve  of 
Ihe  Paschal  Sabbath.  The  leaders  of  the  ecclesiastical  party, 
who  had  not  shrunk  from  conspiracy,  and  lying,  and  blasphemy, 
:md  the  murder  of  the  innocent,  these  ritualistic  Puritans  could 
not  endure  that  their  feast  should  be  defiled  by  the  sight  of 
three  crosses  hanging  near  Jerusalem  on  the  high  Sabbath  of 
their  church.  Moreover,  they  did  not  know  what  effect  the  sight 
uf  the  body  of  the  innocent  Jesus  might  have  upon  the  fickle  pop- 
ulace. They  might  still  rescue  him.  The  Pharisees  did  not  now 
know  that  he  was  dead.      They  had  a  political  reason,  and  it 


678  THE   LAST   WEEK. 

always  was  tlie  manner  of  the  hypocrite  to  cover  a  politic  design 
with  a  religious  profession.  So  they  went  to  Pilate  to  ask  that  the 
death  of  the  three  crucified  men  might  be  hastened  by  the  break- 
ing of  their  legs,  and  that  the  bodies  might  be  buried.  Pilate  had 
no  care  now  as  to  what  might  happen.     lie  consented. 

The  rude  executioners  did  not  hesitate  with  the  two  thieves. 
They  were  soon  dispatched.     But  when  the  soldiers  saw  Jesua 

they  were  convinced  that  he  was  thoroughly 
j^gjj  dead.     It  were  a  wanton  act  to  crush  his  limbs. 

lie  had  been  so  good  and  gentle  tln-ough  it  all ! 
There  may  have  been  something  in  his  very  looks  which  inspired 
a  sense  of  delicacy.  The  phenomenon  attending  his  death  may 
have  awed  them.     They  forbore. 

John  had  returned  from  attending  Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus, 
to  a  place  of  retreat  in  the  city.     lie  was  witness  to  an  incident 

which  he  recorded,  probably,  to  meet  a  certain 

suggestion  of  his  day,  but  which  throws  light  on 
a  question  important  in  our  own.  One  of  the  soldiers,  more 
daring  and  hardened  than  the  others,  in  order  to  make  assurance 
doubly  sure,  thrust  a  spear  into  the  side  of  Jesus,  and  forthwith 
there  issued  water  and  blood.  The  remarkable  events  of  the 
past  few  hours,  and  the  certainty  of  the  death  of  the  condemned, 
had  probably  removed  all  restraint,  and  any  one  might  approach 
the  cross.  It  was  so  low, — not  lifting  the  body  many  feet  above 
the  ground,  as  the  painters  have  it, — that  John  could  distinctly 
see  what  was  going  forward.  When  his  account  was  written,  it 
had  not  yet  been  suggested  that  Jesus  had  not  died  but  had 
passed  into  a  swoon  from  which  he  subsequently  revived  ;  but 
the  Gnostics  afterwards  maintained  that  it  was  not  flesh  and 
blood  that  hung  upon  the  cross,  nor  the  real  Jesus,  but  a  resem- 
blance of  Jesus. 

This  statement  of  facts  John  connects  with  two  passages  from 
the  sacred  Hebrew  books,  namely,  those  which  provided  that  not  a 
bone  of  the  paschal  "lamb  should  be  broken  (as  Exodus  xii.  4G, 
and  Numbers  ix.  12),  and  the  passage  in  Zechariah  (xii.  10)  in 
which  John  undoubtedly  understood  the  prophet  as  predicting 
that  the  people  should  pierce  Jehovah  in  the  person  of  the  Mes- 
siah, and  should  have  great  grief  therefor.  But  the  phenomenon 
of  the  outflowing  blood  and  water  brings  us  to  the  question  of 
the  physical  causes  of  the  death  of  Jesus. 


THE   SIXTH  DAY.  679 

They  manifestly  were  not  the  causes  ordinarily  found  in  cruci- 
fixion. Jesus  died  in  six  lioui-s  after  he  was  lifted  to  the  cross ; 
no  other  person  is  known  to  have  died  so  soon. 

„  ,    .  1   .       1       11  Physical  cause* 

bonie  pulpit  oi-ators  are  accustoinecl  to  aweil  on  ^^  death  of  Jesus 
tlie  horrors  of  crucifixion.  Whatever  they  were, 
tliey  we]-e  such  as  were  common  to  all  persons  who  were  cruci- 
fied, and  may  be  as  pathetically  assigned  to  the  thieves  as  to 
Jesus.  Crucifixiou  Avas  not  an  extremely  painful  or  rapid  mode 
of  execution.  Sharp  spikes  were  driven  through  poi-tions  of  the 
body  where  no  injury  was  done  to  any  vital  part.  There  was  not 
a  great  effusion  of  blood  ;  sometimes  almost  none.  There  was 
not  a  very  great  pressure  on  the  wounded  jjortions,  almost  none 
on  the  feet.  Death  was  not  caused  by  the  wounds  inflicted,  nor 
were  tlicy  extremely  painful,  as  man}'  persons  have  received  them 
^^'ithout  a  murmur,  and  survived  on  the  cross  for  very  many 
hours,  e\en  for  dajs.  Some  ha,\e  been  taken  from  the  cross  after 
hours  of  suspension  and  been  healed.  The  convict  was  to  expire 
by  sheer  exhaustion  of  nature  and  the  nervous  irritation  produced 
by  the  fretting  of  the  flesh  where  the  nails  were  inserted. 

The  thieves  had  as  yet  begun  to  show  no  signs  of  even  faint- 
ing. Jesus  was  as  able  to  endure  as  they,  lie  was  a  young  man, 
a  little   i)ast  thirty.     He  had  been  reared  care-       ^. 

TTig  i3ii  vsicftl 

fully.  He  was  perfectly  virtuous.  Ko  excesses  ^^^ 
had  told  upon  his  constitution  to  make  him  pre- 
maturely old.  He  had  lived  temperately,  yet  not  abstemiously, 
allowing  himself  a  generous  diet,  while  living  within  all  the 
bounds  of  the  laws  of  health.  He  had  passed  mucli  of  his  life  in 
the  open  air.  He  had  received  no  special  brutality  at  the  hands 
of  his  executioners.  And  yet  the  man  who  might  have  survived 
six  days,  who,  on  all  known  bases  of  calculation,  should  have  been 
able  at  least  to  survive  the  Paschal  Sabbath  on  the  cross,  died  in 
six  hours.  What  were  tlie  physical  causes  of  his  death  ?  They 
were  not  the  processes  of  crucifixion. 

The  clearest,  most  scientific,  and  most  satisfactory  answer  to 
the  question  is  in  a  treatise  upon  the  subject  by  William  Stroud, 

M.D.,  firet  published  about  a  quarter  of  a  centnry       _    ^ 

'        ,,'      ,  ...  ,  ''Dr.  Stroud'8 

ago.      All  subsequent   nnestigations   have   con-    ^.j^g^jy 

spired  to  confirm  it.     It  shall  be  stated  here  ;is 

succinctly  as  possible.   Dr.  Stroud  says  :  "  It  was  agony  of  mtxd, 

PEODucixo  Klttuee  OF  THE  ILc.uiT."     That  suggests  the  call  for 


6 so  TTTE    LAST    WEEK. 

pr<)of  that  the  lieart  of  Jesus  was  litei-all_v  mpl'ired.  If  in  hia 
case,  most  pi'obably  it  would  occur  in  other  cases,  which  modern 
science  would  discover.  For  the  satisfaction  of  persons  not 
familiar  with  anatomy,  Dr.  Stroud  furnishes  the  following  de- 
sci-iption  of  the  heart : — 

"It  is  a  donl)]e  muscuLar  bag,  of  a  conical  form,  lined  witliin  and  without 

by  a  dense  membrane,  and  loosely  inclosed  in  a  receptacle  of  similar  mateiial, 

called  the  ijericardium.     It  consists  of  two  princii^al  sacs, 

Thehenrt.  ,  •  n  II' 

the  nglit  and  the  left,  whicli  lie  side  by  side,  and  adhere 
firmly  together,  so  as  to  form  a  strong  middle  wall,  but  have  no  internal  com- 
munication. Each  of  these  is  subdivided  into  two  connected  pouches,  or 
chambers,  termed  auricle  and  ventricle,  whereof  the  auricle  is  round  and  thin, 
the  ventricle  long  and  fleshy ;  the  two  former  constituting  tlic  base,  and  the 
two  latter  the  body  of  tlie  organ.  Placed  in  the  centre  of  the  vascular  sys- 
tem, the  heart  promotes  and  regulates  the  circulation  of  the  Ijlood,  received 
on  each  side  from  two  or  more  large  veins  of  a  soft  and  compressible  texture, 
and  discharged  through  a  single  artery  which,  being  firm  and  elastic,  is  kept 
constantly  pervious.  Returning  from  all  parts  of  the  body  except  the  lungs, 
blood  of  nearly  a  lilack  color,  and  become  unfit  for  tlie  jMirjioses  of  life,  is 
poured  ]»y  two  princij)al  veins,  called  venve  cavfe,  into  the  right  auricle, 
whence,  after  a  momentary  delay,  it  is  transferred  to  the  corresponding  ven- 
tricle, its  reflux  Ijeing  prevented  Ijy  a  meml)ranoUii  valve  interposed  between 
them.  By  the  powerful  contraction  of  the  ventricle  it  is  transmitted  through 
the  pulmonary  artery  to  the  lungs,  v/here,  by  minute  subdivision  and  con- 
tact with  atmospheric  air  inhaled  through  tlio  windpipe,  it  is  j)urified,  and 
acquires  a  l)right  crimson  color.  Returning  from  the  lungs  by  the  four  pul- 
monary veins,  tlie  renovated  blood  next  passes  into  the  left  auricle,  and  from 
thence,  in  a  similar  manner,  and  at  the  same  time  as  on  the  right  side,  into  the 
left  ventricle,  by  the  contraction  of  which  it  is  distributed  with  great  force 
through  the  aorta  to  the  remaining  parts  of  the  body,  whence  it  was  origin- 
ally derived." 

It  is  a  familiar  fact  that  the  sanguiferous  system  does  sustain 

sudden  and  great  changes  from  the  influence  of  the  passions.    The 

o-listenino;  eye  and  Mowinir  face  are  external  indi- 
The  effect  of  the    ^  ^.  ,  -i     ,,  "  cc     ,    i    .p  i  .       .... 

cations,  while  the  iiersoti  artected,  it  his  attention 

passions.  'a  ' 

be  called  to  his  own  condition,  becomes  conscious 
of  coldness  in  his  extremities,  a  sense  of  distention  of  the  heart, 
difficulty  of  respiration,  and  other  distressing  s}mptoms.  The 
effect  may  be  so  great  as  to  supei-induce  death,  and  may  be  pro- 
duced by  any  of  the  passions.  History  has  many  examples  of 
death  from  joy.  Pliny  informs  ns  of  a  LacedjEinonian  who  died 
of  joy  at  heai'ing  that  his  son  had  gained  a  prize  in  the  Olympio 


TTTE    SIXTH    DAT.  681 

games.  Sophocles  died  of  joy  at  gaining  a  decision  in  liis  favoi 
in  a  contest  of  lioiior.  Livy  mentions  an  aged  matron,  wlio  be- 
lieving lier  son  to  have  been  slain  in  l)attle,  died  in  his  arms  in 
excess  of  joy  on  his  safe  return.  Leo  X.  died  of  a  fever  produced  by 
joy  at  the  news  of  the  capture  of  Milan.  Dr.  Sti-ond  qnotes  many 
other  cases  of  sudden  death  from  exciting  passions,  in  all  which 
we  cannot  donl)t  that  tlie  decease  was  caused  b/rni^tnre  of  the 
heart,  althougli,  for  want  of  examination,  that  cannot  be  affirmed. 
The  following  is  Dr.  Stroud's  description  of  the  modus : 

"  The  immediate  cause  is  a  sudden  and  violent  contraction  of  one  of  the 
ventricles,  usually  the  left,  on  the  column  of  blood  thrown  into  it  by  a  simi- 
lar contraction  of  the  corresponding  auricle.  Prevented 
from  returning  liackwards  hy  tlie  intervening  valve,  and  ^'"'  '"'"'"■''■ 
not  finding  a  sufficient  ontk't  forwards  in  the  connected  artery,  the  blood 
reacts  against  tlie  ventricle  itself,  which  is  consequently  torn  open  at  the 
point  of  greatest  distention,  or  least  resistance,  l)y  the  influence  of  its  own 
reflected  force.  A  quantity  of  l)lood  is  hereby  discharged  into  the  pericar- 
dium, and  having  no  means  of  escape  from  that  capsule,  stops  tlie  circula- 
tion by  compressing  the  heart  from  without,  and  induces  almost  instanta- 
neous death.  In  young  and  vigorous  suljjects,  the  blood  thus  collected  in  the 
pericardium  soon  divides  into  its  constituent  parts,  namelv,  a  pale  watery 
liquid  called  serum,  and  a  soft  clotted  substance  of  a  deep-red  color  termed 
crassamentum  ;  but,  except  under  similar  circumstances  of  extravasation,  this 
distinct  separation  of  the  blood  is  seldom  witnessed  in  the  dead  body.  When, 
however,  the  action  of  the  ventricle  is  less  violent,  instead  of  burstin-  under 
the  continued  injection  from  the  auricle,  it  merely  dilates;  but,  as  in  conse- 
quence of  this  over-dlstcntion  its  power  of  contraction  is  speedily  destroyed, 
death  takes  place  with  equal  certainty,  althougli  jierhaps  with  less  rapidity,' 
and  in  this  case  as  Avell  as  in  the  former  one,  the  blood  remaining  within  the 
heart  has  been  divided  into  serum  and  crassamentum." 

Let  ns  now  revert  to  Gethsemane.  There  the  sweat  of  Jesns 
was  as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood.  Some  passion  of  prodigions 
force  M-as  producing  a  serions  disturbance  of  his 
circulation.  Many  cases  of  like  phenomena  at-  ^""^^^  °^  ^^°°*^y 
tending  like  states  of  mind  are  recorded  in  the  ^'^^^^' 
books.  Ilervey  tells  of  a  .man  who,  under  the  long-continued 
working  of  an  indignation  he  was  compelled  to  restrai^i,  fell  into 
a  hemorrhagic  state,  attended  with  extreme  oppression  in  the 
chest,  owing  to  an  iunnense  eidargement  of  the  heart  and  princi- 
pal arteries,  exhibiting  a  slight  oozing  of  blood  from  the  cutane- 
ous vessels.  The  eminent  French  historian,  De  Thou,  mentions 
the  case  of  an  Italian  officer  who  commanded  at  Monte-Maro,  a 


682  THE  LAST  WEEK. 

fortress  of  Piedmont,  in  the  warfare  between  Cliarles  Y.  and 
Heiuy  II.  of  France,  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteentli  century. 
"  This  officer,  having  been  treacherously  seized  by  order  of  the 
hostile  general,  and  threatened  with  public  execution  unless  he 
surrendered  the  place,  was  so  agitated  at  the  prospect  of  an  igno- 
minious death,  that  he  sweated  blood  from  ever}'  part  of  his 
body."  A  young  Florentine,  unjustly  put  to  death  by  Pope  Six- 
tus  Y.,  upon  being  led  to  execution,  discharged  blood  instead  of 
sweat  from  his  whole  body.  In  the  German  Ephemerides  many 
cases  are  given  of  bloody  tears  and  bloody  sweat.  Maldonatus 
refers  to  "  a  robust  and  healthy  man  at  Paris  who,  on  hearing  sen- 
ten-ce  of  death  passed  on  him,  was  covered  with  bloody  sweat." 
Schenck  tells  of  a  nun  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  soldiers,  and, 
seeing  herself  encompassed  with  daggers  and  swoi'ds,  threatening 
instant  death,  was  so  terrified  that  "  she  discharged  blood  from 
every  part  of  her  body,  and  died  of  hemori-hage  in  the  sight  of 
her  assailants." 

So  far  as  I  know,  no  one  has  yet  called  attention  to  the  fact 
that,  while  sudden  death  may  be  occasioned  by  joy  as  well  as  by 

c-rief  or  terror,  this  phenomenon  of  bloody  sweat 
The  Gethsemane  .  .  .  . 

g^gj^^.  has  ne\er  been  noticed  except  in  connection  with 

great  mental  agony.  Jesus  had  this  mental  agony 
in  Gethsemane.  It  seemed  to  be  in  a  measure  assuaged.  It  was 
renewed  when  he  was  on  the  cross.  Did  it  not  terminate  in  rup- 
ture of  the  heart  ?  Many  such  have  occurred  and  been  examined, 
in  which  no  part  of  the  body  exhibited  morbid  symptoms,  but  the 
heart  was  ruptured  and  the  pericardium  was  filled  with  serum  and 
crassamentum,  which  popularly  are  called  M'ater  and  blood.  In- 
deed, the  crassamentum,  or  red  and  clotted  portions,  contains  "  all 
the  more  essential  ingredients  of  the  blood,"  while  the  serum,  a 
mere  yellowish  liquid,  "  consists  chiefly  of  water."  Dr.  Aber- 
crombie,  of  Edinburgh,  gives  a  case  of  the  sudden  death  of  a  man 
aged  seventy-seven  years,  owing  to  a  rupture  of  the  heart.  In  his 
case  "  the  cavities  of  the  pleura  contained  about  tltree  jpoiinds  of 
Jlidd,  but  the  lungs  were  sound."  Dr.  Elliotson  relates  the  case 
of  a  woman  who  died  suddenly.  "  On  opening  the  body  the  peri 
cardium  was  found  distended  with  clear  serum,  and  a  very  large 
coagulum  of  blood,  which  had  escaped  through  a  spontaneous  rup- 
ture of  the  aorta  near  its  origin,  without  any  other  morbid  appear- 
ance."    Many  cases  might  be  cited,  but  these  suffice. 


THE   SIXTH   DAY.  G83 

The  narrative  of  the  last  hours  of  Jesus,  as  wc  have  already 

given  it  from  the  Evangelists,  shows  just  such  a  state  of  mind  aa 

has  produced  the  phenomenon  of  the  bloody  sweat 

,  ,    ,  ,  1  1  1       1      1  •  1  State  of  mind  ir 

m  Other  persons ;  and  the  water  and  blood  which  -^^^  ^^^j.  ^^^^^ 
John  noticed  as  following  the  soldier's  spear,  are 
such  an  exhibition  as  attends  rupture  of  the  heart,  although  it 
was  more  than  a  thousand  years  after  the  record  was  made  befoi-e 
science  connected  the  two.  Every  expression  of  Jesus  in  Geth- 
scmane  is  such  as  any  man  would  make  in  describing  sensations 
produced  by  the  effect  of  mental  agony  on  the  physical  constitu- 
tion. On  that  cold  night  liis  was  not  ordinary  perspiration.  It 
was  the  hemorrhage  which  agony  produces.  He  did  not  die  of 
crucifixion.  He  died  of  a  broken  heart  while  they  were  crucify- 
ing hira.  lie  did  not  swoon.  He  was  in  full  possession  of  his 
powers,  as  his  direction  to  Mary  and  John  showed.  He  was  in 
full  physical  strength,  as  his  cry — his  loud  cry — showed.  At  three 
o'clock,  if  he  had  endui'edonly  the  ordinary  pains  of  the  crucified, 
he  might  have  been  taken  down  and  saved,  as  the  Pharisees  show 
that  they  perceived,  by  desiring  to  have  his  legs  broken.  Pilate 
marvelled  wlien  he  heard  that  Jesus  was  already  dead.  The 
agony  of  Gethsemane  had  a  mortal  tendency.  The  agony  on  the 
cross  was  a  mortal  blow.  It  was  agony ^ — not  grief, — not  fear. 
If  one  sweats  under  grief  or  fear,  it  is  a  scant  cold  sweat.  In 
the  conflict  of  agony  the  action  of  tlie  heart  is  violent,  and  sweat 
is  abunflant  and  warm,  and  in  extreme  cases  bloody.  Fear  or 
grief  paralyzes  ;  agony  supplies  extraordinary  strength.  In  full 
Btrength,  Jesus  died  suddenly.  Tlie  water  and  blood  whicli  flowed 
from  his  punctured  pericardium  showed  that  his  heart  had  been 
ruptured. 

^Y}lat  was  that  agony? 

He  was  not  afraid  to  die.     He  could  have  avoided  death.     He 
could  raise  others  from  the  dead.     He  was  not  afraid  of  men. 

He  was  not  afraid  of  God.     He  professed  a  con- 

[.                         ■  1     /->,     1       -n                         -1  "WTiat   was    his 

sciousness  oi  oneness  witli  God.     He  was  irood.  « 

t5  agony  ( 

Others  have  loved  him  so  that  they  have  shouted 
on  the  cross  and  at  the  stake,  and  died,  of  exhaustion  or  of  fire, 
happier  than  conquering  kings.  But  he,  so  good,  so  humble,  so 
free  from  all  earthly  ambitions,  so  unselfish, — he  died  of  a  men- 
tal agony.  He  had  no  anger,  no  bad  passions,  no  sudden  dis- 
appointment.    He  had  always  expected  to  die  on  the  cross.     He 


684  TnE   LAST   WEEK. 

had  told  his  intnnates  that  unless  he  died  on  the  cross  his  life 
woTdd  he  a  failure.  He  did  not  avoid  crucifixion,  and  3'et,  al- 
though he  expii-cd  on  a  cross,  he  did  not  die  of  crucifixion. 
rie  had  a  great  spiritual  conflict ;  in  the  agony  thereof  his  heart 
was  ru])tured. 

^SUl.at  was  that  agony  f 

It  is  not  a  question  for  history.  It  is  a  question  for  each 
reader's  heart.  It  could  not  have  heen  an  a^onv  on  account  of 
himself :  it  must  have  heen  for  others.  For  whom  ?  That  ques- 
tion also  steps  heyond  the  limits  of  history.  With  Jesus  hefore 
liis  death  the  work  of  the  historian  here  closes. 

There  are  circumstances  recorded  of  the  hurial  of  Jesus  which 
are  to  be  noticed  as  important  parts  of  his  history. 

There  are  two  men  who  seem  to  have  tahen  a  profound  in- 
terest in  the  career  of  Jesns— one  was  Joseph.     Of  him  we  learn 

that  he  was  of  Arimathaia:  that  he  was  an  honor- 
Joseph  and  Ni-       ,  ,  .  ,  ^  ^        • 
codemus                           counsellor,  a  rich,  a  good,  and  a  just  man; 

that  he  was  "  waiting  for  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  " 
that  he  had  not  consented  to  the  action  of  the  Sanhedrim  in  the 
case  of  Jesus,  and,  in  fact,  was  a  disciple  of  Jesus,  hut  secretly, 
ft)r  feai-  of  the  Jews.  The  crucified  Jesus  drew  from  him  a  con- 
fession of  attachment  which  the  living  Teacher  had  never  been 
able  to  elicit.  The  other  was  Nicodemus,  the  ruler  who  had 
gone  to  Jesus  by  night,  eai-ly  in  the  career  of  the  great  Teacher, 
and  who  seems  never  to  have  lost  his  interest  in  the  young 
prophet  now  come  to  an  untimely  and  ignominious  end.  These 
two  men  took  charge  of  the  interment.  "Wliile  Joseph  went 
boldly  unto  Pilate  to  crave  the  body  of  Jesus,  Nicodemus  went 
into  the  city  to  procure  myrrh  and  aloes  for  his  embalm- 
ment. 

The  interest  they  took  in  Jesus  shows  how  deeply  he  had 
impressed  them.     Neither  had  dared  profess  their  faith  in  him. 

Perhaps  that  faith  was  not  well   defined.      But 
Secret  disciples.      ,  ^    ^•         i    ^  •  i        1      1  i  i 

they   believed   him   to   l)e   both  great  and  good. 

They  had  absented  themselves  from  the  Sanhedrim  which  had 

been    called   together  that  mornine:   bv  the   hig-h-priest.      Thcv 

knew   the   question   to   be   put   to   them.      Each   was   probably 

Ignorant  of  the  feelings  of  the  other.     But  they  could  not  vote  to 

execute  Jesus,  and  they  had  not  the  courage  to  defend  him.    Now 

they  discover  each  the  other's  long  regard  for  Jesus,  and  tbey 


a  TITE    SIXTH    DAT.  685 

unite  in  showins^  delicate  attentions  to  tlio  remains  of  the  crnci- 
fiod  prophet.  Pilate  granted  the  body.  Joseph  hrohght  a  linen 
shroud,  and  Nicodemns  brought  the  spiccry. 

There  is  a  pensive  beauty  in  John's  siin])le  statement:  "In  the 
place  where  he  was  crucified  there  was  a  garden ;  and  in  the 
gai'den  a  new  sepnl(;hre,  wlierein  was  never  nmn 
yet  laid,"  Matthew  says  that  tins  sepulchre  was  ^  a  gar  en. 
Joseph's  '^own  new  tomb,  which  he  had  hewn  out  in  the  rock." 
The  place  was  near,  and  these  good  men,  with  pious  haiuls,  boi-e 
Jesus  to  it,  and  thus  saved  him  from  beinc;  fiunir  into  a  com- 
mon  ditch  with  the  malefactors  who  were  crucified  with  him. 
They  seem  to  have  had  no  helpers.  The  friends  of  Jesns  had 
fled.  His  enemies  had  returned  to  the  city.  Alone  and  solitary, 
these  honorable  counsellors  lifted  and  wrapped  and  carried  and 
interred  the  body  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Joseph  rolled  up  a 
great  stone  to  the  door  of  tlie  tomb.  It  was  "  the  Jews'  i)i'epara- 
tion-day."  He  and  Nicodemus  left  the  garden  to  jucpare  for  the 
Passover. 

Two  women  had  watched  these  great  men  in  tlieir  humane  and 
godly  work.  Joseph  and  Nicodemus  had  not  consociated  with 
Love's  last  vi«nl.  J^''^"^  ^"^  ^"S  friends,  but  they  were  probably 
knovrn  as  men  of  wealth  and  distinction.  It 
must  have  been  a  wonder  to  these  women  wliat  interest  two 
members  of  the  senate  wliich  had  condemned  Jesus  should  have 
in  the  proper  pre])aration  and  entombment  of  his  body.  Thev 
M-ere  too  shy  to  address  them,  and  probably  the  counsellors  did 
not  notice  the  women;  l)ut  -\vlien  the  great  men  went  away  two 
humble  women  were  left  to  keep  love's  vigil  at  tlie  gate  of  death, 
Mary  of  Magdala  and  her  friend  Mary  the  mother  of  Joses. 
And  even  they  were  so  thoroughly  Je\v,  that  shortly  tliey  re- 
turned to  the  city,  and  having  "prepared  further  spices  and 
ointments,  they  rested  the  Sabbath-day,  according  to  the  com- 
mandment." 

That  Sabbath-day,  April   8,  a.d.  30,  Jesus  spent  in  Joseph's 
sepulclue. 


PAKT    VIII. 


TIIE  IlESTJEEECTION  OF  JESUS  AKD  SUBSEQUENT 

EVENTS. 

FORTY  DAYS— FROM  APRIL  9  TO  MAY  19,  A.D.  30. 


I. 

It  was  a  remarkable  Sabbath.     The  crucified  men  had  been 
removed,  Jesus  had  been  buried,  the  Temple  worship  had  been  re- 
sumed, going  forward  as  it  had  gone  for  several 

-.  ^„  ^         centuries,  and  the  church  party  would  fain  have 

after  crucifixion.  '  i        ./ 

had  everything  move  on  as  if  nothing  had  hap- 
pened. But  a  great  storm  had  swept  the  popular  mind.  Pilate  must 
have  been  moody  and  disturbed.  The  disciples  of  Jesus  could 
have  had  little  heart  for  the  Temple  services.  They  loved  the 
buried  Jesus,  and  although  all  their  hopes  of  him  and  much  of 
their  faith  in  his  sagacity  must  have  disappeared,  their  hearts 
were  buried  in  the  new  sepulchre  of  Joseph  of  Arimathsea.  The 
priests  had  two  things  to  trouble  them.  There  was  the  rent  veil 
of  the  Temple.  In  the  dying  agony  of  Jesus  had  come  a  con- 
vulsion which  had  torn  that  veil  from  top  to  bottom  and  laid  the 
Holiest  of  Holies  open.  That  must  have  been  an  appalling  sight. 
His  body  might  be  removed  from  the  sepulchre,  and  thus  faith  in 
his  resurrection  be  encouraged.  That  was  an  anxiety.  More- 
over, these  politicians  recollected  what  his  disciples  had  forgot- 
ien — his  own  prophecy  of  his  resurrection.  Their  recollections  of 
his  prophecies  were  accurate,  and  they  supposed  his  disciples  were 
as  cunning  as  themselves,  and  they  knew  what  they  would  do 
under  similar  circumstances.  That  was  the  second  trouble. 
"When  the  Sabbath  was  past,  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees 


THE   KESUKRECTION   OF   JESUS.  C87 

went  to  Pilate  and  said,  "  Sir,  we  remember  that  that  deceiver 

said,  while  he  was  yet  alive,  'After  three  days  I  will  rise  again.' 

Command,  therefoi'e,  that  the  sepnlchre  be  made 

secure  until  the  third  day,  lest  his  disciples  come  ®  ,  ^^^^  ^  ^^ 

1  •!  1  II'  1  1        guarded, 

by  night  and  steal  him  away,  and  say  unto  the 

people  that  he  is  risen  from  the  dead,  and  so  the  last  deceit  be 
worse  than  the  iirst."  Pilate  could  have  been  in  no  sweet  mood, 
but  there  was  no  reason  why  he  should  not  grant  their  request 
lie  had  been  forced  by  them  to  consent  to  the  death  of  the  young 
teacher:  he  might  as  well  yield  this  also.  He  cared  nothing  for 
the  result,  and  could  have  taken  no  interest  in  the  predictions  of 
a  man  whom  he  regarded  as  a  harmless  and  unfortunate  fanatic, 
lie  was  cross.  Yes,  they  shall  have  a  guard,  these  mad  priests 
who  are  frightened  by  a  dead  peasant !  If  it  gratifies  them  to 
make  fools  of  themselves  they  may  do  so :  he  will  not  hinder !  lie 
said  to  them,  "  Ye  shall  have  a  watch :  go  your  way,  make  it  as 
sure  as  you  can."  So  they  went  and  made  the  tomb  secure,  roll- 
ing up  a  stone  to  its  mouth,  and  sealing  it. 

The  Poinan  guard  took  possession  of  the  sepulchre. 

In  the  mean  time  Mary  of  Magdala  and  other  women,  knowing 
that  the  burial  of  Jesus  by  Joseph  and  Nicodemus  had  been  hur- 
ried, although  decent,  had  gone  out  on  Saturday 
evenino,  the  Sabbath  being  past,  and  had  pro-      P'-eparations f or 

i"        ^       '  °    "■  ..'  .        -   ^ „         embalming. 

cured  SM'cct  spices,  and  were  waiting  anxiously  tor 
the  morning  which  should  follow  the  Sabbath,  that  they  might  go 
and  anoint  the  precious  body,  performing  love's  last  offices  before 
Jesus  should  be  left,  as  they  supposed,  to  lie  forever  in  that  grave. 
They  knew  nothing  of  the  government  seal  on  the  tomb,  and 
nothing  of  the  Poman  guard.  They  knew  that  there  was  a  great 
stone  at  the  mouth  of  the  se])nlchre.  As,  at  earliest  dawn,  they 
approached  the  garden  they  cpiestioned  how  they  should  remove 
the  stone  so  as  to  proceed  with  the  embalming.  Then  they  felt  a 
preternatural  shaking  of  the  ground  beneath  their  feet.  Then,  as 
they  looked  towards  the  sepulchre,  there  was  a  preternatural  light. 
There  had  been  an  earthquake.  The  stone  had  been  thro^v•n  down. 
An  apparition  as  of  an  angel  sat  on  the  stone.  His  appearance 
had  so  frightened  the  Poman  guard  that  they  had  fallen  like  dead 
men.  Jesus  had  disappeared  from  the  tomb.  The  guard  had  not 
Been  him.  The  great  stone  had  not  detained  him.  His  earliest 
biographers  give  no  intimation  of  the  hour  of  the  resurrection. 


688  THE    RESUEEECTION    OF    JESUS 

lie  was  abroad  at  dayliglit.  They  represent  Iiim  as  having  liad 
frequent  intercourse  with  them  for  forty  days,  in  which  he  gives 
them  no  intimation  of  the  hour  of  his  resurrection.  It  was  be- 
tween Friday's  sunset  and  Sunday's  sunrise.  Wlien  he  K>6e  he  did 
not  show  himself  to  the  guard :  the  fii-st  fright  they  had  was  from 
tlie  angel.  lie  did  not  show  himself  to  any  one  until  after  the 
women  had  visited  the  sepulclire. 

There  is  almost  no  twilight  in  Palestine.     It  is  dark ;  a  glim- 
mer comes  in  the  eastern  skies;  then  the  sun  bounds  forth.     It 
M'as  3'et  dai-k  as  the  women  came  near  enough  to 
the  sepulchre  to  see  that  the  stone  was  o-one  from 

women.  ^  ^  _  ^    _  " 

its  mouth.     A  terrible  suspicion  flashed  on  the 

mind  of  the  devoted  Mavy  of  Magdala,  that  the  beloved  body  had 

been  stolen  b}'  the  nuilignant  enemies  of  Jesus,  and  she  could  not 

conjecture  what  outi-ages  might  have  been  committed  on  it.     In 

her  grief  and  indignation  she  rushed  back  to  communicate  the 

horrible  news  to  John,  with  whom  Peter  then  happened  to  be. 

The  other  women — Mary,  Salome,  and  Joanna — entered.     They 

do  not  seem  to  have  noticed  the  angel  until  they  had  ascertained 

the   absence   of   Jesus.     They   were   sorely  per- 

,  ,  plexed.     Perhaps  they  had  ccone  into  an  inner 

sepulchre.  ■"■  i  j  » 

chamber  of  the  tomb,  and  returned,  after  finding 
that  the  corpse  was  missing,  when  the  angel  i-evealed  himself  to 
them.  Luke  says  there  were  two  angels,  or  rathei-,  "  tAvo  men  in 
long  shining  garments."  The  women  were  afraid.  They  bowed 
their  heads.  The  angel  said,  "  Do  not  be  afi-aid,  for  I  know  that 
you  seek  Jesus  who  was  c]-ucified.  Why  do  you  seek  the  living 
among  the  dead  ?  lie  is  not  here.  lie  is  risen,  as  he  said.  Come 
and  see  the  ])lace  where  they  laid  him."  lie  showed  them  the  spot, 
and  the  grave-clothes  lying  in  order,  and  then  said,  "  Pemember 
how  he  spoke  to  you  when  he  was  yet  in  Galilee,  saying  that  the 
Son  of  Man  must  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  sinfnl  men,  and 
be  crucified,  and  the  third  day  rise  again."  The  women  then  dis- 
tinctly recalled  that  })rediction. 

The  angol  added,  "  Go  your  way  quickly,  and  tell  his  disciples, 
even  Peter,  that  he  is  risen   from  the  dead,  and  goes  before  you 

into  Galilee.     There  you  shall  see  him,  as  he  said 
p  "  "  to  3'ou."     The  women  started  off  towards  the  city, 

full  of  mingled  fear  and  joy.     They  seem  to  have 
missed  another  party  now  approaching  the  sepulchre. 


AND   SUBSEQUENT  EVENTS.     -  6S9 

Wlien  Mary  of  Magdala  had  reached  the  city  slie  flew  to  ^he 

house  of  John,  with  whom  Peter  was,  and  rusliing  in  breathlessly 

exclaimed,  "  Tliey  have  taken  away  the  Lord  out 

,.      ,  ,   1  ,  ,  ,       1  j^i  John  and  Peter, 

uL   the  sepulchre,  and  we  know  not  where  they 

have  laid  him."    This  was  startling  news.     Both  the  men  rose  and 

went  out  to  tJie  sepulchre.    Peter  had  not  yet  learned  that  a  special 

message  had  been  sent  to  him.     lie  had  behaved  so  Ijasely  that  he 

did  uot  feel  as  if  he  were  of  the  number  of  the  disciples.     But  he 

had  repented,  and  he  loved  the  brotherhood  of  the  disciples,  and 

he  loved  his  dead  blaster,  and  he  would  gladly  nuike  amends  for 

his  denials  by  devotion  to  the  corpse  of  Jesus.    Still  the  burden  of 

the  bad  memory  was  on  him.     lie  did  not  go  as  fleetly  as  John. 

Both  ran  ;  but  John  reached  the  sepulchre  tirst.     There  a  reverent 

awe  checked  him.     lie  kneeled  down  and  looked  at  the  grave- 

clothes.    Peter  followed,  and  went  right  in.    There  lay  the  shroud 

wrapped  nj),  and  the  napkin,  which  ])erhaps  Mary  of  Magdala  had 

wound  about  his  juangled  head.     Everything  was  orderly.     IIo 

had  been  taken  away  by  neither  friends  nor  foes.     The  former 

would  have  had  no  care  for  the  clothes,  or  have  uot  removed  them  ; 

the  latter  wcKild  have  torn  them  away  carelessly.     It  looked  as  if 

Jesus  had  risen  and  carefully  fi)lded  and  laid  away  the  garments 

of  the   grave,  wherewith   the   hands   of   respect   and   love   had 

wrapped  him. 

Peter  induced  John  to  follow  him,  Peter  was  puzzled.  In 
John  tliere  began  to  spring  up  some  faith.  "  lie  saw  and  be- 
lieved ;  "  for  as  yet,  according  to  John's  own  testimony,  "  they 
did  not  know  the  scripture,  that  he  must  rise  again  from  the 
dead."     Then  they  left  the  sepulchre  and  went  home. 

But  Mary  of  Magdala  stood  without  at  the  sepulchre,  wee})ing. 
The  men  might  go,  but  she  lingered  about  the  spot  whei-e  she  hud 
last  seen  the  body  of  him  whom  she  loved  with 
all  her  heart  and  soul.  She  was  alone.  Hers  .  '  ■  <=> 
was  an  absorbing  love  and  an  absorbing  grief.  She  gazed  through 
her  tears  down  into  the  sepulchre  where  the  dear  Jesus  had  been 
laid.  She  was  flooded  with  sorrow.  She  saw  the  two.  angels  in 
white,  but  she  had  no  attention  to  give  to  even  angels,  Nothing 
in  heaven  or  earth  could  interest  her  but  Jesus.  They  said  to  her, 
'•'  Woman,  -why  are  you  weeping  ? "  She  could  not  be  astonished 
or  frightened  even  by  so  brilliant  an  apparition  as  two  angels  ;  but 
she  was  ready  to  burst  forth  when  the  subject  of  her  love  was 
44 


690  THE   KESUERECTION    OF   JESUS 

tonched.     She  sobbed  out,  "  Because  they  have  taken  a"way  my 
Lord,  and  I  know  not  where  they  have  Laid  him  !  " 

What  marvellous  beauty  of  lovmg  is  here  !     "  My  Lord  ! "     It 
was  the  emphasis  of  appropriating  affection.     lie  was  hers  more 

than  he  was  any  other's.     She  loved  him   more 

than  any  other  woman  or  any  man  loved  him. 
And  he  had  done  everything  for  her.  She  did  not  ask  the  angels 
for  any  consolation ;  she  was  inconsolable.  She  turned  to  go,  and 
through  her  tears  she  saw  a  man  standing  in  the  garden.  She 
scarcely  looked  at  him.  One  man  filled  her  heart  and  brain  and 
eyes,  and  he  was  dead,  and  his  dear  body  was  stolen.  When  the 
stranger  asked  her,  "  Why  do  you  weep  i^  whom  do  you  seek  ? "  she 
thought  it  was  the  gardener,  and  that  he  mnst  know  all  about  it. 
Her  reply  Avas,  "  Sir,  if  you  have  borne  him  hence,  tell  me  where 
you  have  laid  him,  and  I  will  take  him  away  !  " 

"Wliat  marvellous  beauty  of  loving  is  here !     "  Ilim  " — as  if  every- 
body must  know  Mary's  "  him  !  "     If  it  were  not  considered  meet 

for  his  corpse  to  be  in  that  garden  because  he  had 
e  sees  esus.  ^.^^^  ^^  ^  malefactor — although  she  felt  that  that 
body,  if  laid  down  on  God's  throne,  would  sweeten  all  heaven — • 
she  would  take  it  away  to' some  place  Avliere,  withont  interruption, 
he  might  sleep  the  sleep  of  death,  and  she  might  weep  the  tears 
of  the  dying.  She  had  not  turned  to  gaze  full  on  the  speaker. 
It  was  Jesus,  and  she  did  not  know  it.  He  said  to  her,  "  Mary  !  " 
h\  his  lifetime  it  is  probable  that  he  had  never  called  the  other 
Marys  with  the  tone  in  which  he  was  accustomed  to  pronounce 
her  name,  the  poor  dear  friend  whom  he  had  brought  out  of  the 
darkness  of  insanity  with  the  marvellous  liglit  of  his  love.  The 
syllables  in  the  familiar  tone  thrilled  her.  She  turned.  She  saw 
him.  She  knew  it  was  Jesus.  She  sprang  towards  him  saying, 
"  Rabboni."  It  seems  that  she  would  have  embraced  him,  but 
Jesus  checked  her.  He  said,  "  Touch  me  not,  for  I  am  not  yet 
ascended  to  my  Father  :  but  go  to  my  brethren  and  say  unto  them 
that  I  ascend  unto  my  Father  and  your  Father,  to  my  God  and 
your  God." 

Mary  left  him.     Her  love  was  obedient.     The  brilliant  moment 
was  past.     She  might  not  see  him  again,  but  he  was  alive.     He 

was  to  meet  the  brethren  in  Galilee.     He  was  not 
Her  obedience.    ^,^^  Comforter ;   he  had  not  yet  come  in  that  cha- 
racter, as  he  had  promised  his  disciples,  becanse  he  had  not  yet 


Aim   SUBSEQUENT   EVENTS.  C91 

as2ended  to  the  Father.  So  Mary  of  ]\Iagdala,  lovingest  of  women, 
out  of  whom  Jesus  had  cast  seven  devils,  and  into  whom  seven 
angels  had  come,  sad  Mary,  glad  Maiy,  left  her  Lord  and  went 
about  the  errand  on  which  he  sent  her. 

The  interview  was  exceedingly  brief.  Before  the  other  women 
could  j-each  the  city,  Jesus  was  with  them.  lie  mot  them.  lie 
saluted  them  with  "All  hail!"  Combining  the 
accounts  given  by  Mark  and  Matthew,  a  very  natii-  '^^^  '^^^^'^  ^^ 
ral  history  seems  to  me  to  be  this :  The  women 
had  entered  the  sepulchre  and  seen  where  Jesus  lay ;  then  they 
had  the  vision  of  the  angels ;  then  they  went  out  "  quickly  "  and 
fled  from  the  sepulchre,  for  they  trembled  and  were  amazed,  "  and 
departed  with  fear  and  great  joy."  Leaving  the  sepulchre  in  great 
agitation,  they  may  have  wandered  off  from  the  city  quite  as 
naturally  as  towards  it ;  but  recalling  the  message  of  the  angel  to 
the  disciples,  their  joy  pi'edominated  ;  their  mental  equipoise  began 
to  return.  To  make  up  the  lost  time,  they  began  to  run,  and  thus 
they  met  Jesus.  They  knew  him  at  once.  As  soon  as  he  saluted 
them  they  fell  at  his  feet,  clasping  them  and  rendering  him  hom- 
age, lie  permitted  in  them  what  he  had  forbidden  in  Mary  of 
Magdala.  Their  worship  and  their  feelings  were  quite  different 
from  those  of  the  loving  Mary.  Jesus  soothed  them,  saying,  "  Bo 
not  afraid  ;  go  tell  the  brethren  that  I  go  into  Galilee,  and  there 
shall  they  see  me." 

As  the  M'omen  went  to  bear  this  message  to  the  disciples,  some 

of  the  watch  went  to  report  to  the  Pharisees,  and  to  consult  for 

their  own  safety.   The  Sanhedrim  assembled.    The 

The  watch 
soldiers  probably  told  the  facts  as  they  occurred. 

The  council  was  driven  to  desperation.  They  had  hoped  that  the 
money  given  Judas  should  end  the  matter.  Now  there  must  be 
more  bribery.  They  gave  the  soldiers  "  uirge  money,"  as  our 
common  version  has  it ;  "  sufficient  silver  pieces  "  it  is  in  the  ori- 
ginal. They  instructed  them  what  to  say ;  it  was  this :  "  His  dis- 
ciples came  by  night  and  stole  him  away  while  we  slept."  They 
a.so  pledged  themselves  to  stand  between  them  and  Pilate,  if  a 
report  of  the  affair  should  reach  the  governor's  ears. 

We  can  readily  account  for  the  mental  and  moral  temper  of  the 
majoi-it}'  of  the  Sanhedrim.     A  course  of  crime  . 

had   blunted  their  sensibilities.     It  was  natural 
that  they  should  offer  money  to  the  soldiers.     It  was  natural  thai 


692  THE   KESUKRECTION    OF   JESUS 

tlie  soldiers  should  accept  it.  Their  case  was  this :  having  dis- 
charged their  duty  faithfully,  they  M'ere  in  such  circumstancea 
that  if  tried  by  a  military  court  they  would  he  executed.  Csesar 
would  take  no  "  angel "  for  an  excuse.  They  had  suffered  the 
government  seal  to  be  violated.  They  had  committed  a  military 
crime.  If  brought  to  trial  their  doom  was  sealed.  They  would 
better  make  all  out  of  their  circumstances  that  could  be  made. 
They  took  the  money,  and  took  the  pledge  of  the  priests,  and  went 
off  and  awaited  events. 

But  there  is  no  evidence  that  these  soldiers  ever  told  to  a  mili- 
tary tribunal  what  the  Sanhedrim  put  into  their  mouths.  They 
could  not  be  worse  men  than  the  priests,  and  not 
such  fools  as  to  tell  a  lie  that  would  convict  them. 
It  is  quite  probable  that  they  repeated  the  stupid  falsehood  to 
some  of  the  populace,  in  the  presence  of  some  of  the  priests,  to  mcike 
good  their  bargain.  The  priests  would  use  it  among  the  vulgar 
people,  and  thus  the  report  would  gain  currenc}^  among  the  Jews. 
But  the  soldiers  would  not  have  said  so  if  arrested.  "  AVe  slept :  " 
that  was  a  crime  for  which  death  would  be  inflicted,  according  to 
imperial  law.  "  They  stole  : "  how  could  men  tell  what  was  done, 
or  who  did  it,  while  they  were  asleep  ?  But  it  is  quite  easy  to  see 
why  the  soldiers  did  as  they  were  taught :  there  was  in  that  direc 
tion  some  possibility  of  escape,  but  none  in  any  other. 

That  the  body  of  Jesus  could  not  have  been  stolen  by  any  one, 

a  very  slight  inspection  of  the  facts  must  show.    If  stolen,  it  was  by 

friends  or  by  foes,  by  the  Jewish  authorities  or  by 

The  Body  not        .       ■,••-,         mi      _c  ^^       .i  .   i         •/ 

.  J  tlie  disciples,   Ihe  former  could  not  have  taken  it ; 

for  if  they  had,  they  would  have  made  an  exhibi- 
tion of  the  corpse  after  three  days,  and  thus  secured  a  complete 
demolition  of  the  claims  of  Jesus.  The  disciples  could  not  have 
done  so.  The  presence  of  the  dead  body  would  be  a  perpetual 
reminder  of  the  death  of  their  hopes.  There  would  be  no  stimu- 
lus in  that.  They  had  no  conceivable  reason  for  stealing  the  body. 
If  they  had,  they  could  not  have  accomplished  it.  They  were  too 
few  to  overpower  the  guard.  If  they  had  made  the  attack  some 
would  have  been  at  least  wounded,  and  perhaps  killed,  and  the 
uproar  would  have  aroused  the  city.  But  this  is  not  charged.  It 
is  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  all  the  guard  were  asleep  at  once, 
and  that  at  that  juncture  the  disciples  stole  the  body.  That  would 
have  involved  the  breaking  of  the  government  seal  on  a  niglit 


AND   SUBSEQUENT   EVENTS.  693 

\vlie:i  the  moon  was  at  its  full,  and  the  citj  was  crowded,  and  the 
popnlace  was  excited.  If  that  had  occurred  the  discii>les  would 
have  been  prosecuted.  But  tliey  never  were  prosecuted.  The 
testimony  of  the  soldiers  would  then  have  been  called  into  court, 
and  that  would  have  acquitted  the  disciples  and  covered  tlie  San- 
hedrim with  shame. 

There  were  in  the  Sanhedrim  a  few  who  believed  in  Jesus,  and 
to  them — to  such  men  as  Joseph  and  Nicodemus,  for  instance — 
the  early  historians  must  have  been  indebted  for  a  narrative  of 
what  had  passed  in  the  Sanhedrim,  including  their  infamous  and 
stupid  proposition  to  the  soldiers. 

When  the  women  returned  and  made  their  report  the  disciples 
did  not  believe ;  but  what  the  women  said  seemed  to  them  like 
"  crazy  talk." 

That  afternoon  two  disciples  left  Jerusalem  to  walk  to  Em- 
mans,  a  village  seven  miles  distant.  The  name  of  one  is  preserved. 

It  was  Cleoiias ;   but  we  know  not  who  he  was. 

mi  1  1111  IIP  1  0^  t^^  '^^y  ^ 

lliey    started    probably    about    halt-past    three    -Emmaus 

o'clock,  after  the  evening  sacrifice.  They  had 
iieard  the  reports  which  seemed  to  have  been  circulated  among 
the  friends  of  Jesus,  that  the  sepulchre  was  empty.  As  tliey  walked 
they  conversed  npon  the  subject  nearest  to  all  their  hopes  and 
fears  and  interests,  the  dead  Jesus,  and  what  had  happened  in 
the  three  eventful  days.  They  were  perplexed.  They  "reasoned.'' 
They  were  probably  striving  to  reconcile  the  apparentl}'  conflicting 
facts,  the  claims  of  Jesus  and  his  manifest  power,  with  the  igno- 
minious death  which  he  had  suffered.  Jesus  drew  near  and 
walked  with  them ;  but  they  were  so  absorbed  that  they  did  not 
notice  him. 

He  spoke  to  them  respectfully  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  be  offen- 
sive even  in  a  stranger.     "  What  are  these  words  that  ye  exchange 

one  with  another  as  ye  walk  ? "     Lnke  saj^s  that 

,,   ,  1.1  PI  11      mi  The  interesting 

"  tliey  stood  with  sorrowful  countenances.       fhey    gfj-an^-er 

looked  at  Jesus,  but  did  not  recognize  him.     The 

same  historian  says,  "  their  eyes  were  holden  that  they  should  not 

know  him."     Mark  says  that  Jesus  "appeared  in  another  form 

unto  them."    It  is  to  be  noticed  that  some  change  must  have  passed 

in  the  appearance  of  his  person.     Xone  of  his  friends  recognized 

him  immediately  on  first  sight ;  but  none  failed  to  recognize  him 

afterwards.     Who  can  tell  what  that  chano^e  was  ?     It  was  hia 


694  THE   EESURKECTION   OF  JESUS 

o^vn  body.    They  all  saw,  and  some  touclied  him.    Was  the  gross- 

ness  of  the  material  body  disappearing,  and  the  fineness  of  tlie 

spiritual  body  coming  forth  ?     But  we  are  to  record  only  what  are 

the  facts  in  the  case. 

When  Jesus  asked  his  question  the  two  disciples  looked  at  him. 

There  was  nothing  in  the  appearance  of  this  stranger  to  make  him 

seem  a  suspicious  person,  to  be  avoided,  and  tlie 
Grief  of  the  dis-,  ,  r-  i  •  .r^'• 

.  ,  tone  and  manner  oi  his  respectful  inquiry  com- 

mended him  to  the  confidence  which  these  simple- 
hearted  men  gave  him.  Cleopas  replied :  "  Are  you  the  only  so- 
journer in  Jerusalem  w^ho  has  not  known  these  things  that  have 
come  to  pass  there  in  these  days  ? "  It  was  a  polite  reflection  on 
his  apparent  ignorance.  "  What  things  ? "  asked  the  stranger,  to 
draw  him  out.  One  of  them  answered,  "  Concerning  Jesus  the 
ISTazarene,  who  was  a  man,  a  prophet  mighty  in  act  and  speech 
before  God  and  all  the  people  ;  and  how  the  chief  priests  and  our 
rulers  delivered  him  to  be  condemned  to  death  and  have  crucified 
him."  And  then,,  running  out  into  confidential  lamentations  to 
the  attentive  and  sympathizing  stranger,  the  speaker  continued : 
"  But  w^e  hoped  that  it  had  been  he  who  was  about  to  redeem 
Israel ;  yet,  for  all  these  hopes,  this  is  the  third  day  since  these 
things  were  done.  Besides,  certain  women  of  our  company 
astounded  us,  who  were  early  at  the  tomb,  and  not  having  found 
his  body  they  returned,  saying  that  they  had  seen  a  vision  of 
angels,  who  say  that  he  is  living.  And  certain  of  those  with  u?. 
went  to  the  tomb  and  found  it  thus,  according  also  as  the  women 
had  said  :  but  him  they  saw  not !  " 

The  stranger  had  completely  won  their  confidence  and  tested 
the  genuineness  of  their  grief,  their  faith,  their  love,  and  their 
fears.  Tliey  had  even  confessed  themselves  disciples  of  the  pro- 
phet who  had  seemed  to  have  failed,  whose  ignominious  execution 
had  blasted  their  hopes  but  not  their  affection.  Tliey  even  ad- 
mitted him  to  a  knowledge  of  what  was  passing  in  the  inner  circle 
of  the  friends  of  the  crucified  Jesus.  These  simple-hearted  pea- 
sants were  the  first  confessors. 

Then  Jesus  replied,  "  O  thoughtless  and  slow  of  heart  to  believe 

all  that  the  prophets  have  spoken !     Ought  not 

.,     ,       ,.    .  ,        The  Christ  to  have  suffered  these  thino^s  and  to 
the  two  disciples.  o 

enter  his  glory  ? "  They  supposed  their  Master  to 
be  The  Christ  of  God :  if  so,  the  books  held  to  be  sacred  writings 


AND    SUBSEQUENT   EVENTS.  G95 

by  the  Jewish  people  pointed  to  just  such  a  course  of  affairs  as 
had  happened  to  Jesus.  Then  he  began  with  Moses,  and  running 
through  liis  writings  and  those  of  their  prophets,  he  exphiincd  to 
these  simple  men  that  those  very  things  which  had  shaken  their 
confidence  should  be  confirmatory  of  the  faith  of  all  those  who 
understood  and  believed  the  Holy  Scriptures.  AVe  can  never 
know  what  special  passages  Jesus  quoted  and  expounded  in  this 
conversation ;  but  it  is  not  difficult  now  to  see  how  the  whole  sys- 
tem of  worship  instituted  under  Moses  can  be  made  liighly  typical 
of  what  happened  to  Jesus,  to  the  minds  of  tliose  who  believe  in 
him.  It  was  new  light  to  these  simple  but  thouglitful  men,  and 
they  received  it  gladly. 

Upon  reaching  the  house  where  they  were  to  abide,  Jesus  was 
about  to  take  his  leave  and  pass  on.     But  he  had  been  so  cliarm- 

ino;  a  talker,  his  frlowino;  eloquence  had  so  M'on 

o  1  Jesus    reveula 

the  hearts  of  his  two  ingenuous  listeners,  that  they    jjj^gelf 

urged  him  to  stay  with  them.  lie  consented. 
When  the  meal  was  spread  Jesus  assumed  the  host's  place.  As 
they  reclined  at  the  table  he  took  bread  and  uttered  the  usual 
thanksgiving,  which,  according  to  the  Jewish  ritual,  Avas  obliga- 
tory where  three  ate  together.  There  was  something  in  the  tone, 
or  there  was  some  change  come  over  Jesus,  which  caused  them  to 
recognize  their  dear  dead  friend,  or,  perhaps,  as  he  broke  the 
bread  they  saw  his  wounded  hands.  "  Their  eyes  were  opened," 
says  Luke.     At  that  instant  Jesus  became  invisible  to  them. 

This  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  the  history  of  a  subjective 
process  on  their  part.  That  both  should  see  the  same  man,  and 
hear  the  same  words  throuo-h  a  Ions:  discourse,  and  see  him  as 
they  prepared  the  meal,  and  behold  and  hear  him  while  uttering 
the  thanksgiving,  and  both  lose  sight  of  him  at  once,  and  the 
whole  be  a  mere  subjective  fancy  of  both  minds,  is  not  at  all  in 
accordance  with  the  well-known  laws  of  our  intellectual  constitu- 
tion.    His  disappearance  is  not  explained. 

Then  they  said  to  eacli  other,  "  Did  not  our  hearts  burn  M'ithin 
us  as  he  talked  to  us  by  the  way,  and  opened  the  Scriptures  to 
us  ? "     They  were  so  excited  at  what  had  happened 

,,,,,  ,,  They  return  to 

tliat  they  arose  and  returned  to  Jerusalem.     It    ,^      ., 

must  have  been  night;  but  enough  was  happening 

to  draw  the  little  circle  closer  together.     When  Clcopas  and  his 

3ompanion  reached  the  city  they  found  the  eleven  Apostles  to- 


696  THE   EESURRKCTION    OF   .TESVS 

getlier  and  others  of  the  disciples.     As  soon  as  they  entered  some 

one  said  to  them,  "  The  Lord  is  risen  indeed,  and  has  appeared  to 

Simon."     And  perhaps  all  the  strange  occurrences  of  the  day,  so 

far  as  they  knew  them,  were  rehited  by  the  company  to  the  two 

who  liad  just  come  from  Enmiaus. 

We  do  not  know  when  this  appearance  to  Peter  occnrred.     It 

was  some  time  since  morning,  of  conrse  ;  but  wdiether  it  was  liefore 

or  after  the  revelation  of  himself  to  the  Emmaus 
Jesus     appears      ,.     .    ,  ,  r  ...  -r, 

^    ,,  ^  disciples,  we  have  no  means  or  ascertammiy.     it 

to  Peter.  ^       -  _  *=> 

mio-lit  have  been  after.  There  was  time  enouij-h. 
The  company  were  evidently  greatly  excited  by  the  appearance  to 
Peter.  In  an  earlier  part  of  tlie  day  he  may  have  gone  to  the 
sepulchre,  or  he  may  have  been  wandering  about  the  suburbs  or 
through  the  sti'cets,  very  disconsolate  and  uiiha])py.  Xone  of  the 
disciples  liad  as  mnch  cause  for  sorrow  as  he.  lie  had  denied  his 
Lord  and  broken  into  profanity.  The  last  look  which  Jesus  gave 
liim  must  have  haunted  him.  Even  if  his  Master  had  risen  from 
the  dead,  would  he  appear  to  him  ?  lie  had  forfeited  his  place. 
Perhaps  none  of  his  brother  Apostles  knew  how  basely  he  had 
acted:  but  Jesus  did.  Would  he  allow  poor  Simon  to  fall  peni- 
tently at  his  feet?- 

^Nothing  can  be  more  beautiful  or  appropriate  than  these  first 
appearances  of  Jesus.  lie  first  shows  himself  to  the  grief  of  love 
in  Mary  of  ]\Iagdala.  lie  next  shows  liimself  to  the  grief  of  per- 
plexity in  the  two  Emmaus  disciples.  lie  then  shows  himself  to 
the  grief  of  penitence  in  Peter.  It  was  all  in  beautiful  consis- 
tency with  the  charactei-  he  had  displayed  thi-ough  his  whole  career. 

After  the  assembly  had  informed  Clcopas  and  his  companion 
of  what  was  known  in  Jerusalem,  they,  in  turn,  gave  an  account 
of  their  interview  with  Jesus  in  Emmaus  and  on  the  way  thither, 
and  especially  told  of  how  Jesus  was  made  known  to  them  in  the 
breaking  of  bread.  There  was  great  incredulity  in  the  company, 
and  much  perplexity.  They  all  believed  that  he  was  no  longer  in 
the  sepulchre;  but  his  appearance  to  Mary  and  the  other  women, 
and  Simon,  who  professed  to  have  seen  him,  seemed  to  tliem  like 
hallucination.  The  story  told  by  the  Emmaus  disciples  increased 
the  perplexity  of  the  company.  Jesus  was  seen  so  often,  in  such 
difierent  places,  so  near  the  same  time,  and  vanishing  so  strangely. 
It  began  to  be  frightful.  It  suggested  spiritual  appearances 
They  were  mournfully  disturbed. 


AND    SUBSEQUENT   EVENTS.  697 

It  was  probably  the  fii*st  time  they  liad  been  gathered  together 
since  the  sup]ier  with  Jesus  on  Thursday  night.     They  were  afraid 
of  the  church  authorities,  and  so  the  doors  were 
shut.     Just  when  tliey  were  in  most  peri^lexity  by      -  Jf^  ,.^^.^^™ 

'^  i       1  -^      -^      of  the  disciples. 

all  these  narratives  of  preternatural  tilings,  Jesus 
suddenly  appeared  in  their  midst.  AVhether  he  opened  the  door, 
or  was  admitted  by  the  doorkeeper,  who  might  have  seen  that  it 
was  Jesus,  or  whether  it  was  accomplished  in  some  way  still 
"  unknown  to  our  philosophy,"  we  cannot  say.  Here  is  the  simple 
historical  statement.  It  shows  that  he  was  no  lonijer  in  the  irrave, 
but  was  in  bodily  intercourse  with  the  disciples.  As  he  entered 
he  said  :  "  Peace  to  you  !  "  It  was  his  usual  salutation.  But  they 
w^ere  terrified  and  affrighted.  They  thought  they  saw  a  spirit,  a 
phantasm,  a  ghost,  something  produced  preternaturally.  Their 
nerves  were  unstrung  by  the  events  of  the  day.  They  were  so 
agitated  that  they  did  not  notice  his  salutation. 

Tie  said  to  them:  "Why  are  you  troubled?  And  why  do  rea- 
sonings arise  in  your  hearts  ? "     He  saw  that  they  regarded  him 

as  some  strange  "  ai)pearance "  merely.     He  re- 

j  ,  1  r  i  1    T      •       .  1  1  Jesus   in   their 

proved  them  tor  not  believing  the  men  and  women       ^ ,  . 

who  had  seen  him  and  had  reported  his  resurrec- 
tion, thus  preparing  them  for  his  coming  into  their  midst.  He 
exhibited  the  wounds  which  they  knew  he  had  received  in  cruci- 
fixion. "  Behold  my  feet  and  my  hands,  that  it  is  I  myself : 
handle  me,  and  see :  for  a  spirit  has  not  flesh  and  bones  as  you 
see  me  have." 

Whether  they  touched  him  or  not  we  do  not  knoAv ;  they  might 
have  done  so.  But  they  were  overjoyed;  they  were  too  glad  to 
believe ;  they  were  full  of  wonder.  The  sight  of  Jesus  was  first 
terrible,  and  then  glorious.  They  were  in  a  state  of  great  mental 
agitation,  described  very  naturally  by  these  intelligent  historians. 
They  behaved  just  as  people  would  behave  who  were  not  playing 
a  part  or  posturing  for  effect. 

Jesus  said  very  simply,  "  Have  you  anything  to  eat  here  ? " 
They  gave  him  some  broiled  fish  and  some  honey-comb.  He  took 
them  and  ate,  the  whole  company  beholding  him. 
And  while  eating,  he  said  to  them  :  "  These  are  ^^  ^^*^  ^'^^ 
the  words  which  I  spoke  to  you,  while  I  was  yet 
with  you,  that  all  things  must  be  fulfilled  which  are  written  in 
the  law  of  Moses,  and  in  the  Prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms,  eon- 


698  THE   KESUEKECTION   OF   JESUS 

cerning  me."  These  are  the  parts  into  which  thej  ■were  accus- 
tomed to  classify  the  canonical  Scriptures,  He  showed  that  they 
all  pointed  to  his  death  and  resurrection.  lie  assisted  them, 
opening  their  understanding,  that  they  might  know  what  the 
Scriptures  meant  in  passages  which  had  been  sealed  to  them.  He 
concluded  by  adding,  "  Thus  it  is  "written  that  Tlie  Christ  should 
suffer,  and  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day,  and  that  repentance 
for  tlie  remission  of  sins  should  be  proclaimed  in  his  name  among 
all  the  nations,  bco;innini]i:  at  Jerusalem.  You  are  witnesses  of 
these  things :  and,  behold,  I  send  the  promise  of  the  Father  upon 
you  :  but  tarry  in  the  city  until  you  be  endued  witli  power  from 
on  high."  He  cleared  up  for  them  a  point  whicli  was  greatly 
dark  to  the  Jewish  mind,  namely,  that  Tlie  Christ,  the  Messiah  of 
God,  should  be  a  sufferer.  They  had  so  thoroughly  misread  the 
Scrij^tures.  AVe  need  not  be  surprised  at  that,  when  we  see  how 
traditional  readings  of  the  New  Testament  come  to  have  such 
influence  on  men,  that  when  one  gives  a  natural  and  consistent 
interpretation  it  often  seems  a  shocking  innovation.  His  com- 
mand to  remain  in  Jerusalem  must  be  understood  as  making  that 
their  centre  and  headquarters,  as  we  soon  see  them  ordered  to 
Galilee  for  a  season. 

John  records  that  Jesus  again  said,  "  Peace  unto  you  !  As  my 
Father  has  sent  me,  I  also  will  send  you."  And  then  he  breathed 
on  them,  and  said:  "  Receive  the  Holy  Spiiit.  If 
you  remit  the  sins  of  any,  they  shall  be  remitted 
to  them  ;  and  if  you  retain  the  sins  of  any,  they  are  retained." 
The  act  of  breathing  seems  s^^mbolical.  These  men  wei-e  from 
that  time  very  different  from  the  men  they  had  been  before. 
They  were  wiser,  better,  deeper,  more  holy  men.  The  last  words 
are  not  to  be  interpreted  as  conferring  upon  any  corpoi-ate  body 
of  officials  the  authority  to  bind  upon  their  fellow-men  the  sins  of 
whicli  they  have  been  guilty,  and  to  forgive  authoritatively  all 
whom  tli'ey  choose  to  forgive.  The  meaning  of  these  words,  which 
are  here  repeated,  having  been  used  before,  we  have  discussed 
their  significance  on  pp.  421,  422. 

In  addition  we  may  add,  (1)  That  the  company  addressed  were 

not  the  twelve  Apostles,  because  there  were  other  persons  present 

to  whom  the  Holy  Spirit  was  given,  if  given  to 

so  u  ion.       ^^^^^^  ^^^  J  ^^^j^^  received  this  authority  quite  as  much 

as  the  Apostles,  of  whom  there  were  only  ten  present,  the  place  of 


AND   SUBSEQUENT  EVENTS. 


699 


Judas  II.  not  having  been  filled,  and  Thomas  Dldymns  being  ab- 
sent. (2)  Moreover,  there  is  not  the  slightest  historical  evidence 
that  any  of  this  company,  whether  disciples  or  Apostles,  ever, 
separately  or  conjointly,  attempted  to  exercise  ^vhat  came  long 
afterward,  in  churchly  corruptions,  to  be  called  "  Absolution." 
This  pretence  of  priestcraft  rests  itself  altogether  on  a  misrepre- 
sentation of  this  passage. 

AVe  do  not  know  why  Thomas  Avas  absent.  There  is  no  special 
blame  to  be  attached  to  him.  He  loved  Jesus.  He  was  so  de- 
voted to  him  that  when  Jesus  proposed  to  return  ^^^^^^  j^^^^^. 
into  Judsea,  to  visit  the  bereaved  family  of  Laza-  ^^^ 
rus,  Thomas  proposed  to  accompany  him  and  die 
with  him  (see  p.  497).  The  very  love  and  distress  which  brought 
the  others  together  may  have  kept  Thomas  apart.  He  was  thor- 
oughly stunned  by  the  blow.  There  seemed  nothing  left  to  him. 
He  was  of  that  temperament  which  has  its  grief  aggravated  by 
seeing  the  grief  of  others.  AVhen  the  disciples  had  been  lifted 
into  a  great  joy  by  seeing  their  Master,  they  f(Kmd  Thomas  and 
told  him  all.  They  had  refused  to  believe  the  women ;  but  they 
had  accepted  the  testimony  of  Peter  and  the  two  disciples  from 
Ennnaus,  before  Jesus  appeared  to  them.  Thomas  declined  the 
combined  testimony  of  the  whole  body  of  women  and  men  that 
professed  to  have  seen  Jesus. 

We  may  assign  many  and  very  diverse  reasons  for  this  incredu- 
lity, without  supposing  Thomas  extraordinarily  skeptical.  It  may 
have  been  partly  wounded  love,  or  love  that  felt  that  the  news 
was  too  good  to  be  true.  His  associates  were  compelled  to  ac- 
knowledge that  Jesus  had  come  to  them  very  much  after  the 
manner  of  an  apparition,  and  that  his  appearance  was  changed. 
They  may  have  confessed  that  they  had  not  touched  their  Mas- 
ter. They  could  not  convince  Thomas  throughout  all  that  week. 
To  their  repeated  representations  Thomas  at  last  gave  his  decided 
answer  :  "  Unless  I  shall  see  in  his  hands  the  print  of  the  nails, 
and  thrust  my  hand  into  his  side,  I  will  not  believe.-'  He  was  all 
the  week  in  this  unhappy  state  of  mind.  If  his  friends  were  mis- 
taken, they  were  at  least  happy. 

Another  Sabbath  passed,  and  another  Sunday.  On  Sunday 
evening  the  friends  of  Jesus  were  collected  again.  Thomas  was 
now  with  them.  Jesus  suddenly  stood  in  their  midst,  as  he  had 
done  eight  nights   before.     He   repeated   the   usual   salutation, 


700  THE   EESUERECTION   OF   JESUS 

"  Peace  unto  you  !  "  Then  turning  at  once  to  Thomas,  he  said, 
"  Reach  hither  thy  finger,  and  see  ray  hands  ;  and  reach  hitlier  thj 

hand,  and  thrust  it  into  my  side,  and  be  not  faith- 
_   V.  1    „  less,  but  believing."     Thomas  had  ffazed  at  liim 

through  all  this  speech.  It  was  not  a  ghost.  It 
was  not  a  phantasm.  It  was  The  Master.  However  changed,  it 
was  undoubtedly  he.  Thomas  knew  the  voice.  The  Master  had 
not  met  nuj  of  the  disciples  during  the  intervening  week,  else  they 
would  have  told  Thomas,  Now  Jesus  knew  his  very  thoughts, 
and  repeated  his  very  words,  and  offered  himself  to  the  very  test 
which  Thomas  had  proposed.  Thomas  believed  of  Jesus  three 
things  at  once — that  he  retained  his  personality ;  tluat  he  could  be 
where  he  w^ould  at  any  moment ;  and  that  he  knew  all  things. 
The  whole  infidelity  of  Thomas  broke  down  at  once.  He  ac- 
knowledged all.  The  resurrection  of  Jesus  was  an  accomplished 
fact.  Here  were  the  pierced  hands,  and  ankles,  and  side.  He 
was  omnipresent.  He  was  omniscient.  All  their  preconceptions 
of  their  Master  were  below  the  fact.  He  was  very  God. 
Thomas  worshipped  him,  calling  him  "  My  God."  Jesus  recog- 
nized the  faith  of  Thomas  in  his  Godhead  as  correct,  and  while 
receiving  the  homage  due  only  to  God,  he  administered  a  mild 
rebuke  for  the  slowness  of  the  faith  of  Thomas :  "  Thomas, 
you  have  believed  because  you  have  seen  me :  blessed  are  they 
that  have  not  seen,  and  have  believed." 


II. 

All  these  six  appearances  of  Jesus  had  occurred  in  or  near  Je- 
nisalem.     It  bound  the  disciples  into  a  company  of  believers. 

But  as  yet  they  had  no  plan.  The  eleven  Apos- 
Gaiii^   ^°^  ^^"^    ties  left  the  metropolis  for  Galilee  (Matt,  xxviii. 

16),  whether  at  the  immediate  direction  of  Jesus 
or  at  the  promptings  of  prudence  we  have  no  means  of  knowing. 
But  at  the  last  supper  he  had  said  to  them  w^ords  which  were  then 
incomprehensible :  "  After  I  am  risen  again  I  will  go  before  yon 
onto  Galilee  "  (Mark  xiv.  28).  And  the  angel  at  the  sepulchre  had 
reminded  the  women  of  that  promise,  and  directed  them  to  "  tell 
his  disciples,  and  Peter,  that  he  goeth  before  you  unto  Galilee." 
(See  p.  689.)  They  would  prudently  remain  in  Jerusalem  until 
the  close  of  the  Passover.     They  would  then  follow  the  directiou 


AUTD    SUB&ilQUENT    EVENTS.  701 

of  Jesus,  and  go  back  to  their  old  homes  in  Galilee.     Beyond  that 

they  had  no  direction,  except  the  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  they 

Avcre  to  come  hack  to  Jernsalem  and  await  the  gift  of  the  Holy 

Spirit,     They  did  not  know  when  that  should  occur ;  in  point  of 

fact  it  did  not  occur  until  about  two  months  afterward.     AVhile 

waiting  for  the  reappearance  of  their  Lord,  and  further  direi;- 

tions,  they  naturally  resumed  their  old  employment  on  which 

their  livelihood  depended.     One  evening,  on  the  shoi-e  of  the  Sea 

of  Tiberias,  Simon  Peter  said  he  should  go  a  lishing.     Thomas 

Didymus,  ajid  Kathanael  of  Cana,  and  James  and  John,  and  two 

other  Apostles,  who  are  not  named,  were  of  the  company.     These 

seven  were  all  experienced  fishermen,  but  they  toiled  all   night 

and  caught  nothing. 

At  break  of  day  Jesus  was  standing  on  the  shore ;  but  they  did 

not  recognize  him.     It  is  related  of  each  appearance  of  Jesus  after 

his  resurrection  that  he  M'as  not  recognized  at  lirst 

.    ,       ,        ,  .  ,     .      .  ,.  .       1         mi  Jesus     by    the 

Sight  by  Jus  most   mtnnate   inends.     Uiey  saw    .  ^ 

the  stranger,  standing  on  the  shore,  as  an  early 
purchaser  of  iish  might  be  who  stood  where  he  saw  the  men  fish- 
ing and  awaited  an  opportunity  to  buy.  At  last  he  said,  "Chil- 
dren, have  you  any  meat  ? "  The  form  of  the  question  would  not 
arouse  the  suspicion  that  it  was  Jesus.  They  answered,  "  jN'o."  lie 
said  totliem,  ''Cast  the  net  on  the  right  side  of  the  ship  and  you 
shall  find."  Even  this  did  not  reveal  Jesus.  Any  man  acquaint- 
ed with  the  lake  might  have  detected  from  the  sh(jre  some  sign 
of  fish  which  had  eluded  their  weary  eyes.  It  was  an  easy  thing 
to  do ;  so  they  followed  the  stranger's  direction,  and  they  were 
not  able  to  draw  the  net  for  the  nniltitude  of  the  fishes. 

John's  quick  eye  fii'st  recognized  Jesus.  lie  said  to  Peter,  "  It 
is  the  Lord."  Since  the  crucifixion  these  two  men,  so  much  un- 
like, each  having  what  the  other  lacked,  had  been  drawn  into  a 
very  close  companionship.  They  we)'e  in  a  boat  together.  Peter, 
always  impulsive,  ])ullcd  on  his  fisher's  coat  to  go  to  Jesus.  The 
vessel  was  about  three  hundred  feet  from  the  shoi-c.  The  other 
disciples  came  up  to  the  help  of  J  ihn,  and  they  dragged  the  net 
and  the  fishes  up  near  enough  to  the  shore  to  secuj-e  them. 

Upon  landing  they  saw  a  fire  of  coals,  and  fish  thereon,  and 
bread.  Jesus  directed  them  to  bring  of  the  fish  they  liad  just 
taught;  and  Simon  Peter,  perhaps  now  recollecting  how  he  had 
abandoned  John,  promptly  obeyed  the  command,  and  landed  the 


t02  THE   RESUEKECTION   OF   JESUS 

unbroken  net  witli  its  contents  of  one  liundred  and  fifty-three 
great  fishes.  Jesus  then  said,  '^  Come  and  dine."  Jesus  divided 
the  bread  and  the  fish.  It  was  a  silent  meal.  A  tender  awe  was 
on  the  company.  The  disciples  knew  it  was  "  the  Lord,"  as  they 
had  now  learned  to  call  him,  but  they  asked  him  no  questions. 

"When  all  had  eaten,  Peter,  who  since  his  denial  of  liis  Master 
must  have  felt  that  he  had  largely  lost  the  confidence  of  his  asso- 
ciates, and  must  have  felt  very  uncomfortable  as 
to  the  opinion  which  Jesus  had  of  him,  was  called 
to  endure  a  painful  ordeal,  which  resulted,  however,  in  the  re-es- 
tablishment of  his  confidence  in  Jesus  and  of  the  confidence  of 
his  brethren  in  him.  Jesus  said  to  him,  "  Simon,  son  of  Jonas, 
do  you  love  me  more  than  these?"  This  must  have  recalled 
to  him  his  boastful  professions  compared  with  their  reserve,  and 
his  cowardl}'  desertion  compared  with  their  fidelity.  His  reply 
was,  "  Yes,  Lord ;  you  know  that  I  love  you."  lie  does  not  now 
re^t  the  proof  of  his  devotion  on  bragging  professions  of  what  he 
woi  Id  do,  but  upon  the  consciousness  of  his  Master,  who  must 
havi  believed,  notwithstanding  the  dark  passage  of  his  momen- 
tary weakness,  that  Peter  loved;  or,  if  he  did  not,  nothing  the 
disci  pie  could  now  say  would  convince  him.  Jesus  replied,  "  Feed 
my  .  ambs."  Perhaps  a  brief  silence  ensued.  Jesus  then  varied 
the  cuestion,  and,  looking  down  into  Peter's  eyes,  said,  "Simon, 
son  o'^  Jonas,  do  you  love  mef^  Poor  Peter  had  only  the  same 
reply  to  make :  "  Yes,  Lord  ;  you  know  that  I  love  you."  Jesus 
said, '  Feed  my  sheep."  After  another  silence  Jesus  repeated  his 
questj  )n  :  "  Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  do  you  love  me  ? "  All  this  was 
passing  in  the  presence  of  his  associate  Apostles.  Jesus  was  most 
tender,  but  this  probing  was  most  painful.  But  Peter  could  not 
complain.  Thrice  had  he  denied  his  Master.  The  others  had 
not  done  so.  It  was  not  unfair  that  he  should  be  called  upon 
publicly  to  make  a  triple  reversal  of  his  triple  denial.  But 
it  pierced  Peter  to  the  heart.  This  third  time  he  thi-ew  his  case 
on  the  knowledge  of  his  Master.  "  Lord,  you  know  all  things ; 
you  know  that  I  love  you."  The  "  all  things  "  involved  Peter's 
denials;  but  the  subject  was  so  distressing  to  him  that  he  could 
not  speak  more  specifically  of  what  was  so  shameful  in  his  his- 
tory. Then  Jesus  replied,  "  Feed  my  sheep."  It  was  the  com- 
plete restoration  of  Peter.  lie  was  to  be  a  pastor,  an  under-shep- 
herd  of  the  flock  of  God. 


AND    SUBSEQUENT  EVENTS.  Y03 

Tlien  in  tenderness,  but  to  lay  on  the  over-ardent  temperament 
ol  Peter  what  should  be  a  balance-Aveight  to  his  character,  Jesus 
intimated  to  him  that  he  should  die  a  violent 
death.  Jesus  had  never  made  a  prophecy  to 
gratify  curiosity.  lie  would  never  be  classed  with  fortune- 
tellers and  mag-icians.  But  he  said  to  Peter,  as  indicating  his 
alfection  for  him  and  his  confidence  in  him,  "  Yerily,  verily,  I  say 
to  you,  AVlien  you  were  young  you  girded  yourself,  and  walked 
whither  you  would;  but  when  you  become  old  you  shall  stretch 
forth  3-our  hands,  and  another  shall  gird  you,  and  cai-ry  you 
whither  you  would  not  go."  John,  who  was  present,  and  who 
records  this  saying,  adds,  "This  he  spake  signifying  by  what 
death  he  (Peter)  should  glorify  God."  John  understood  it,  and, 
of  course,  Peter  did.  Perhaps  Jesus  added  some  tone  or  ges- 
ture or  word  not  recorded,  which  made  his  speech  perfectly 
intelligible  to  the  parties  concerned.  Peter  had  once  said  that 
he  would  follow  Jesus  anywhere.  Jesus  had  been  crucified.  It 
^^hould  be  the  fate  of  Peter  to  follow  his  Master  even  to  crucifix- 
ion, and  thus  have  his  Avords  verified  in  a  sense  he  had  not 
meant.  Perhaps  it  was  a  melancholy  comfort  to  Peter  to  know 
that,  in  any  sense,  what  he  had  said  would  come  true. 

Then  Jesus  rose  and  said  to  Peter,  "  Follow  me."  Peter  looked 
at  his  friend  John,  Avho  had  risen  and  followed  with  him,  drawn 
by  his  devotion  to  Jesus  and  his  friendship  for 
Peter.  At  the  last  supper  John  had  asked  a 
question  of  the  Master  at  the  suggestion  of  Peter.  Xow  Peter 
asked  a  (piestion  for  John  :  "Lord,  and  what  this  man?"  It  was 
a  question  of  mere  affectionate  curiosity.  Jesus  replied,  "  If  I 
will  that  he  tari-y  till  I  come,  what  is  it  to  you  ?  Do  you  follow 
me  ! "  It  recalled  Petei*  to  a  sense  of  his  propriety  and  of  his 
personal  responsibility.  It  told  him  nothing  about  the  fate  of  his 
friend,  but  the  report  was  circulated  among  "  the  brethren  "  that 
John  should  not  die.  He  did  live  to  a  great  age.  lie  is  the 
historian  of  this  interview,  and  adds,  "Yet  Jesus  did  not  say.  He 
shall  not  die  ;  but,  //  /  will  that  he  tarry  till  I  C07ne,  ivhat  is 
that  to  you  f  "  As  John's  life  prolonged  itself,  that  saying  of 
Jesus  nnist  have  come  to  his  recollection  very  often  with  veiy  great 
force  ;  but  never  perhaps  so  impressively  as  when,  forty  yeai-3 
after,  he  survived  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  a  frightful  event; 
Avhich  Jesus  in  his  discourses  was  accustomed  to  associate  with  his 


704  THE   KESUREECTION   OF   JESUS 

"  coming,"  We  cannot  fail  to  notice  the  claims  which  Jesus  here 
makes  to  a  complete  control  over  the  periods  of  men's  lives.  "  I 
will,"  as  applied  to  iixing  the  limits  of  human  life,  is  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Almiglity  God,  and  is  blasphemy  in  the  mouth  of 
any  one  who  is  not  God. 

III. 

It  appears  from  Matthew's  account  (xxviii.  IC)  that  Jesus  had 

api^ointed  a  time  and  a  place  in  Galilee  to  meet  his  followers. 

_  We   know  of  the  time  only  that  it  was  within 

Tabor.  . 

foi-ty  daj's  after  the  resurrection.     The  place  was 

a  mountain.  It  would  seem  that  Mount  Tabor  would  be  the 
most  convenient  place  for  such  an  assemblage.  The  fact  that  it 
was  inhabited  is  against  the  theory  of  those  who  would  make  it 
the  scene  of  the  Transfiguration,  but  is  rather  in  favor  of  its  se- 
lection for  this  meeting,  as  the  inhabitants  were  Galilaeans,  and 
would  be  at  least  not  unfriendly  to  the  followers  of  Jesus.  Tabor 
is  six  miles  east  of  Nazareth.  "  Northward  it  overlooks  all  tho 
confronting  highlands  of  Galilee ;  southward  it  extends  far  down 
into  the  plain  of  Jezreel "  (Lange).  On  the  top  is  a  table  about 
a  mile  and  a  half  in  circumference. 

This  is  the  only  occasion  mentioned  by  any  Evangelist  which 
can  correspond  with  a  fact  mentioned  by  Paul  in  his  first  letter 

to  tlie  Corinthians  (xv.  6).      '''  lie  was  seen  of 

Five      hundred       ,  f-iiiii  «x  ii 

brethren  at  once     ^"^ove  live  hundred  brethren  at  once.       It  would 

seeiti  that  the  Apostles  had  been  at  pains  to 
make  this  appointment  known  to  all  who  might  be  supposed 
to  be,  in  any  sense,  disciples  of  Jesus.  It  ^vas  a  large  gathering. 
Afterwards,  in  Jerusalem,  this  company  mustered  only  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty.  While  in  Galilee,  and  before  this  meeting,  the 
Apostles  had  doubtlessly  been  industriously  repeating  the  narra- 
tive of  all  the  strange  occurrences  of  the  resurrection  and  the 
j-epeated  appearances  of  Jesus.  Thomas  had  most  probably  been 
giving  an  account  of  his  mental  processes  by  which  he  had  gone 
over  from  despondent  unbelief  to  exultant  faith  in  Jesus  as  God, 
and  had  told  how  he  had  worshipped  Jesus,  and  how  the  Master 
had  received  the  homage  due  only  to  God. 

Jesus  appeared  in  their  midst.    No  account  has  been  preserved 
of  his  manner  of  approach.     ^V^hen  they  saw  him  the  body  of  the 


Bion. 


AND    SUBSEQUENT   EVENTS.  705 

disciples  worshipped  him.      But  some  hesitated.     In  the  common 

version  it  is  said  some  "  doubted  "  (Matt,  xxviii.  17).     But  this 

is  not  the  meaning  of  the  word.     None  doubted    jeeua  reappears. 

tJiat  this  M'as  Jesus.    They  all  knew  him,  and  had 

nil  met  at  this  time,  on  this  mountain,  at  his  appointment.    But  it 

is  most  reasonable  to  suppose  that  among  five  hundred  persons 

there  should  be  several  who  had  the  temperament  of  Thomas, 

and  were  slow  to  worship.     The  historian,  who  was  present,  does 

not  say  that  all  worshipped,  but  he  does  frankly  state  that  "  some 

hesitated." 

Jesns  met  these  doubts  as  to  his  divinity  with  a  vast  claim. 

He  approached  the  doubters  and  said,  "  All  power  is  given  to  me 

in  heaven  and  on  earth."     He  claimed  to  be  al- 

.1  mi  1  11  .^  '  1  The       commifl- 

nnghty.     These  words  could  mean  nothing  else 

to  the  listeners.     They  must  believe  that,  or  thc}^ 

could  never  undertake  the  great  work  he  was  about  to  place  in 

their  hands.     This  was  the  commission:  "Go,  make  disciples  of 

all  the  nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father, 

and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit :  Teaching  them  to  ob- 

sei-ve   all   things,  whatever   I   have   connnanded   you:    And   lo, 

I  am  with  you  every  day  till  the  consumnuition  of  the  present 

seon." 

Of  this  commission  se\eral  things  are  to  be  noticed. 

1.  It  was  the  last  word  of  Jesus  recorded  by  his  biographers. 

It   was   the  commitment   of    his   cause   into  the   hands  of    his 

friends.     It  is  his   last  protest  ao-ainst  churchli-         ,    , 

The  last  record  • 
ness.     There  were  the  Seventy,  who  had  had   a    ^^  ^^^^ 

special  work  to  do,  and  had  done  it.  There  were 
the  Twel\e,  who  were  still  to  continue  in  that  work  of  an  itine- 
rant proclamation  of  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus.  But 
neither  to  the  Seventy  nor  to  the  Twelve  does  Jesus  grant  any 
corporate  powers.  A\1iut  the  Seventy  had  done,  and  what  tho 
Twelve  had  to  do,  all  his  discijtles  were  authorized  to  do,  wher- 
ever their  sphere  and  whatever  their  condition  in  life.  All  these 
live  hundred  might  make  disciples  and  baptize  them,  and  all 
these,  when  made  disciples,  might  in  their  turn  perform  the  same 
offices  for  others.  No  word  or  act  of  Jesus,  before  or  after  liis 
resurrection,  can  be  fairly  employed  to  sustain  the  modern  arti- 
ficial distinction  between  "clergymen"  and  "laymen." 

2.  Jesus  gives  the   name   of   God  in  the  synonym  of  "The 

45 


706  THE   KESUKKECTION   OF   JESUS 

Father,  the  Son,  the  Holy  Spirit."  He  believed  that  there  is  one 
God.     He  called  himself  the  Son.     He  claimed  to  be  God  in  his 

oneness  with  "  The  Father,"  in  his  omnipotence, 
His  concep    o     -^^  j^j^  Qjjmipj-esence,  and  in  his  eternal  existence. 

He  allowed  his  disciples  to  present  to  him  the 
worship  proper  to  be  rendered  to  Jehovah.  His  concept  of 
God  was  of  a-triunitj.  This  is  quite  manifest.  The  mode  of  the 
existence  of  this  oneness  and  this  threcness  together  he  never  dis- 
cusses. God  is  the  Father,  God  is  the  Son,  God  is  the  Holy 
S})irit :  The  Father  is  God,  the  Son  is  God,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
God.  But  he  does  not  say  that  there  are  three  persons,  or  three 
several  forms  of  the  exhibition  of  one  person.  He  makes  no  dog- 
matic statement.  As  this  is  not  a  theological  treatise,  but  rather 
a  psychological  essay,  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  theological  sci- 
entific explanations.  But  the  historical  statement  is  that,  in  point 
of  fact,  in  the  mind  of  Jesus  the  concept  of  God  was  that  of  a 
triunity. 

As  the  Jews  were  "baptized  unto  Moses,"  and  so  incorporated 
with  that  system  of  religion  which  is  represented  under  the  He- 
brew theocracy,  the  kingliness  of  the  One  Jehovah,  so  now  the 
disciples  of  Jesus  are  to  be  ba[)tized  unto  "The  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Spirit,"  and  incorporated  into  that  system  of  religion  which 
is  represented  by  the  triple  concept  of  God  as  being  Father  and 
Son  and  Spirit,  the  living  lovingness  of  the  One  Jehovah. 

3.  Jesus  removed  all  restrictions  to  the  labors  of  his  disciples, 
such  as  are  recorded  in  Matthew  x.  5.     His  gospel  is  to  be  preached 

to  all  nations.     He  has  so  succeeded  in  this  that 
All  restrictions    ^^.^  ^^,^  unable  to  appreciate,  even  by  an  effort  of 
removed.  ,        .        n  i  .  i  i      .    i  • 

the  nitellect,  what  a  stupendous  undertakmg  it 

was.  All  other  systems  are  suited  to  nationalities.  They  there- 
fore intensified  all  the  narrowness  of  race,  and  that  narrowness 
helped  to  perpetuate  them.  Kone  did  so  more  than  the  Jewish 
church.  To  put  Samaritans  and  Romans  and  Greeks  and  distant 
barbarians  on  the  same  footing  of  spiritual  privilege  as  the  elect 
Jewish  race  was  an  idea  so  wide  that  it  had  never  before  entered 
the  Jewish  mind.  Jesus  believed  that  his  system  was  as  well  adapt- 
ed to  one  climate  as  another,  and  to  one  nation  as  another :  to  the 
polytheistical  Gentiles  as  to  the  monotheistic  Jews ;  to  the  power- 
ful Romans  as  to  the  weak  Gauls ;  to  the  cultivated  Greeks  as  to 
the  rough  savages  in  the  forests  of  Germany. 


AlTD   SUBSEQUENT   EVENTS.  707 

It  was  an  idea  wholly  original  with  Jesus.     lie  had  no  prece- 
dent,    lie  had  no  human  authority  for  it.     lie  predicted  that  it 
should  be  done.     If  he  had  simply  delivered  a 
discourse,  in  which  he  had  tau«jht  the  desirable-    ,.  .   "^^^^'^^    ^^' 

lionnn, 

ness  of  this  univei*sal  religion,  and  that  discourse 
had  been  preserved,  it  M'ould  have  rendered  his  fame  immortal, 
and  have  placed  him  far  in  advance  of  all  the  wisest  and  most 
profound  of  human  thinkers.  Coming  from  an  unlettered  me- 
chanic, raised  in  one  of  the  meanest  villages  of  the  most  narrow 
and  bigoted  people  on  earth,  the  announcement  would  have  been 
a  mar\el  of  grandest  thought.  The  more  remarkable  fact  is,  that 
each  succeeding  century  has  brought  his  words  nearer  to  a  ful- 
filment, and  that  none  since  his  death  has  contributed  so  much  to 
their  accomplislmient  as  the  present,  a  century  full  of  hottest 
political  excitements,  of  vastest  enterprises,  of  most  material  pro- 
gress, and  laro-est  liberality  of  thouoi-ht. 

4.  His  latest  words  were  a  claim  and  a  prediction.  They  were 
a  claim  of  perpetuity,  of  personal  presence,  and  personal  influence. 
lie  should  exist.     He  sliould  be  present  with  each 

discii)lc  in  every  part  of  the  world,  every  day,         ,.^^^^^  ^"^    * 

.,     ,  PI.  1     11  1        prediction, 

untu  the  pi-esent  system  of  things  shall  meet  the 

cataclysm  which  shall  inaugurate  another  a!on,  another  system  of 
things.  All  our  new  science  demonstrates  that  the  Great  Creator 
divides  His  biography  into  parts  and  into  chapters.  The  whole 
universe,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  read  it,  is  falling  forward. 
Nothing  in  the  past  gives  us  much  help  towards  ascertaining  the 
probable  length  of  the  present  a3on  ;  but  everything  we  learn  in- 
creases the  probability  that  some  vast  change  shall  come. 

Everything  that  Jesus  predicted  has  come  to  pass,  except  this, 
and  this  is  coming  to  pass.  The  present  age  promises  that  when 
the  last  day  of  the  system,  of  which  thoughtful 

mortals  form  a  part,  shall  arrive,  tliei^e  will  be    ^,  ^^^^ 
'■  .        .  .  filment. 

disciples  of  Jesus  engaged  in  his  work,  according 

to  this  prediction.  They  are  now  more  busy  than  ever.  It  is  an 
imi)ortant  series  of  facts  that  the  books  which  contain  the  origuial 
history  of  Jesus,  the  record  of  his  acts  and  words,  and  the  predic- 
tions wliich  he  made,  constitute  the  first  volume  Avliich  was  set  in 
t^'pe  and  published  at  the  invention  of  printing;*  that  at  this 

*  It  was  issued  at  Mentz,  in  Germany,  I  Revived,  says  of  this  book  :  "  Though  a 
in  1450.     McOlure,  in  his   Translators  I  first  attempt,  it  is  beautifully  printed  on 


708 


THE   KESUKKECTIOX   OF   JE8F8 


time  there  are  several  presses  engaged  on  each  of  the  continents 
in  printing  nothing  hut  that  vohnne ;  that  it  is  printed  and 
circulated  in  more  languages  and  dialects  than  any  other  book  o" 
books  considered  by  any  criticism  as  sacred  or  profane ;  *  that  so 
soon  as  a  savage  tribe  is  discovered  its  language  is  reduced  to  a 
grammar,  that  there  shall  be  translated  into  it  the  volume,  the 
central  figure  of  which  is  Jesus  ;  that  his  name  occurs  more  fre- 
quently in  song  than  that  of  any  other  man  who  e\er  lived,  and 
that  the  eighteenth  century  after  that  in  which  he  lived  has  pro- 
duced more  books  investigating  his  character  aiid  claims  than  all 
the  preceding  centuries. 


very  fine  paper,  and  with  superior  ink. 
At  least  eighteen  copies  of  this  famous 
edition  are  known  to  be  in  existence  at 
the  present  time.  Twenty-five  years 
ago,  one  of  them,  printed  on  vellum, 
was  sold  for  five  hundred  and  four 
pounds  sterling !  " 

*  The  whole  number  of  languages  and 
dialects  into  which  the  Holy  Scriptures 
have  been  translated  is  two  hundred  and 
fifty-two.  Of  these,  two  hundred  and 
five  are  versions  prepared  since  the  ori- 
gin of  Bible  Societies,  at  which  time 
the  Scriptures  had  been  translated  into 
only  forty-seven  different  languages. 
Bagster,  in  his  Blhle  of  Every  Land^ 
gives  specimens  of  the  Scriptures  iu 
various  languages  and  dialects,  to  the 
number  of  about  three  hundred,  includ- 
ing those  which  have  been  printed  in 
different  native  characters. 

It  is  supposed  that  within  three  years 
after  the  publication  of  the  Great  Bible, 
in  153S,  no  less  thun  twenty-one  thou- 
sand copies  were  printed.  Between 
1524  and  IGll,  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-eight editions  of  Bibles  or  Testa- 
ments in  English  were  printed.  In  1011, 
1612,  and  1613,  five  editions  of  King 
James's  version  were  published,  besides 
separate  editions  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment ;  and  we  have  some  slight  clue  to 
the  size  of  the  editions  in  the  fact,  that 
one  person  in  England  has  recently  col- 


lated no  less  than  seventy  copies  of  the 
issues  of  1611  ;  yet,  after  all,  this  wa« 
the  day  of  small  things. 

Since  the  beginning  of  the  present, 
century,  the  British  and  Foreign  Biblo 
Society  has  issued  over  sixty-three  mil- 
lions of  Bibles  and  Testaments ;  tho 
American  Bible  Society  has  issued  more 
than  twenty-seven  millions  of  volumes; 
other  Bible  Societies,  not  far  from 
twenty  millions  ;  while  private  publish- 
ers in  Great  Britain,  the  United  States, 
and  elsewhere,  have  increased  these  is- 
sues by  scores  of  millions  besides. 

In  speaking  on  this  subject,  Anderson, 
in  his  Annals  of  the  EiigUnh  Dible^  says  : 
' '  The  volumes  of  the  Scriptures  which 
have  already  been  printed  cannot  be 
numbered.  Hitherto  we  have  num- 
bered the  editions  only  ;  but  this  is  now 
impossible.  No  one  can  say  exactly  how 
many  editions  even  of  the  English  Biblo 
have  been  published,  much  less  inform 
us  how  many  copies." 

The  volumes  of  Holy  Writ  circulated 
within  the  present  century  are  gi'eater 
in  number  than  all  that  were  in  the 
world  from  Moses  to  Martin  Luther, 
and  are  more  than  double  the  entire 
production  of  the  press,  from  the  print- 
ing of  the  first  Bible  in  1450  to  the  era 
of  Bible  Societies  in  1804.  (See  Man- 
ual of  the  Amei-ican  Bible  Society.) 


AlfD   SUBSEQUENT   EVENTS. 


709 


The  Ascension. 


lY. 

There  16  but  one  other  thing  to  record.  They  all  returned  to 
Jerusalem.  On  the  fortieth  day  after  his  resurrection,  Jesus  led 
them  out  to  the  neighborhocxi  of  Bethany.  There, 
on  some  part  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  they  saw  him 
for  the  last  time.  He  blessed  them,  and  while  in  the  act  of  pro- 
nouncing his  final  benediction,  he  was  ])arted  from  them.  lie 
ascended  in  their  siglit.  lie  passed  into  a  cloud.  The  rapt 
disci|)les  stood  gazing  up  into  that  part  of  the  heavens  where  they 
had  last  beheld  their  Lord,  Suddenl}'  two  men  in  white  apparel 
stood  beside  the  silent  group,  and  one  said,  "Ye  men  of  Galilee, 
why  do  you  stand  gazing  up  into  heaven?  This  same  Jesus, 
which  is  taken  from  you  into  heaven,  sliall  so  come  iu  like  man- 
ner as  you  have  seen  him  taken  into  heaven," 

The  disci] )les  returned  to  Jerusalem  with  great  joy.  They 
believed  that  Jesus,  who  had  departed,  was  still  present,  and  their 
sorrow  was  gojie ;  and  they  who,  forty  daj's  before,  were  in  the 
darkness  of  despair,  now  continually  praised  God,  and  waited  for 
the  fui-ther  direction  of  Jesus.  He  had  become  to  tliem  tlie  glory 
of  heaven  and  of  eartli.  * 


KBDAL  roUHO  A.T  CKFA,   BCBIA. 


710  THE  EEStTRKECnON   OF   JE8TJ8. 

Y. 

Who  is  this  Jesus  ? 

I  have  told  his  story  as  simply  and  as  conscientiously  as  possi- 
ble, and  have  honestly  endeavored  to  apprehend  and  to  repre- 
sent the  consciousness  of  Jesus  at  each  moment  of  his  career. 
The  work  of  the  historian  is  completed.  Each  reader  has  now 
the  responsibility  of  saying  who  he  is.  All  agree  that  he  was 
man.  The  finest  intellects  of  eighteen  centuries  have  believed 
that  he  was  the  greatest  and  best  man  that  ever  lived.  All  who 
have  so  believed  have  become  better  men  therefor.  We  have 
seen  that  he  never  performed  an  act  or  spoke  a  word  which  would 
have  been  unbecoming  in  the  Creator  of  the  Universe,  if  the 
Creator  should  ever  clothe  Himself  with  human  flesh.  Millions 
of  men — kings,  and  poets,  and  historians,  and  philosophers,  and 
busy  merchants,  and  rude  mechanics,  and  purest  women,  and 
simple  children — ^liave  believed  that  he  is  God.  And  all  who  have 
devoutly  believed  this,  and  lived  by  this  as  a  truth,  have  become 
exemplary  for  all  that  is  beautiful  in  holiness. 

What  is  he  who  can  so  live  and  so  die  as  to  produce  such  intel- 
lectual and  moral  results  ? 

Header,  you  must  answer 


APPEIN'DIOES. 


Chronology  of  the  Bikth  of  Jesus. — Pp.  26-37. 

By  an  inadvertence  which  I  seek  to  correct  in  this  Appendix,  a  noto 
was  omitted  in  the  proper  place,  giving  full  credit  for  my  obligation  tc 
A  ISfew  Harmony  and  Expodtion  of  the  Gox^Jels,  by  James  Strong, 
LL.D.  (published  by  Carlton  &  Lanahan,  New  York),  for  much  aid 
which  I  received  from  that  valuable  volume  in  my  discussion  of  the  date 
of  the  birth  of  Jesus. 

Capernaum. — P.  1G7. 

It  should  have  been  stated  in  the  text  that  the  proper  name  "  Na- 
hum"  means  "  consolation."  The  reader  would  naturally  infer  that  if 
it  had  any  signification  it  was  something  else  than  "  consolation."  The 
place  may  have  been  named  for  Nahum,  or  it  may  not :  if  not,  then  its 
name  simply  signified  "  Village  of  Consolation."  I  did  not  detect  this 
inadvertence  until  after  the  page  had  been  stereotyped. 

Addition  to  Note  on  P.  189. 

Perhaps  the  avrovg,  "  them,"  in  Luke  v.  17,  may  refer  to  o^Xoi  •tt'oXXoi, 
"  great  multitudes,"  in  verse  15.  But  what  I  have  written,  both  in  the 
text  and  in  the  no+e,  is  unnecessary  if  the  reading  of  the  S'maitic  Codex 
be  adopted.  That  omits  the  ai/Tous,  and  reads  "  the  power  of  the  Lord 
wrought  in  him  so  that  he  healed."  With  the  omission  of  the  word 
"  them  "  at  the  end  of  the  sentence  the  difficulty  disappears. 

Slaves  at  Jubilee. — P.  203. 

Tlie  statement  in  the  second  pai-agraph,  in  regard  to  the  freeing  of 
slaves  at  the  Jubilee,  is  to  be  understood  with  the  limitation  stated  in 
Leviticus  xxv.,  from  which  it  would  appear  that  slaves  which  were  "  of 
tlie  heatlien  round  about"  them,  "  of  the  children  of  the  strangers  that 


712  AT'PENDICKS. 

sojourned  among"  them,  did  not  enjoy  this  provision  of  the  jubilee. 
The  statement  in  the  text  is  correct,  but  this  is  added  for  accuracy. 


Mary  of  Magdala.— Pp.  321-323. 

That  part  of  this  book  which  treats  of  Mary  of  Magdala  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  i)rinter  before  I  read  Dr.  Ilanna's  view  of  the  case,  as  he 
gives  it  in  the  Forty  Days,  etc.,  chap.  ii.  I  am  gratified  to  have  the 
support  of  this  eloquent  preacher  so  far  as  that  this  Mary  is  not  to 
be  confounded  with  the  "  sinner  "  who  anointed  Jesus,— and  that  she 
was  not  a  woman  of  base  character  or  low  condition, — and  that  the 
havinif  had  seven  devils  is  no  proof  that  she  was  of  depraved  and 
dissolute  habits.  He  well  says  :  "  Satanic  possession  carried  then  no 
more  evidence  along  -wdth  it  of  previous  immorality  than  insanity 
woixld  do  now  among  ourselves." 

A  Translation  Explained. — P.  325. 

In  the  last  paragraph  is  this  translation  of  the  words  of  Jesus  as  re- 
ported by  Matthew:  "And  every  city  or  house  divided  against  itself 
shall  not  stand,"  These  words  are  a  literal  but  not  a  logical  trans- 
lation of  the  original,  because,  when  the  original  is  rendered  into  our 
language  the  English  words  imply  that  some  such  city  or  house  may 
stand.  If,  however,  the  word  "  not  "  be  considered  as  attached  to  the 
predicate  and  not  to  the  copula,  this  translation  will  be  a  logical  as 
well  as  a  literal  rendering.  It  then  means,  "  Every  such  city  shall 
fall."  [See  Whately's  Elements  of  Logic,  book  ii.,  cha}).  ii.,  §  4.] 
This  explanation  aj)plies  as  well  to  the  translation  on  p.  143,  "  that  every 
one  who  trusts  in  him  may  not  perish,"  etc. 

Discipline.— Pp.  353,  354. 

Tliis  paragraph  may  be  suggested  by  over-caution,  but  it  may  be 
that  my  explication  of  the  parable  of  the  Tares  may  be  imderstood  by 
some  readers  to  be  a  protest  against  all  church  discipline.  I  would  not 
be  so  understood.  I  do  not  believe  that  Jesus  taught  that  there  was 
to  be  no  discipline  in  the  church.  His  lesson  is  against  that  excessive 
rigor  which  is  destructive  and  not  disciplinary,  and  a  caution  against 
undue  confidence  in  our  power  of  discrimination.  One  sentence  on  jiage 
353  I  should  reAvi-ite :  "  It  is  better  by  mistake  to  permit  an  evil  man 
to  reside  in  a  community,  a  church,  a  society,  a  town,  than  by  mistake 
to  destroy  a  good  man." 


APPENDICES.  713 

The  Woman  taken  in  Adultery. — P.  456. 

The  story  of  the  woman  taken  in  adultery  is  fonnd  only  in  John's 
Gos2)el.  The  critical  editors  of  the  Greek  Testament  mark  this  whole 
passage  in  the  eighth  chapter  as  doubtful  or  spui-ious.  It  does  not  ap- 
pear in  the  ISinaitic  Codex.  In  the  first  writing  of  this  book  1  omitted 
this  narrative.  Ui^on  a  review  of  the  authorities  my  opinion  agrees 
with  that  expressed  by  Dr.  Schaff:  "The  prevailing  critical  evidence, 
though  mostly  negative,  is  agahist  the  passage,  the  moral  evidence  for 
it ;  in  other  words,  it  seems  to  be  no  original  {)art  of  John's  written  Gos- 
pel, but  the  record  of  an  actual  event  which  probably  happened  about 
the  time  indicated  by  its  position  in  the  eighth  chapter.  The  story  could 
not  have  been  invented,  the  less  so  as  it  riins  contrary  to  the  ascetic  and 
legalistic  tendency  of  the  ancient  church,  which  coidd  not  appreciate  it." 
Those  who  desire  to  see  the  authorities  on  both  sides  may  consult 
Lange's  Commenlary  on  the  chapter,  with  Dr.  Schaft"'s  valuable  addi- 
tions in  his  translation.  It  is  so  consistent  with  the  character  of  .lesua 
that  I  think  we  may  accept  it  as  a  real  event  in  his  life,  inserted  by 
some  unknown  author  in  the  narrative  given  hy  John. 

Betiiany=Bethabara. — P.  482. 

According  to  the  received  text,  Bethabara  is  the  name  of  the  place 
where  John  was  baptizing,  apparently  at  the  time  when  Jesus  came  to 
him  for  baptism.  (See  John  i.)  But  the  oldest  manuscri})ts  have 
"  Bethany,"  a  reading  which  Origen  states  was  found  in  most  of  the 
copies  of  his  day. 

The  Tkanslation  of  Matthew    xix.  10. — P.  519. 

I  found  it  difficult  to  render  the  oi-iginal  of  the  passage  which  in  our 
common  version  is  translated,  "  If  the  case  of  a  man  be  so  with  his 
wife."  I  am  not  yet  satisfied  with  this  translation,  and  yet  am  not  pre- 
pared to  suggest  a  better.  The  woi'd  translated  "case"  means  cause, 
but  specially  the  cause  of  something  bad.  It  is  a  sinister  woi-d.  My 
translation  appears  very  awkward,  now  that  I  see  it  in  print.  The 
disciples  seemed  to  mean  that  if  their  Master's  view  of  the  niarriaf'e 
relation  was  correct,  then  the  relation  of  a  married  man  to  his  "wifo 
was  injurious  to  him,  and  it  were  better  one  should  not  marry. 

Physical  Cause  op  the  Death  of  Jesus. — P.  679. 

Attention  has  been  called  to  Dr.  Stroud's  book  on  the  Physical  Cause 
of  the  death  of  Jesus.  It  has  been  republished  in  tliis  country  since 
this  portion  of  the  book  -vraa  "written. 


714  APPENDICES. 

After  writing  my  paragi-aph  on  the  subject,  I  saw  Dr.  Ilanna' 
volume  on  llie  Last  Day  of  the  Passion  of  our  Lord,  In  the 
Appendix  he  has  a  letter  from  Dr.  Begbie,  late  President  of  the  Royal 
College  of  Physicians  in  Edinburgh,  in  which  that  learned  gentleman 
accepts  Dr.  Stroud's  theory.  He  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  rup- 
ture  of  the  heart  is  comparatively  a  rare  affection,  and,  so  far  as  he 
knows,  limited  to  persons  advanced  in  life  or  laboring  under  some 
degeneration  of  the  structure  of  the  organ.  Jesus,  however,  was  youn<» 
and  healthy,  so  far  as  we  can  discover.  How  great  miist  have  been 
his  anguish  to  produce  this  rupture ! 

Dr.  Hanna  also  quotes  a  letter  from  Dr.  Simpsofi,  Professor  in  the 
University  of  Edinburgh,  who  also  accepts  Dr.  Stroud's  theory.  He 
asserts  that  so  far  as  we  can  now  understand  the  physical  condition 
of  Jesus,  such  a  sudden  termination  of  his  sufferings  in  death  could 
be  produced  only  by  fatal  fainting  or  by  a  rupture  of  the  walls  of 
the  heart  or  of  larger  blood-vessels  issuing  from  it.  But  the  symp- 
toms, such  as  the  loud  cry,  show  that  it  was  not  mortal  syncope.  He 
says :  "  On  the  other  hand,  these  symptoms  were  such  as  liave  been  seen 
in  cases  of  rupture  of  the  walls  of  the  heart.  Thus,  in  the  latest  book 
published  in  the  English  language  on  Diseases  of  the  Heart,  tlie  eminent 
author.  Dr.  Walshe,  Professor  of  Medicine  in  University  College,  Lon- 
don, when  treating  of  the  symptoms  indicating  death  by  rujiture  of  the 
heart,  observes :  "  The  hand  is  suddenly  carried  to  the  front  of  the 
chest,  a  piercing  shriek  uttered,"  etc.,  etc.  The  rapidity  of  the  i-esulting 
death  is  regulated  by  the  size  and  shape  of  the  ruptiired  opening.  But 
usually  death  very  speedily  ensues  in  consequence  of  the  blood  escaping 
from  the  interior  of  the  heart  into  the  cavity  of  the  large  surrounding 
heart,  sac,  or  pericardium ;  which  sac  has,  in  cases  of  rujiture  of  the 
heart,  been  found  on  dissection  to  contain  sometimes  two,  three,  four, 
or  more  pounds  of  blood  accumulated  within  it,  and  separated  into  red 
clot  and  limjjid  serum,  or  *  blood  and  water,'  as  is  seen  in  blood  when 
collected  out  of  the  body  in  a  cup  or  basin  in  the  operation  of  common 
blood-letting." 

Dr.  Josiah  C.  Nott  of  this  city,  a  gentleman  of  well-known  high  scien- 
tific attainments,  has  favored  me  with  a  copy  oilus post-mortem  examina- 
tion of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Maffitt,  made  with  the  assistance  of  Dr.  E.  P.  Gaines, 
in  Mobile,  in  1850.  Mr.  Maffitt  was  known  all  over  the  United  States 
as  a  man  of  no  ordinary  pulpit  ability.  He  was  what  is  called  a  "  re- 
vivalist," and  spent  the  last  years  of  his  life  in  gi'eat  excitement.  Ha 
got  into  trouble,  was  arraigned  before  the  courts  of  his  church  in  New 
York,  and  subsequently  went  South,  where  he  was  preaching  with  great 
success,  and  apparently  in  high  health,  when  evil  reports  pursued  him^ 


ATPENDICES.  715 

and  damaging  articles  from  the  Ne^w  York  papers  were  republished  in  ISIo- 
bile.  Parties  were  arrayed  for  and  against  him.  He  was  greatly  excited. 
He  was  taken  suddenly  ill,  about  eight  o'clock  p.m.,  on  the  27th  of  June, 
and  died  in  seven  hours  When  the  physician  arrived  he  found  him  "  in 
great  pain,  which  he  referred  to  the  inferior  sternal  region."  He  had 
had  pain  in  the  heart  on  several  previous  occasions.  "  Auscultation  de- 
tected no  abnormal  sound,  no  palpitation,  but  the  heart  beat  regularly 
and  slowly."  "  He  was  perfectly  cold  all  over,  and  bathed  in  cold  sweat." 
After  anodynes  and  carminatives  had  been  administered,  he  said, 
"  Doctor,  I  feel  better  now,  everywhere  else,  but  that  pain  still  remains. 
It  is  a  persistent  and  abiding  pain,  that  seems  to  press  through  me  against 
my  spine."  "  All  this  time  his  pxilse  was  regular,  full,  strong,  but 
rather  slow ;  his  stx-ength  was  good,  for  he  got  out  of  bed  several 
times  without  help."  At  one  o'clock  morphine  and  calomel  were  adminis- 
tered. At  two  o'clock  the  pain  had  left  his  breast  and  gone  to  his  heart, 
but  still  retained  its  severity.  There  was  no  palpitation.  He  com- 
plained of  being  weaker,  and  his  pulse,  although  regular,  seemed  slower 
and  weaker.  In  fifteen  minutes  his  heart  had  stopped  beating.  The 
post-mortem  showed  his  lungs  sound  throughout :  "  pericardium  fully 
distended  with  fluid,  and  when  opened  was  found  to  contain  blood  and 
serum."  Dr.  Nott  says  :  "  This  being  carefully  removed  by  a  sponge, 
I  introduced  my  hand  into  the  sac  beneath  the  heart,  and  on  gi-asping 
this  organ  the  contained  blood  was  seen  to  spirt  from  a  small  perforation 
in  the  anterior  wall  of  the  left  ventricle,  disclosing  at  once  the  imme- 
diate cause  of  his  death."  Dr.  Nott  pronounced  the  death  "  from  fatty 
degeneration,  ulceration,  and  rttpture  of  the  heart,^  confiiniing  Dr. 
Begbie's  general  view  of  such  cases  in  his  letter  to  Dr.  Hanna.  If  Mr. 
Maffitt's  heart  had  not  been  diseased,  he  would  probably  have  survived 
his  grief.  Jesus  was  younger  by  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  was  appa- 
rently sound.  Dr.  Nott  believed  that  Mr.  Mafiitt  had  a  malady  which 
"  marches  steadily  onward,"  but  adds  that  "  it  is  highly  probable  that  iti 
termination  was  hastened  by  moral  causes^  I  cite  it  as  a  well-authen- 
ticated case,  the  most  modern  known  to  me,  of  rupture  of  the  heart. 


INDEX 

OF  MATTER  NOT  EASILY  FOUND  IN  THE  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Ab-Beth-Din,  the,  70. 

Abercrombie,  Dr.,  quoted,  083. 

Abia,  course  of,  15. 

Abbot,  Rupert,  quoted,  119. 

Aceldama,  Potter  s  Field,  063. 

Acta  Philippi,  115. 

Acta  Sanctorum,  quoted,  74. 

Adonis,  grove  of,  37. 

.^non,   145. 

^on,  21,  338,  476. 

JEra,  Vulgar,  24. 

.^^schylus.  quoted,  119. 

Alford,  Dcau,  quoted,   31,  34,   47,  94, 

114,  130,  140,  181,  184,  195,  225,289, 

295,  303,  335,  400,  030. 
Alexander,  J.  A.,  quoted,  165,  302,  330, 

345. 
Ambivius,  procurator,  63. 
Ambrose,  quoted,  293. 
Amen,  117. 

"AmiciiH  Cajsaris,"  659. 
Anderson's  "'Annals  of  English  Bible," 

quoted.  7()S. 
Andrew,  the  Apcstle,  114,  221. 
Andrews,  S.  J  ,  quoted,  541,  602,  613. 
Angaros,  Pi/rsian,  27(i. 
Angel  of  Jehovah,  109. 
Angels,  ajipear  to  shepherds,  40  ;  minia- 

ter^to  Jesus,  100;   Scriptural    repre- 
sentations of,  100-111. 
Anna,  the  prophetes.s,  42. 
Annas,  the  high-priest,  67,  506,  036. 
Annius  Rufus,  procurator,  63. 
Annunciation,    of   John's  birth,  15 ;  of 

birth  of  Jesus,  20. 
Anthony,  IMark,  29,  358. 
Antigonus,  29. 

Antiocthus  Epiphanes,   129,  551. 
Autistheues,  quoted,  192. 
Antonia,   tower  of,  6C2,  652,  656. 
Apostolic  Constitutions,  293. 
Aquinas,  Thomas,   the  Angelic  Doctor, 

354. 
Archelaus,    his  troubles,  58  ;  in  Rome, 

59  ;  as  Ethnarch,  00  ;  his  income,  00  ; 

marries  Glaphyra,  00  ;  dies  in  Vienne, 

61  J  suggests  a  parable,  540. 


Archisynagogus,  163. 

Aretas,  father-in-law  to  Herod  Antiptu^ 

00. 
Asnapper,  colonizes  Samaria.  150. 
Assarion,  a  coin,  380. 
Astronomical  calculations,  30. 
Augustine,    quoted,    31,    34,    47,    205, 

282,  288,  329,  343,  340,  347,  534. 
Ava,  land  of,  150. 


B. 


Babjdon,    colonists    from,   to   Samaria, 

150. 
Badius,  Conrad,  420. 
Ruhr,  quoted,  150. 
Bagster's  "Bible  in  Every  Land,"  quot* 

ed.  708. 
Baptism,  John's,  80  ;  of  Jesus,  84—89. 
Barabbas,  054  ;  prefened  to  Jesus,  657. 
Barachias,  588. 

Bartholomew,  the  Apostle,  119,  226. 
Bartimteus,  53;!. 
Bath-Kol,  the,  551. 
Beelzebul,  325,  444. 
Benedictus,  the,  21. 
Bengel,  quoted,  93,  140,  143,  225,  285, 

289,  534. 
Bernard,  quoted,  119. 
Bertholdt,  quoted,  159. 
Bethabara,  482. 
Bethany,  405,  495,  498. 
Bethany,  east,  145,  495. 
Bethesda,  198. 

Bethlehem,  30 ;  children  slain,  33. 
Bethsaida,  denounced,  316,  387. 
Betbsaida-Julias,  413. 
Bethphage,  543. 
Beza,  quoted,  142. 
Bibliotheca  Sacra,  quoted.  111,  167. 
Biehle's  Economic  Calendar,  27. 
Bloody  sweat,  cases  of,  0S3. 
Boanerges,  223,  532. 
Bonar,  quoted,  107. 
Bordeau.x.  Pilgrim,  37. 
Bucher,  quoted,  534. 
Burials  among  the  Jews,  498. 
Byssus,  492. 


718 


INDEX. 


Cassar,  Augustus,  death  of,  11 ;  decree 
for  taxing,  10. 

Caesar,  Tiberius,  10. 

Cassarea  Philippi,  415,  431. 

Caiaphas,  high-priest,  57,  07,  637,  643. 

Caligula,  Emperor,  favors  Herod  Agrip- 
pa,  07. 

Calvary,  true  site  of,  665. 

Camel'-s  hair,  74. 

Cana  of  Galilee,  120. 

Canatha,  407. 

Capernaum,  107;  denounced,  316. 

Caravan.serai,  40. 

Cassiodorus,  quoted.  36. 

Cellarius,  quoted,  407. 

Celsus,  quoted,  303. 

Census,  ordered  by  Augustus,  30 ;  Ro- 
man and  Jewish  methods,  32. 

Chardin,  quoted,  508. 

Chazzan,  The,  103. 

Chief  priests,  09. 

Chorazin,  denounced,  84. 

Christmas,  Latin,  23 ;  Greek,  26. 

Chronology  of  birth  of  Jesus,  23. 

"  Church,"  420.  440. 

Chrysostom,  quoted,  235,  340,  578. 

Chuza,  101. 

Cicero,  quoted,  307,  302. 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  quoted,  115, 
249,  302. 

Cleopas,  50  ;  name  of  an  Emmaus  disci- 
ple, 095. 

Cleop.atra  and  her  pearls,  358. 

Cleiicus,  quoted,  534. 

Coins,  120. 

'*  Congregation,"  420,  440. 

Constantino,  Emperor,  37. 

Consulships,  25. 

Coponius.  procurator.  62,  63. 

Corbau,  The,  05,  400. 

Croisus,  129. 

Criminal  laws  of  the  Jews,  033. 

Crosby,  Dr.,  quoted,  199,  534,  613. 

Cross,  form  and  construction  of,  004. 

Cuthah,  colonizing  Samaria,  150. 

Cyprian,  quoted,  93. 

Cyreuius  (Quirinus),  31,  33,  34,  62. 

Cyril,  of  Alexandria,  quoted,  181. 

Cyril,  of  Jerusalem,  quoted,  428. 


Da  Costa,  quoted,  534. 

Dalniauutha,  410. 

Damascus,  407. 

Dante,  quoted,  354. 

Darius,  Hystapes,  151. 

Darius,  Nothus,  151. 

Death  from  joy,  cases  of,  680,  681. 


Decapolis,  182,  406. 

Demetrius,  276. 

Denarius,  404. 

De  Pressense,  quoted,  36. 

De  Quincey's  theory  of  Judas,  605,  608, 

609. 
De  Sacy,  quoted,  151. 
Devil,  The,  popular  superstitions,  376. 
De  Wette,  quoted,  93,  409. 
Diabolus,  400. 
Dickinson's  Version,  300. 
Didrachm,  430. 
Didymus  (Thomas),  227. 
Dio  Cassius,  quoted,  25,  31. 
Dion,  city  of  Decapolis,  407. 
Dionysius,  Exiguus,  24. 
Doctor  of  Divinity,  583, 
Doddridge,  quoted,  534. 
Dods,  Rev.  Morris,  quoted,  469. 
Domitian,  Emperor,  18. 
Dora,  415. 

Dove,  at  baptism  of  Jesus,  88. 
Drachma,  coin,  487. 
Dupin,  M. ,  on  trial  of  Jesus,  631-635. 
Dwight,  Dr.,  quoted,  107. 


E. 

East,  The,  43. 

Ebal,  Mount,  150. 

Ebrard,  quoted,  534. 

Edinburgh  Review,  quoted,  85. 

Egypt,  Jesus  in,  47. 

Eichhom,  (juoted,  93. 

El-Azariyeh,  505. 

Eldei-s,  09. 

Eleazcr,  high -priest,  63. 

Eliezer,  of  Lydda,  104. 

Elijah,  73,  410 ;   with    Jesus,  415,  428, 

430,  075. 
Elizabeth,   15,  10,  20,  21. 
Ellicott,  Rishop,  quoted,  82,  386,  534, 571. 
EUiotson,  Dr.,  quoted,  082. 
El-Mejdel,  410. 

Emmaus,  093;  the  walk  thither,  693-695. 
"  Ephphatha,"  408. 
Ephratah,  30. 
Ephrem,  507. 
Erasmus,  quoted,  335. 
Esarhaddon,  150. 
Essenes,  sketch  of,  73. 
Eunuchs,  521. 

Euripides,  his  "  Phajdra  and  Medjea,"  470. 
Eusebius,  quoted,  39,  114,  115,  146, 330, 

571. 
Euthymius,  quoted,  143. 
Excommunication,  475. 


P. 


Fairbaim,  quoted,  236. 


INDEX. 


719 


Farmer,  quoted,  93. 

Fasti,  The,  25. 

Figs,  555. 

Fountain  of  the  Virgin,  199. 

Friedlieb,  quoted,  Hoi. 

Furness,  quoted,  85. 


G. 


Gabriel,    and    Zacharias,  15,  and  Mary, 

21. 
Gadara,  3(55,  407. 
Gains,  Institutes  of,  31. 
Galilee,  "of   the  Gentiles,"  1G9  ;    "no 

prophet  arises  out  of,"  456. 
Gaulonitis,  428. 
Gehenna,  585. 
Gemara,  The,  400,  518. 
Gemini,  consulship  of  the,  25. 
Genealogical   tables    of    Matthew    and 

Luke,  17. 
Genuesaret,  Plain  of,  168. 
Gerasa,  407. 

Gerizim,  Mount,  150,  446. 
Gethseinane.  628,  02!),  681. 
Glaphyra,  wife  of  Archelaus,  60. 
Golgotha,  Calvary,  605. 
"Gospel   according  to  the   Hebrews," 

214. 
Graves,  whitened,  58^. 
Gresswell,   quoted,  225,  235,  243,  386, 

5;}4,  5U,  (il:5,  621. 
Grotius,  (jnoted,  137,  202,  476,  534. 
Grotto  of  Jeremiah,  666. 
Gustave  Doro,  423. 


H. 


Hackett,  quoted,  556. 

Hades,  418. 

Hadrian,  Emperor,  37. 

Hallel,  the  Great,  545,  624. 

Hamann,  quoted,  53. 

Hamath,  150. 

Hammond,  quoted,  475,  555. 

Heart,  description  of  the,  680. 

Hebron,  16. 

Hegesippus,  229. 

Heinsius,  quoted,  555. 

Helena,  E:upress,  39,  666. 

Heliopolis.  47,  48. 

Hengstenberg,  quoted,  109,  111,  578. 

Hermon.  40l>,  427. 

Herod,  the  Great,  15  ;  interview  with 
■wise  men.  29;  date  of  death,  28; 
becomes  king,  29 ;  kills  the  Bethle- 
hem babes.  32,  46  ;  connection  \\'ith 
the  census,  33  ;  Augustus's  opinion 
of  him.  4S;  his  outrages,  48,  50; 
his    family,   57 ;    his    will,   58 ;    his 


funeral,  58;  completes  the  Temple, 
131. 

Herod,  Antipas,  Tetrarch,  65  ;  seducea 
Herodias,  6(5 ;  quarrels  with  Pilate, 
66  ;  his  fall  and  death,  67  ;  his  char- 
acter, 67 ;  and  John  Baptist,  1 48 ; 
kills  John  Baptist,  386  ;  seeks  Jesus, 
483 ;  at  trial  of  Je.sus,  650 ;  quarrel 
with  Pilate  healed,  651. 

Herod,  Agrippa  I. ,  57. 

Herod,  PhUip  I.,  husband  of  Herodias, 
55. 

Herodias,  forsakes  Philip  for  Antipas, 
iiij  ;  whom  she  instigates  to  his  ruin, 
66  ;  adheres  to  him,  67,  148;  causes 
death  of  John  Baptist,  385. 

Herodians,  sketch  of,  72.  216,  568. 

Herodotus,  quoted,  195,  276,  568. 

Herzog,  quoted,  68. 

High-priest,  507. 

High-priesthood,  67,  506,  561. 

Hill  of  Evil  Counsel,  663. 

Hillel,  214,  517. 

Hippolytus.  of  Thebes,  17. 

Hippos,  of  Decapolis,  409. 

Homer,  quoted,  195,  262. 

Horace,  quoted,  567. 

Horns  of  Hattin,  241. 

Howe,  Fisher,  quoted,  668. 

Hiibner,  quoted,  93,  331. 

Hyrcanus,  551. 


Ideler's  calculation,.  30. 

lugraham's   "Prince  of  the  House   of 

David,"  quoted,  (504. 
Ignatius,  Martyr,  439. 


Jacob's  Bridge,  191. 

Jacob's  well,  152. 

Jahn,  quoted,  64,  498. 

Jarvis,  quoted,  534. 

James  I.,  Apostle,  170,  222,  590,  630. 

James  II. ,  Apo.stle,  228. 

Jennings,  quoted,  448,  449. 

Jericho,  465. 

Jerome,  quoted,  37,  74,  114,  146,  249 
289,  320. 

Jerusalem,  date  of  destruction,  26. 

Joazer,  High-Priest,  56. 

Job,  470. 

John,  Apostle,  114,  170,  223,  439,  590; 
his  allegation  against  Judas,  607, 
619;  in  Gethsemane,  630,  671;  at 
the  cross,  673,  678  ;  at  the  sepulchre, 
689,  701. 

John,  the  Baptist,  birth  onnoiinced,  17* 


720 


ESTDEX. 


his  birth  and  circumcision,  21  ;  early 
life,  22  ;  ministry,  73  ;  baptizes  Jesus, 
84-8!) ;  discoverer  of  the  Messiah,  90  ; 
in  prison,  311  ;  message  to  Jesus, 
312;  Jesus's  estimate  of  him,  314; 
his  execution,  385. 

Joppa,  415. 

Joseph,  betrothed  to  Mary,  IG  ;  his 
dream,  23  ;  in  Bethlehem,  39 ;  in 
the  Temple,  42 ;  takes  Marj-  and 
Jesus  to  Egypt,  47 ;  settles  in  Naza- 
reth, 49 ;  with  Jesus  at  a  passover, 
51. 

Joseph,  of  Arimathea,  684. 

Josephus,  quoted,  24,  29,  33,  51,  58,  00, 
Gl.  02,  05,  08,  09,  71,  103,  120,  120, 
129,  130,  148,  151,  108,  174,  183, 
221,  231,  270,  320,  332,  342,  347,  407, 
449,  405,  500,  512,  518,  551,  501,  015, 
029,  043. 

Josp;pnL!s  CATAPn.\s,  500. 

Judas,  of  Galilee,  heads  a  revolt,  G2. 

Judas  I. ,  Apostle,  230,  (J24. 

Judas  II.  (Iscariot),  Apostle,  231,  398, 
001;  his  case  studied,  003,  019;  m 
high-priest's  palace,  039;  the  last  of 
him,  000. 

Julian,  Emperor,  249. 

Justin,  Martyr,  37,  578. 

Juttah,  10. 

Juvenal,  quoted,  388. 


Kedron,  the  creek,  025,  638. 

Keueth,  of  Uecapolis,  407. 

Kepler,  his  calculations,  30,  46. 

Keraia,  The,  205. 

King  James,  orders  "church"  inserted 

in  the  translation,  420. 
Kitto,  quoted,  534. 
Knapp,  quoted,  142. 
Krabbe,  quoted,  9  5. 
Krafft,  quoted,  531. 
Kunul,  quoted,  08,  335. 


L. 


Lachinaim,  quote  1,  406. 

Lauge.  quoted,  142,  237,  289,  311.  849, 

302,  45:.',  4()9,  525,  534.  501. 
Lardiier,  quoted,  34,  48. 
Lawyer,  i'o,j.ikos,  575. 
Lazariyeh,  505. 
Lebanon,  40(i. 
Lebbens.  230. 
Legis  Actioiies,  31. 
Leprosy,  the,  183-186, 
Lepton.  coin,  589, 
Lex,  quoted,  534. 


Lichtenstein,  quoted,  48,  534. 
Lightfoot,   quoted,   08,   285,   335,   371 
417,  448,  472.  534,  501,  571,  580,  60() 
Livy,  quoted,  473. 
Locke,  quoted,  17G. 
Locusts,  74. 

Lucke,  quoted.  142,  469. 
Luthardt.  quoted,  541. 
Luther,  quoted,  142,  405. 


M. 


Maccabees,  the,  182,  463. 

McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopaedia, 
quoted,  108,  407. 

McClure,  quoted,  707. 

Machasrus,  Castle  of,  148,  311, 

McKnight,  quoted,  4()9,  534. 

MacAVhorter,  quoted.  111. 

Magadan,  410. 

Magdala,  320,  410. 

Magi,  the,  and  Herod,  43-40, 

Magnificat,  The.  22. 

Magor-missabib,  201. 

Maimonides,  quoted,  194,  571,  624. 

Malchus,  higli-])riest's  servant,  040. 

Maldonatus,  S[)anish  Jesuit,  354. 

Mammon,  490. 

Manasseh.  150,  151,  201. 

Manual,  Bible  Society,  quoted,  708. 

Mariamne,  57,  00. 

Mark,  his  style,  520. 

Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  betrothal, 
l(i ;  genealogy,  17;  in  Nazareth,  20; 
the  Annunciation,  19 ;  visits  Eliza- 
beth, 20  ;  pronounces  the  Magnilicat, 
20 ;  returns  to  Nazareth.  21 ;  hei 
several  sons,  39  ;  in  Bethlehem,  40  ; 
in  the  Tem]ile,  41  ;  her  relations 
with  Jesus,  072 ;  at  the  cross,  072, 
078. 

Mary  Magdalene,  321,  GG7,  671,  685, 
087,  ()88,  090. 

]\Iary,  wife  of  Cleopas,  071. 

Massillou,  quoted,  311. 

Matthew  (Levi),  Apostle,  191,  226. 

Mar.udrell,  quot-d,  152. 

Menahem.  heads  a  revolt,  63. 

Messiah,  The,  to  be  a  leper,  186. 

Metariyeh,  47. 

Metempsychosis,  among  the  Jews,  472, 

Meyer,  quoted,  93,  142,  279,  317,  406, 
442,  409,  5H(i.  075. 

Michaelis.  quoted,  248,  578. 

Midrash,  The,  551. 

INlibnan,  Dean,  quoted,  63,  81,  151,  183, 
4()8,  409. 

Milton,  quoted,  108. 

Mhia,  its  value,  540. 

Mishna,  The,  27 ;  quoted,  08,  69,  400. 

Mouey,  coins,  120. 


INDEX. 


721 


Moreh,  an  epithet  of  contempt,  268. 
Morrison,  quoted,  534. 
Moriah,  Mount,  454. 
Moses,  with  Jesus,  437. 
Myth  theory,  The,  94. 


N. 


Nablfts,  149. 

Nain,  o09. 

Nasi,  of  the  synagogue,  70. 

Nathanael,  115,  226. 

Nazareth,  19 ;  Jesus  settles  there,  49 ; 
Kenan's  description  of  it,  50,  54 ;  Je- 
sus revisits,  102. 

Neander,  quoted,  31,  93,  124,  534,  610. 

Neapolis,  149. 

Nehemiah,  151. 

Nemesis,  470. 

Newcome,  quoted,  534. 

Nicodemus,  his  interview  with  Jesus, 

,  133  ;  in  the  Sanhedrim,  563;  secret 
disciple,  G84. 

Nicophanes,  quoted,  114. 

Nineveh,  333. 

Nunc  Dimittis,  The,  42. 


0. 


Olearius,  quoted,  248. 

Olshausen,  quoted,  93,  133,  343,  347, 

469,  500,  631. 
Oosterzee,  quoted,  534. 
Origen,  quoted,  87,  93. 
Osiander,  quoted,  534. 
Ovid,  quoted,  192,  263. 
Owen,  quoted,  534. 


Palingenesia,  The,  527. 

Palm-Sunday,  546. 

Paranymph,  147. 

Paschal  Chronicle,  26. 

Pashur,  261. 

Passover,  crowds  at,  516  ;  Jesus's  last, 

616  ;  Great  Sabbath  of,  677, 
Paulus,  quoted,  93. 
Peccability  of  Jesus,  97. 
Pella,  of  Decapolis,  407  ;  Christians  find 

refuge,  590. 
Perea,  361,  482. 
Peter  (Simon),  114,  170,  181,  219,  398, 

402,  405,  417,  436,  537,  590,  593,  617, 

619,  630,  630,  638,  639,  671,  688,  689, 

696,  701-703. 
Pfeninger,  quoted,  167. 
Pharisees,  sketch  of,  71. 
Phidias,  his  statue  of  Nemesis,  470. 
46 


Philadelphia,  of  Decapolis,  407. 
Philip,  the  Apostle,  115,  225,  362.  388, 

549,  633. 
Philip,  the  Tetrarch,  415. 
Philo,  quoted,  64,  173. 
Phoenicia,  403. 
Phylactery,  463. 
Pilate,  Pontius,  procurator,  63  ;  outrages 

the  Jews,  64,  343  ;  at  trial  of  Jesus, 

644 ;  his  wife's  dream,  655. 
Pilkington,  quoted,  534. 
Plato,  quoted,  173,  303. 
Plutarch,  quoted,  173. 
Polybius,  quoted,  139,  365. 
Ponipey,  139. 

Porter's  Hand-Book,  quoted,  666. 
Potter's  Field,  603. 
Priests,  courses  of,  15,  29. 
Procurators,  03. 
Pseudo- Alexander,  61. 
Publicans,  portitores,  227. 


Quadrans,  coin,  589. 

Quarantania,  Mount  of  Temptation,  92^ 

Queen  of  the  South,  333. 

Quirinius  (Cyrenius),  16. 


R. 


Rab,  Rabbi,  Rabboni,  113,  583. 
Rabboth-Ammon,  of  Decapolis,  407. 
Raka,  a  term  of  reproach,  308. 
Raphana,  of  Decapolis,  407. 
Renan,  quoted,  20,  40  ;  his  description 

of  Nazareth,  50,  55. 
Robinson,   quoted,   130,  125,  167,   198, 

200,  241,  317,  367,  507,  534,  541. 
Rosenmiiller,  quoted,  344. 
Routh,  quoted,  230. 


s. 


Sabinus,  procurator,  provokes  a  revolt, 
59. 

Sadducees,  sketch  of,  71. 

Sagan,  of  the  Synagogue,  68. 

Salim,  145. 

Salome,  531,  671. 

Salvador,  Dr.,  on  "the  Trial  of  Jesus," 
631. 

Samaritans,  their  origin,  150  ;  defile  the 
Temple,  151. 

Sanballat,  151. 

Sanhedrim,  its  origin,  68  ;  its  constitu- 
tion, size.  President,  place  of  meeting, 
and  jurisdiction,  69,  453,  691. 

Satan  =  the  Devil,  93,  98 ;  Jewish  ideas 


722 


INDEX. 


of,   100 ;    Manicliasan  idea  of,   100 ; 

idea  in  Job,  101 ;  in  David,  101  ;  in 

Zechariah,   lOl  ;     Jesus's  idea,  102  ; 

178 ;  424. 
Saton,  a  Greek  measure,  347. 
Schaflf,  Dr.,  quoted,  284,  522. 
Schleicrmacher,  quoted,  42,  93,  335. 
Schoettgen,  quoted.  151,  58G. 
Scythopolis,  now  Beisan,  14G,  407. 
Selden,  quoted,  70,  558. 
Seneca,  quoted,  279. 
Sepharvaim,  colonizes  Samaria,  150. 
Sepp,  quoted,  49. 

Shalmanezer,  carries  Israelites  into  cap- 
tivity, 150. 
Shammai,  head  of  a  Jewish  school,  214- 
Shaw,  quoted,  74. 
Shechem,  capital  of  Samaria,  149. 
Shekel,  value  of,  00. 
Sheliach,  officer  of  the  synaj^ogne,  163. 
Shepherds,  see  angels,  39  ;  village  of,  40. 
"  Shoe's  latchet,"  68. 
Sicarii,  63. 

Sidon,  denounced,  816  ;  visited,  402,  405. 
Siloam,  454,  472. 

Simeon,  at  the  circumcision  of  Jesus,  41. 
Simla,  high-priest's  garment,  043. 
Simon  I.,  Apostle,  see  "  Peter." 
Simon  II.,  Apostle,  231, 
Sinaou  of  Cyrene,  603. 
Simon,  Zelotes,  231. 
Smith,  Sir  J.  E.,  quoted,  298. 
Smith,    Dr.   Wm.,    "Dictionary  of  the 

Bible."  quoted,  29,  71,  74,  151,  103, 

219,  222,  613. 
Smith,    Dr.    Wm.,    "  N.    T.    History," 

quoted,  57,  103. 
"  Son  of  David,"  18,  119,  403. 
"  Son  of  God,"  118. 
"  Son  of  the  Law,"  51. 
"  Son  of  Man,"  first  use,  117;  361;  599. 
Sophocles,  his  "CEdipus,"  470. 
Spartian,  his  "  Life  of  Hadrian,"  31. 
Stanley,  quoted,  74,  166,  1G8,  242,  320. 
Stater,  coin  for  Temple-tax,  437. 
Stier,  quoted,  53,   335,   347,  383,  469, 

518,  534. 
Story,  W.  W.,  his  theory  of  Judas,  605. 
Strabo,  quoted,  74. 
Strong,  his    "Harmony,"  quoted,   165, 

265,  332,  541. 
Stroud,  Dr.  Wm.,  quoted,  679. 
Sue,  his  "  Wandering  Jew,"  99. 
Suetonius,  quoted,  25,  31,  45. 
Sycamore  tree,  537. 
Sychar  =  Shechem,  152. 
Synagogue,  fuU  account  of,  162-164. 


Tabor,  Mount,  428,  704. 


Tacitus,    quoted,   31;    "breviamm  of 

Augustus,"  32  ;  prevailing  expectation 

of  the  Coming   One,  45  ;    speaks   of 

Jesus,  65,  186,  473. 
Talent,  value  of,  442. 
Talmud,  quoted,  55,  80,  192,  331,  400 

666. 
Targum,  The,  551. 
Taxing,  The,  under  Cyrenius,  31. 
Taylor,  Jeremy,  qitoted,  475,  664. 
TeJl  Hum.  ruins  of,  168. 
Temple,    The,    128;     tax,    126,    436; 

tabemte,  557  ;  veil  rent,  676. 
Temptation  of  Jesus,  91. 
Tephilla  =  Phylactery,  582. 
Tertullian,  quoted,  578. 
Thaddeus,  230. 
Theodoret,  quoted,  114. 
Theodorus  of  Mop.suestia,   quoted,  93 

347. 
Theophylact,  quoted,  343. 
Tholuck,   quoted,   141,   152,   244,    269 

453,  469. 
Thomas,  Apostle,  227,  362,  497,  699. 
Thomson,  Abii. ,  quoted,  33. 
Thomson,  his  "  Land  and  Book,"  quot 

ed,  92,  146,  167,  184,  245,  298,  346, 

360,  387,  390,  537,  629. 
Tiberius,  Emperor,  17,  24,  26,  66. 
Tischeudorf,  quoted,  386,  406,  534. 
ToMTisend,  quoted,  49. 
Tragelles,  quoted,  406 
Trajan,  Emperor,  224. 
Trench,  Abp.,  quoted,  124, 151, 184, 185 

353,   355,   469,   473,   475,   534,  567 

597. 
Trent,  Council  of,  its  Catechism,  287. 
Tristam,  quoted,  366. 
Tsitsith,  The,  583. 
"Twelve,  The,"  235. 
Tyre,  402,  405. 


IT. 


Upham,   Dr.    F.  W.,   his  "The    Wisa 

Men,"  46. 
Urim  and  Thummim,  The,  507. 


Valerius  Gratus,  procurator,  68,  506. 
Van  de  Velde,  quoted,  140. 
Varus,  Prefect  of  Sj-ria,  60. 
Vespasian,  Emperor,  12,  149. 
Victorius,  qvioted,  26. 
Vitcllius,  06. 

Voice,  at  baptism  of  Jesus,  77. 
Voltaire,    on  number  slain  at  Bethla* 

hem,  47. 
Von  der  Hardt,  quoted,  263. 


INDEX. 


723 


Von  Gerlach,  quoted,  540. 
Vorstius,  quoted,  69. 
VuJyar  iEra,  The,  26. 


W. 

Ward,  "  View  of  the  Hindoos,"  597. 

Weisse,  quoted,  93. 

Wesley,  quoted,  167. 

Wetsteiu.  quoted,  2-48,  473,  578,  586. 

Wiclif's  translation,  489. 

Wioseler,  quoted,  29,  31,  68,  386,  534, 

o(;i 
Williams,  "  Holy  City,"  quoted,  602. 
Wilson,  "  Lands  of  the  Bible,"  quoted, 

167. 
Winer,  quoted,  342,  518,  561. 
"  Wise  Men,"  The,  28,  30,  43. 


Xenophon,  quoted,  141,  376. 

Xerxes,  276. 


Zacharias,  sees  apparition,  15  ;  become« 
dumb,  16  ;  names  his  son  John,  21  ; 
pronounces  the  "  Benedictus,"  21; 
his  sacerdotal  class,  27. 

Zealots,  The,  63. 

Zealot-right,  The.  558. 

Zelotes,  Simon,  231. 

Zoroaster,  44. 

Zinzendorf,  Count,  583. 

Zumpt,  quoted,  36. 


PASSAGES  OF  THE  OLD  AND   THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  AND 
APOCRYPHA, 

Alluded  to,  or  Quoted ;  other  than  tlie  Four  Evangelists. 


Oene,w  i.  201;  i.  27,  520;  ii.  201  ;  iv. 

3,  201  ;  vii.  4,  10,  203 ;  \'iii.  10,  12, 

202;    xii.  6,  149;    xiv.  22,  507;    xvi. 

7-13,  109  ;  xviii.  6,  347  ;  xviii.  8, 108; 

xviii.  109;    xviii.    110;    xix.  3.    108; 

xxii.  110  ;  xxxiii.  18,  150 ;  xxv.  9,  363; 

XXV.  22,  472  ;  xxiv.  7,  40,  109  ;  xxviii. 

12,  108;  xx\aii.  12,  109;  xxix.  25-30, 

202;    xxxii.    2,  108;    xixv.   19,   47; 

XXXV.  29,  363. 
Exodus  iii.  110;  iii.  6,  574;  xii.  46,  678; 

xiii.  2-10,  11-17,583;  xiii.  9,  16,582; 

xvi.  203 ;  xx.  202 ;   xx.  26,  276  ;    xxi. 

24,  274 ;  xxi.  32,  603  ;   xxx.  13,  126 ; 

XXX.  13,  436;  xxxii.  110;    xxxiv.  28, 

98 ;  XXIV.  3,   203. 
Levit.  xii.  24,  41 ;  xii.  8,  41 ;  xiii.  45, 

185;   xvi.  20-31,  515;   xviii.  2,  509; 

xviii.  46,  509;  xix.  18,  277;   xxi.  10, 

643  ;  xxiii.  27-29.  203 ;   xxiii.  5,  541 ; 

xxiv.  20,  274;  xxvii.  30,  335;   xxvii. 

30,  515;  xxvii.  30,  586. 
mimbers  v.  2,  509;  v.  6,  538;  vi.  1-21, 

16;  vi.  9,  185;  ix.  12,  678;  xv.  32, 

203;  XV.   37-40,  371;    xv.    38,   583; 

xviii.    15,    16,    43;    xviii.    21,    515; 

xviu.   21,  586;    xix.    448;    xix.    10, 

586;  XX.  10,  269  ;  xri  143  ;  xxiv.  17, 

45;    xxiv.  17,    158;    xxv.    11,558; 


xxvii.  8-11,  10;  xsrviii  9,313;  xxix. 

7,  515. 
Det(t.    V.  26,  173;    vi.   16,   104;    vi.  5, 

463;    Ti.    4-9,    13-23,    582;    A-iu.    3, 

103;  xii.  6,  586;   xiv.   23,  515;  xiv. 

23-28,   586;    xvii.  7,  457;    xviii.  15, 

112;    xviii.   18,   116;    x\'iii.   15,   158; 

xix.   14,   253;    xix.  21,  274;  xxi.    23, 

23,   664;  xxi.  23,  677;  xxii.  11,  150; 

xxii.  12,   371  ;    xxii.    21,  456;    xxiii. 

25,  211  ;   xxiii.  13,  518;  xxv.  5,  573; 

xxvi.  14,  173. 
Joshi/a  x^-iii.  16,  260. 
Judges  ii.  110  ;  vi.  22,  109  ;  vi.  110  ;  vi. 

14,  110  ;  vi.  22,  110  ;  vi.  19,  347 ;  xiii. 

15,  16.  108  ;    xiii.  110  ;  xiii.  23,  110; 
xiv.  12,  567. 

1  Sa7n.  i.  24,  347 ;  vi.  5,  475 ;  xiv.  25, 
74;  XV.  22,  212  ;  xxi  212  ;  xxii.  20-23, 
212. 

2  Sfim.  viii.  17,  213 ;  xix."  22,  101 ;  xix, 
27,  107  ;  xxiv.  107. 

1  Kings  ii.  27,  561  ;  v.  4,  101  ;  x.  1, 
333  ;  xviii.  26,  282  ;  xix.  8,  98  ;  xxii. 
19,  108. 

2  Kings  v.  27,  177 ;  v.  184  ;  v.  14,  15, 
185  ;  V.  5,  567  ;  xii.  4,  126  ;  xvii.  24, 
150  ;  xvii.  41,  150 ;  xix.  15,  107  ;  xix. 
107;  xxiii.  10,  13,  14,368. 


724 


INDEX. 


1  Clirm.  xii.  22,  108;  xv.  11,  312; 
xxi.  1,  101  ;  xxi.  20,  109  ;  xxi.  30, 
109  ;  xxiv.  10,  15  ;  xxiv.  27 ;  xlix.  10, 
158, 

2  Chrmi.  iv.  24,  5G7;  xviii.  18,  107; 
xxiv.  6,  9,  126;  xxiv.  18-22,  336; 
xxiv.  20,  587 ;  xxx.  21-26,  204 ; 
xxxiv.  4,  5,  268. 

Ezra  ii.  9,  537  ;  iv.  2,  10,  150 ;  viii.  15, 

163;  X.  11,475. 
Nehcmiah  vii.  14,  537  ;  viii.  2,  163  ;  viii. 

9-12,  204;   ix.  1,  163;   xii.  29;   xiii. 

15-22,  204. 
Esther  v,  8,  566 ;  vi.  14,  566. 
Job  i.  6,  101 ;   ii.  1-7,  101  ;  iv.  18,   108  ; 

xxvii.  16,  567  ;  xxxiii.  29,  30,  442. 
Psalms  ii.  6-9,  116  ;  viii.  2,  559  ;  x\di. 

15,  255;  xxii.  16,  18,  667;    xxv.   13, 

253;    xxxiv.    7,   111;    xxxv.  5,   111; 

XXXV.  19,  626 ;  xxxvii.  9,  253  ;  xxxvii. 

11,  253;  xxxix.  5,  296;  xii.  9,  618; 
xlii.  1,  255  ;  Ii.  12,  141  ;  Ixviii.  108; 
Ixix.  4,  626;  Ixix.  9,  127;  Ixxxii.  6, 
481  ;  xci.  104  ;  xcii.  204  ;  civ.  4,  107  ; 
cvi.  28,  173;  cix.  6,  101 ;  ex.  578; 
cxiii.  545 ;  cxv.  624 ;  cxvi.  624 ; 
cxvii.  624 ;  cxviii.  545 ;  cxviii.  624 ; 
cxviii.  22,  565  ;  cxlvi.  8,  476. 

Isaiah  vi.    1-3,   108;  viii.  19,  173;  ix. 

6,  116  ;  ix.  7,  552;  xi.  1-5,  10,  116  ; 
xix.  1,  642  ;  xx.  4,  518 ;  xxv.  656,  6  ; 
xxx.  29,  204  ;  xl.  2,  7,  476  ;  xlii.  1-4, 
217;  xlix.  24,  327;  liii.  49;  liii.  2-12, 
116  ;  liii.  12,  327;    Uii.  12,  621  ;  liii. 

12,  667  ;  liv.  13,  396  ;  Iv.  1,  255  ;  Ivi. 

7,  558  ;  Iviii.  6,  165  ;  Iviii.  13,  203  ; 
Ix.  3,  45  ;  Ixi.  1,  2,  165  ;  Ixi.  10,  566  ; 
Ixii.  5,  566;  Ixiii.  9,  110;  Ixv.  13, 
506. 

Jeremiah  vii.  11,  558  ;  xvii.  21,  203  ;  xx. 

261  ;   xxi.   12-14,  204  ;   xxii.  30,  19 ; 

xxiii.  5,  6,  116  ;    xxxi.  15,  47;     xxxi. 

33, 141 ;  xxxi.  33,  34,  396  ;  xxxiii.  15, 

116;  xii.  17,  39. 
Ezekiel  viii.  1,  163;  x.  1,  106;  xiv.  1, 

163;    xviii.  31,  141  ;    xx.  1,  163;    xx. 

12-24,  204;   xxiv.  17,  185;  xxviii.  14, 

107;   xxxiii.  31,  163  ;  xxxiv.  23,  116; 

xxxvi.  24-28,  141 ;   xlvii.  454. 
Danid  iv.  13,  23,  107  ;  vii.  9,  10,  108 ; 

vii.   13,  118;    315;   361;    411;    642; 

vu.  14,  552 ;  13G ;  viii  14,  831 ;  viii. 


13,  107;  ix.  21-23,  16;   ix.  34,  45 

ix.    25,  116;   X.   13,  107;    x.  7,  109 

X.  8,  15,  17,  109. 
Rosea  ii.  6,  204  ;  ii.  9,  566 ;  vi.  6,  193 

vi.  6,  212;  xi.  1,  47. 
Joel  ii.  26,  29,  396  ;  iii.  18,  454. 
Amosi.  3,  442;  ii.  6,  442. 
Micah  V.    2,  36  ;  v.   1,  37 ;    v.   2,   46 

V.  2,  116. 
Nahtim  i.  3,  642. 
Haggai  ii.  7,  116. 
Zech.  ii.  12-15,  110;  iii.  1,  101;  iii.  8. 

116;  vi.  15,  111;  vii.  5,   163;  ix.  9' 

116;  ix.  9,  544;  xi.    12,  603;  xii.  8; 

111 ;  xii.  60,  678;  xiii.  4,  74;  xiii.  7, 

116  ;  xiii.  1,141  ;  xiii.  7,  621. 
Malachi  iii.  1,  116;  iv.  5,  6,  74;  iv.  5, 

112  ;  iv.  2,  116;  iv.  5,  6,430. 
ToUt  iv.  3,  363  ;  xii.  19,  108. 
Song  ii.  1,  2,  16,  298. 
Cant.  V.  1,  566. 

1  Mace.  iv.  52,  59,  480;  xi.  71,  643. 

2  Mace.  i.  10,  69;  iv.  44;  69;  xi.  27, 
69  ;  X.  9,  537. 

Acts  i.    3,    115;  i.  13,  223;  i.  13,  226 
i.    13,   228  ;    i.  13,  231 ;    i.  13,  230 
i.  16,   611;    iv.   12,   13,   119;  iv.   13 
219;    V.    36,    37,    209;     v.    36,    37 
512  ;    vi.   6,    10,   498 ;    vii.   56,   70 
vii.   55,  118;    ix.  7,  551;   x.  47,   48 
221  ;    X.    13,   15,   551 ;    xii.   1,    223 
xii.  17,   229;    xiii.  15,   164;   xv.    13 
19,   229 ;  xix.   13,   326 ;  xx.  33,  567 
xxi.  18,  229;    xxiii.  3,  638;  xxvii.  3, 
611. 

Ramans  xvi.  25,  328. 

1  Car.  i.  21,  257;  iv.  15,  584;  vii.  29, 
249  ;  viii.  13,  328 ;  ix.  5,  181 ;  xii. 
613  ;  XV.  6,  704. 

2  Cor.  xi.  25,  331. 
Qal.  ii.  9,  229. 
Eph.  iii.  9,  328. 
Col.  i.  20,  328. 

1  Timothy  i.  2,  584. 

2  Timothy  ii.  8,  20. 
Titus  i.  4,  584. 
HehreiDS  xiii.  12,  666. 
James  v.  1,  2,  567, 

1  Peter  v.  13,  584. 
1  John  ii.  16,  98. 
Jude,  ver.  17,  231. 
Beo.  i.  13,  118. 


S0UKCE8.  725 


SOURCES. 

[The  following  books  have  been  consulted,  and,  so  far  as  known,  credited  for 
what  use  has  been  made  of  them.  The  list  may  be  serviceable  to  those  who  de- 
sire to  verify  my  quotations  or  to  prosecute  studies  in  this  department.] 

Abbott,  Rev.  Lyman  :  Jesus  of  Nazareth.     1  vol. 

AiNSLEE,  Rev.  RoBEKT  :  Translation  of  Tischendorf's  Greek  New  Testament. 
1vol. 
Adams,  Nehemiah,  D.D.  :  Friends  of  Christ  in  the  New  Testament.     1  vol 
Alexander,  Joseph  A.,  D.D.  :  Blatthew  Explained.    1  vol. 

"  "  Mark  Explained.    1  vol. 

Alford,  Henry,  D.D. :  New  Testament  Revised.     1vol. 

''  "  Our  Lord  and  His  Twelve  Disciples.     1  vol. 

"  "  Greek  Testament,  with  Notes  (on  Evangelists).  1  voL 

Alger,  W.  R.  :   History  of  the  Doctrine  of  a  Future  Life.     1  vol. 
Andrews,  S.  J.  :  Life  of  our  Lord  upon  Earth.     1  vol 
Anonymous.     "Ecce  Agnus  Dei."     1  vol 

"  "EcceDeus."     1vol. 

"  "Ecce  Homo."     1vol. 

"  Jesus  of  History.     1  vol. 

Augustine  r  Homilies  on  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.     2  vols. 

**  Sermons.      1  vol. 

Bagster  :  Polyglott  Bible.     2  vols. 
Balfour,  W.  P.  :  Lessons  from  Jesus      1  vol. 
Balfour,  W.  :  Import  of  Sheol,  Hades.     1  vol. 
Barclay,  J.  T. :  City  of  the  Great  King.     1  voL 
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Clark,  Rev.  G.  W.  :  New  Harmony  of  the  Four  Gospels.     1  voL 
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Dickinson,  R.  :  Corrected  Version  of  the  New  Testament.     1  voL 

Ellicott,  Bishop  :  Historical  Lectures  on  Jesus  Christ.     1  vol. 

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EWALD,  H.  :     The  Life  of  Jesus  Christ.     1  vol. 

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Hackett,  H.  B.  :  Illustrations  of  Scripture.     1  vol. 

Hale,  W.  H.  :  History  of  the  Jews.     1  vol. 

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Hanna  :  The  Life  of  Chi-ist.     6  vols. 

Hardwick,  C.  :  Christ  and  other  Masters.     2  vols. 

Hemans,  Charles  J.  :  Ancient  Christianity  and  Sacred  Art.     1  vol. 

Hengstenberg,  E.  W.  :  Christology.     3  vols. 

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Howe,  Fisher  :  True  Site  of  Calvary.     1  vol. 

Jamieson,  Mrs.  A.  :  History  of  our  Lord,  as  exemplified  in  Works  of  Art.  2  vols. 

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Jennings,  D.  :  Jewish  Antiquities.     1  vol. 

Jones,  Joel,  LL.D.  :  Notes  on  the  Scripture.     1  voL 

Joseph  us  :    Translated  by  Whiston.     6  vols.    . 

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B0UK0E8.  727 

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LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS, 

DESIGNED  BY 

ALBEKT  LEIGHTON  EAWSON. 

ENGRAVED  B1 

LINTON,  FLLMER,  AND  OTHERS. 


Ideal  Head  op  Jesus  (opposite  the  title-page),  after  the  celebrated  painting 
by  Guercino  called  "  Ecce  Homo,"  engraved  in  aquatint  by  W.  G.  Jackman,  New 
York. 

All  of  the  so-called  heads  of  Jesus  are  ideals  of  the  artists,  made  to  supply  the 
demands  of  certain  believers  in  the  several  ages,  and  they  are  of  every  possible 
variety  of  character  and  expression,  as  they  were  designed  to  represent  the  teach- 
ing, laboring,  healing,  suffering,  or  triumphant  Christ.  The  most  ancient  of  these 
that  have  been  preserved,  that  are  worthy  of  the  name  of  fine-art  works,  are 
engraved  on  precious  stones,  and  must  be  assigned  to  quite  SL  recent  age,  when 
the  Italian  revival  of  art  found  it  necessary  to  supply  the  multitude  of  worshipers 
with  some  visible  image  of  the  divine  man.  The  best  of  these  is  called,  "  The 
Emerald  of  the  Vatican,"  and  is  a  copy  of  the  head  of  Jesus  in  RafaeUe's  cartoon 
of  the  Miraculous  Draught  of  Fishes. 

The  heads  engraved  by  Albert  Diirer  are  very  artistic  ideals  of  the  notion  that 
the  Messiah  must  have  been  repulsive  and  unlovely  in  appearance.  The  Italians 
(Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Rafaelle,  Guido,  Guercino,  Titian,  etc.)  made  their  ideals 
weak  and  womanish,  without  intellectual  force  or  manly  vigor,  and  have  in  nearly 
every  instance  lowered  their  hero  beneath  the  average  appearance  of  men  in  active 
life. 

The  recent  attempts  of  Europeans  and  Americans  have  served  only  to  show 
that  the  artist  is  incapable  of  painting  any  ideal  above  or  beyond  his  own  char- 
acter; and  if  that  falls  below  the  pure  and  lofty  ideal  which  is  universally 
given  to  the  conception  of  the  character  of  Jesus,  then  the  work  must  reflect 
upon  the  subject  to  its  disadvantage.  The  all-healing  Messiah  could  only  be 
represented  faithfully  as  the  merciful  phj'sician  and  restorer  to  spii^itual  and 
physical  health  by  an  artist  who  was  qualified,  first,  by  having  the  almost  divine 
attribute  of  a  soul  that  is  willing,  for  the  sake  of  relieving  a  suffering  brother,  to 


730  LIST   OF   ILLUSTEATI0N8. 

take  his  disease  upon  himself,  or  his  criminal  shame  as  his  own  ;  and,  second,  the 
ability  to  reproduce  the  expression  of  countenance  which  will  convey  that  will- 
ingness to  self-sacrifice.  The  artist  who  would  not  so  sacrifice  himself  is  lesa 
than  the  ideal  of  Jesus  which  every  believer  holds  sacred,  and  is,  therefore,  inca- 
pable of  conceiving  the  proper  character  of  the  divine  physician.  And  this  ia 
also  true  of  any  other  aspect  of  the  many-sided  character  of  the  Great  Teacher. 
That  such  an  artist  lives  we  cannot  determine ;  but  that  any  such  picture  has 
been  produced  we  are  certain,  and  can  only  wait.  It  seems  to  many  persons  that 
this  subject  in  all  its  aspects,  whether  representing  Jesus  as  teacher,  healer,  or 
the  divine  man,  is  abovQ  and  beyond  the  possible  achievement  of  art. 

The  early  fathers  were  influenced  by  the  Jewish  habits  of  thought,  which 
regarded  every  representation  of  the  human  form,  and  more  especially  any  at- 
tempts at  imaging  the  divine,  with  hon-or,  and  therefore  the  only  devices  used 
were  such  as  the  dove,  the  fish,  the  lyre,  the  anchor,  the  ship  under  saU,  etc. 
The  very  earliest  date  that  can  be  assigned  to  any  head  of  Jesus  engraved  on  a 
gem  (and  there  are  hundreds  known)  is  to  the  age  when  the  emperors  sustained 
a  school  of  engraving  as  an  appendage  to  the  court,  as  is  mentioned  in  a  law  of 
the  Emperor  Leo,  A.  D.  886-911. 

The  most  popular  pictures  representing  Jesus  are  those  of  the  passion,  includ- 
ing the  trial,  incidents  on  the  way  to  Calvary,  the  crucifixion ;  and  in  this  work  of 
Guercino  the  incident  of  the  crowning  mth  thorns  is  presented  in  a  masterly 
maimer.  This  painting  has  long  been  valued  by  some  critics,  who  think  they  see 
in  it  more  of  the  real  character  of  a  Jew  of  Syria,  in  raiddle  age,  than  appears  in 
any  other  Italian  work.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  convey  even  a  fair  impression 
of  the  excellence  of  the  original  painting,  which  is  justly  classed  among  the  chief 
works  of  the  greatest  masters  in  art.  This  engraving  gives  as  clear  and  satisfac- 
tory an  idea  of  the  original,  which  is  in  colors  and  very  carefully  finished,  as  ia 
possible  to  be  done  in  black  and  white,  and  the  style  of  engraving  (aquatint) 
seems  to  be  peculiarly  adapted  for  such  a  subject.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  orientals  were  not  in  the  habit  of  stripping  even  condemned  criminals 
nude,  and  therefore  the  nudity  of  the  Italian  artists  is  local,  and  has  no  reference 
to  the  customs  of  Palestine. 

If  we  must  have  pictures  of  Jesus,  it  seems  a  pity  that  they  cannot  be  the 
work  of  artists  who  are  as  free  as  possible  from  the  monkish  traditions  of  the 
Komish  Church,  and  of  the  effete  whims  concerning  Greek  art,  and  who  will  take 
the  time  and  do  the  work  of  informing  themselves  on  the  manners  and  customs 
of  the  Syrians,  and  especially  of  the  Jews  in  the  first  century  A.  D. ,  and  who 
would  endeavor  to  present  the  man  Jesus,  the  native  of  Palestine,  in  such  a 
character  that  we  should  find  it  natural  to  respect  and  love  him  as  a  powerful 
and  good  person.  So  far  every  attempt  to  represent  the  person  or  character  of 
Jesus  has  been  a  vote  for  Rome,  the  head,  the  drapery,  and  often  the  ascessories, 
carrying  the  mind  of  the  beholder  to  Home  instead  of  to  Jerusalem. 

]\Iap  op  Palestine  in  the  Time  op  Christ  (p.  15). — This  map  gives 
only  the  most  important  places,  the  hundreds  of  small  villages  having  been  omit- 
ted to  avoid  crowding. 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTKATIONS.  731 

SiTEPnERDs'  Field,  BExnLEnEM  (p.  23). — The  side  hill  and  fields  east  of 
the  convent  and  village  of  Bethlehem  bear  the  name  of  The  Shepherds'  Field, 
and  have  been  used  as  a  pasture,  as  they  are  now,  from  the  most  ancient  time. 
The  soil  is  kept  from  washing  down  the  steep  by  stone  walls,  forming  terraces, 
on  which  there  are  a  few  trees,  the  remains  of  orchards  of  olives  and  figs.  The 
shepherds  watch  their  flocks  day  and  night,  very  few  having  a  fold,  sleeping 
near  them  under  a  tent  of  coarse  cloth,  or  of  leaves  and  grass. 

It  was  in  one  of  these  fields,  east  from  the  terraced  hillside,  that  the  beauti- 
ful idyl  of  Ruth,  Boaz,  and  Naomi  occurred,  forever  sanctifying  the  toils  of 
common  life,  and  shedding  a  glory  over  the  harvest-fiejd. 

The  scene  is  also  associated  with  David,  first  as  the  shepherd  boy,  tending  his 
father's  flocks,  then  as  the  brave  leader  and  chief,  contending  with  his  enemies, 
and  singing  the  praises  of  the  great  Leader  who  assists  all  who  contend  against 
evil ;  and  after  that  as  the-  king  t^vice  crowned  as  ruler  over  the  Jews.  A  well 
is  pointed  out  there  as  the  one  whose  waters  David  thirsted  for  \vith  a  resistless 
longing,  which  was  suddenly  changed  into  regret  when  he  learned  that  its 
water  had  been  brought  to  him  at  the  risk  of  good  men's  lives. 

The  village  on  the  hiU  is  not  very  ancient,  although  it  may  be  on  the  site  of 
the  original  town.  It  is  not  again  mentioned  in  Scripture  after  the  birth  of 
Jesus,  which  occurred  not  in  the  village,  but,  as  Justin  Martyr  says  (A.D.  150), 
"in  a  certain  cave  very  close  to  the  village." 

The  village  is  built  on  a  low  hill,  which  is  west  of,  and  se^Darated  a  little  by  a 
shallow  depression,  from  the  convent ;  it  is  triangular,  walled  in-,  and  contains 
three  thousand  people,  who  are  nearly  all  makers  of  beads,  crucifixes,  boxes, 
models  of  the  holy  i^laces,  &c. ,  for  sale  to  pilgrims.  The  manufacture  of  relics  is 
also  carried  on  to  an  extent  which  is  alarming  to  the  true  antiquarian,  although 
very  profitable  to  those  concerned.  The  imitations  can  always  be  detected  by  a 
little  care  and  scrutiny. 

Husks  (p.  22). — The  Carob  tree,  a  species  of  locust,  bears  the  long,  sweet- 
ish pods  (ten  inches),  somewhat  like  the  Lima  bean  pods,  which  are  called  husks 
in  Lulce  xv.  16,  and  St.  John's  bread  by  pilgrims.  The  tree  grows  everywhere 
in  Palestine,  and  the  Levant  as  far  south  as  Hebron,  and  is  a  large  and  hand- 
some object,  with  its  deep  green  dense  foliage  of  round  glossy  leaves,  more 
especially  in  the  dry  season,  for  it  is  an  evergreen.  The  Greeks  caU  it  keratia 
(horn),  from  the  horn  shape  of  the  pods.  The  pods  (just  before  they  are  ripe) 
are  steeped  in  water,  forming  a  pleasant  acid  drink.  They  are  also  sold  in  aU 
Oriental  bazaars  for  food,  more  commonly  for  pigs,  cattle,  and  horses,  but  they 
are  only  eaten  by  the  verj-  poorest  of  the  people.  They  furnish,  by  boiling,  a 
poor  quality  of  molasses  (dibs). 

Nazareth  (p.  24)  is  first  mentioned  in  Matthew  ii.  23,  or  if  taken  in  the 
order  of  time,  in  Luke  i.  2G,  as  the  scene  of  the  annunciation  to  Mary  of  the 
birth  and  character  of  Jesus.  This  place  was  unknown,  or  unmentioned  in  his- 
tory, before  the  birth  of  Jesus,  but  since  that  event  its  name  has  become  a 


732  LIST    OF   ILLUSTKATIONS. 

houseliold  word  throughout  the  Christian  world.  The  city  is  now  built  on  a 
Bide  hill,  overlooking  a  plain,  and  probably  not  far  from  the  ancient  site,  a  little 
lower  on  the  same  hill,  and  has  about  5,000  inhabitants.  It  is  very  well  built, 
nearly  every  house  being  of  stone,  flat  roofed,  and  of  two  stories  or  more.  The 
Maronite  convent  is  built  close  under  the  steep  place  which  is  shown  as  the  one 
down  which  the  people  were  determined  to  cast  Jesus.  There  are  many  other  ob- 
jects and  localities  pointed  out  to  visitors  as  remnants  of  antiquity,  but  which  have 
little  claim  to  such  honor,  because  the  stone  of  the  district  is  a  soft  white  marl, 
easily  crumbled  and  soon  falling  to  pieces ;  and  therefore  it  is  not  probable  that 
any  house  there  is  more  than  one  or  two  hundred  years  old.  The  fountain,  the 
valley,  and  the  fourteen  hills  around  the  city  have  not  changed,  and  must  pre- 
sent the  same  general  appearance  as  when  the  son  of  the  carpenter  grew  up 
there.  The  valley  runs  nearly  east  and  west,  and  is  about  a  mile  long  by  a 
quarter  wide.  The  hiUs  are  from  500  to  100  feet  high  above  the  vaUey ;  the 
highest,  called  Naby  Ismail,  being  1,800  feet  above  the  ocean,  and  500  above  the 
valley.  The  soil  is  rich,  and  sustains  a  great  variety  of  trees,  flowers,  vines, 
and  produces  fruit,  vegetables,  and  grain  in  abundance. 

The  view  from  the  summit  of  Naby  Ismail,  behind  Nazareth,  to  the  north- 
west, is  most  extensive,  and  includes  many  well-known  and  interesting  Scripture 
sites,  some  of  which  are  noted  also  in  later  history.  South-east  the  long  brown 
crest  of  Carmel  juts  out  below  the  Bay  of  Acre,  with  the  blue  sea  beyond ;  on 
its  east  end  there  are  memories  of  Elijah  and  Baal's  priests,  Ahab,  the  "fifties," 
and  on  its  western  end,  near  the  sea,  is  a  convent  dating  from  the  Crusades,  and 
the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  level  and  green  at  its  base  ;  the  hills  of  Scmaria,  inclosing 
the  city  of  Samaria,  and  the  mountain  Ebal  (and  Gerizim  behind  it)  by  Shechem, 
Gilboa,  Little  Hermon,  and  its  speck  of  the  village  of  Nain,  and  Shunem  not  far 
off  ;  the  Kishon  river,  the  village  of  Jezreel :  Mount  Tabor,  with  memories  of 
Deborah  and  Barak,  and  later  of  Napoleon ;  Gilead,  purple  and  tremulous  in  the 
east,  rising  into  the  high  plateau  of  Jaulan,  over  which,  to  the  north-east,  the 
shining  crest  of  Hermon  above  the  clouds,  lifting  up  so  many  ruined  pagan 
temples  on  its  sides  and  summits.  The  Mount  of  Beatitudes  (Hattin)  just  hides 
Capernaum  at  the  north  end  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee ;  the  heights  of  Safed,  Jebel 
Jermuk,  and  the  hill  on  which  Hazor  once  stood,  are  to  the  north,  and  over 
them  appears,  like  a  stUl  blue  cloud,  the  range  of  Lebanon. 

Jebel  Kaukab  marks  the  site  of  Cana,  lying  at  its  foot ;  and  there  is  the  sea 
over  Acre  again ;  St.  John  of  Acre,  fuU  of  mediaeval  history,  fuU  of  dust  and 
rains,  of  Crusading  times  and  later  ages  of  war. 

Nazareth  (p.  35).    See  page  731. 

Bethlehem  (p.  36).     See  Shepherd's  Field,  page  23, 

Hebron  (p.  36). — There  has  been  a  "city"  on  or  near  the  site  of  the 
present  place,  which  is  called  KhuUl,  The  Friend  (of  God),  meaning  Abraham, 
ever  since  the  time  of  the  earliest  records  in  history.  The  whole  district  is  favor- 
able to  an  agricultural  life,  and  is  noted  for  its  good  soil  and  the  great  variety  of  its 
products,  especially  the  vine,  figs,  olives,  and  is  as  well  watered  as  any  part  of  the 


733 

LIST   OF   ILLITSTRATIONS. 


and  vegetables  giving  place  to  melons  and  cucumbers. 

„  r  ";^Trs^«::^r!.  :rn:ri"'sr:;  built  oL  ^ 
-::Hr.eii:t::ieb^.i^e«^ 

is  possible  tbat  some  part  o£  ^^  ~-  ^ .      ^^^  „^^  ^„,^,  ,^^^  tbis  sup- 

::i=:tr:;ero;'::x^^ 

-*-^^"°''^'?:T;::J':/:r      -slice  tbc  time  of  tbe  Bomans. 
r:o";r:.:r  :;  t^r,:  tbe  nara^  is  »  rClc  o,  sevcra.  ages,  put  into 

nre^ccrrrr^airr^^^^^^^^ 

clitircli  of  Constantine  was  built  near  this  tree,  a  lew 

still  to  be  seen,  some  large  ones  measuring  fourteen  ^eet^"  -f  ■  ^^^  ,.^, 

Kin<.  David  lived  there  seven  years  and  a  half,  as  kin„        ^u       , 

7Z  «  "e  so  poor  as  to  be  ^able  to  get  an,  better  jewelr,  tban  tbrs 
cheap  glass. 

i™,  on  K=«.  (p.  40).-The  only  publicbonse  offered  by  the  Orientals^  is 

Ly  to  Le  camels  for  baggage  besides  for  riding,  and  so  every  part,  of  half  a 
Zn  forms  a  little  caravan  of  ten  to  fifteen  camels,  or  camels,  borses,  and  don 

'^^Tbeinnof  Chimbam  is  tbe  first  mentioned  in  tbe  ^^'^r'^l^ 
Bethlebem,  on  tbe  road  to  Egypt,  as  alluded  to  by  Jercm.ab  (Jr.  17      ami  .t 
!:  improbable  that  it  was  tbe  same  publie-bonse  in  -^;^^'^^^;'JZ\rll 
site  is  now  occupied  by  a  convent,  wbicb  dates  from  the  C--^-.^^^-;  ' 
the  time  of  tbe  Empress  Helena,  mother  of  Constantme  and  «  tbe  oMest  Cbus 
tian  church  in  the  world.     It  wa.  repaired  by  K-ng  Edward  IV  of  En>nd , 
Mdwi^,  the  famous  Crusader  and  king  of  Jerusalem,  was  ero.vned  m  t 
'^e  bunding  is  venerable  and  maiestic,  and  i^-^^;  ^;,- ^ ^e^ 
toiy.     Its  root  is  made  of  tbe  cedar  of  Lebanon,  and  ...s  m»rb.e  co.um-. 


734  LIST   OF   ILLTJSTEATIONS. 

g'athered  from  many  countries,  the  gifts  of  princes  and  devout  persons.  Some 
of  the  Byzantine  pillars  are  painted  with  curious  devices,  -which  are  almost 
obliterated,  being  very  much  time-worn  and  weather-stained. 

The  history  and  tradition  of  the  "  Cave  of  the  Nativity,"  which  is  under  the 
church,  being'  reached  by  a  number  of  steps  cut  down  in  the  solid  rock,  and  in 
which  it-is  asserted  that  Jesus  was  bom,  extends  back  almost  to  the  death  of 
John  the  Evangelist  and  Revelator.  Caves  and  recesses  in  the  rock  are  now 
used,  and  probably  always  have  been,  as  a  refuge  for  cattle,  and  also  for  people, 
as  is  often  noticed  in  the  Scriptures.  But  still  there  is  veiy  little  to  be  said  in 
favor  of  the  cave  having  been  a  part  of  the  original  inn.  Jerome  translated  the 
Bible  in  a  grotto  at  Bethlehem,  which  may  have  been  in  this  same  cave  (where  a 
grotto  is  shown  as  his  studio),  although  it  has  been  very  miTch  enlarged  in  later 
times,  and  is  now  a  very  sho%vy,  if  not  actually  a  splendid  room,  filled  with  gilt 
ornaments  of  religious  interest,  the  gifts  of  the  pious  pilgrims  of  many  ages. 
Marble  pavement,  marble  columns,  panels,  silver,  brass,  and  copper  lamps,  with 
gold  ornaments,  and  massive  metal  candlesticks,  highly  enriched  with  engraving 
and  gilding,  and  inscriptions  sculptured  and  gilded ;  and  more  showy,  and  ap- 
parently more  valuable,  than  all  the  rest,  a  radiated  star  around  the  inscription 
recording  the  birth  of  the  Saviour,  made  of  colored  glass,  in  imitation  of  precious 
stones,  and  placed  over  the  grotto  which  is  pointed  out  as  the  very  spot  on 
which  Jesus  was  bom.  There  was  f  armerly  a  star  composed  of  real  gold  and 
precious  stones,  including  many  valuable  diamonds,  emeralds,  &c.,  which  was 
removed  by  some  avaricious  and  unworthy  custodian,  and  the  present  cheap 
imitation  substituted.  The  walls,  and  in  many  places  the  roof  also,  are  covered 
with  richly  dyed  silk  hangings. 

SmAT  (p.  48).- — The  Sinai  of  tradition  and  of  many  modem  investigators  is 
shown  in  the  view,  which  was  taken  from  the  plain  Er  Rahah,  a  little  west  of  the 
convent.  The  whole  group  of  peaks  is  named  Jebel  Musa,  Mount  Moses,  and 
the  peak  nearest  to  the  convent  is  called  Has  Sufsafa,  Head  of  the  Willow,  fronti 
a  single  willow  tree  which  grows  on  it. 

The  summit  is  about  3,000  feet  above  the  plain,  and  has  on  it  a  chapel  and 
the  ruins  of  a  mosque,  which  may  be  reached  by  a  few  minutes  of  hard  climb- 
ing. The  whole  mountain  stands  out  against  the  sky  like  a  huge  altar,  being 
separated  by  valleys  on  all  sides  from  the  mountains  around. 

The  plain  of  Er  Rahah  is  two  miles  long,  half  a  mile  wide,  and  slopes  gently 
towards  the  mountain,  forming  a  natural  amphitheatre  on  which  many  thou- 
sands could  camp  and  distinctly  view  the  mountain  from  its  base  to  its  summit. 

SuccOTn  (THE  Booths)  (p.  84).— It  is  still  called  by  its  ancient  name,  pro- 
nounced by  the  Arabs  Sakut,  and  is  believed  to  mark  the  place  where  Jacob 
crossed  the  Jordan  river,  a  few  miles  below  Bethshan.  The  booths  must  have 
been  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  but  the  name  has  been  transferred  across,  for 
Sakut  is  now  on  the  west  side.     Other  names  have  passed  over  Jordan  ia  th» 


LIST   OF   ILLrSTRATIOlSrS.  735 

game  maimer,  as  "  Jebel  Miisa,"  near  Jericho,  Moses'  Mountain,  meaning  the 
one  from  which  he  viewed  the  promised  land,  which  was  on  the  east  side. 

The  vessels  for  Solomon's  Temple  were  cast  in  the  clay  ground  on  the  Jordan 
banks,  between  Succoth  and  Zartan,  and  there  are  very  fine  and  deep  clay  beds 
there  now,  the  clay  from  which  is  hard,  almost  slaty,  easily  softened  and 
moulded,  and  the  best  known  for  casting  metals  in  to  this  day. 

The  whole  vicinity  of  Succoth  abounds  in  springs  and  brooks,  and  there  is 
"  much  water"  now,  as  there  was  in  the  time  of  John's  ministry  (John  iii.  22). 

The  "  ford"  (so  called,  for  there  is  no  passable  place  as  a  ford  there)  opposite 
Jericho,  near  the  Jews'  castle,  is  one  of  the  '•  localities"  of  the  monks. 

Ford  op  the  Jordan  (p.  58).  The  view  is  of  a  place  near  Ximrim  (the 
Panthers),  where  there  is  a  rather  difficult  ford  in  the  season  of  low  water,  but 
none  at  .all  in  the  winter.  There  are  several  fords,  in  the  summer  time,  which 
are  used  by  travelers  and  the  natives,  as  opposite  Bethshan,  near  Succoth,  just 
north  of  Wady  Yabes  (Jabesh),  which  is  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  the  Betha- 
bara  (Beth-  bara)  of  Judges  \'ii.  24.  There  are  several  others  north  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Jabbok.  Ten  miles  south  of  that  river  there  is  a  good  one  on  the  road  from 
Nablus  (Shecliem)  to  Es  Salt  (Ramoth  in  Gilead),  and  there  are  ruins  of  a  Roman 
bridge  there  also.  There  are  also  fords  both  above  and  below  the  Pilgrim's 
Bathing  Place  (Latin),  opposite  Jericho;  the  upper  one  is  supposed  to  be  the  one 
crossed  by  Joshua.  The  river  below  the  ' '  bathing  place  "  is  swift  and  deep,  and 
cannot  be  forded. 

Caioiel  (p.  90). — The  mountain  is  1,800  feet  at  the  east,  and  500  feet  high  at 
the  west  end,  and  is  nearly  eighteen  miles  long  from  the  site  of  the  sacrifice  of 
Baal's  i^rophets  to  the  convent  overlooking  the  sea.  It  is  the  most  picturesque 
region  in  Palestine,  in  variety  of  hill-sides,  mountain  slopes,  covered  with  the 
most  luxuriant  vegetation,  and  carpeted  ^\•ith  countless  flowers.  The  forests 
abound  in  wild  game,  such  as  partridge,  quaU,  woodcock,  hare,  jAckal,  wolf, 
hyena,  boar,  and  bear. 

The  mountain  has  been  fanious  from  remote  antiquity  as  a  holy  place,  having 
had  among  the  visitors  to  its  shrines  the  ancient  philosopher  Pythagoras  and  the 
Emperor  Vespasian. 

The  present  budding,  standing  on  the  west  end  near  the  sea,  was  erected  in 
1830,  over  the  ancient  ruins  of  the  convent  originally  standing  there,  which  wag 
founded  by  St.  Louis  of  France,  who  named  the  order  '"  The  Barefoot  Carmelite 
Friars." 

Capeknatjai  (p.  112),  which  had  been  so  utterly  destroyed  as  to  leave 
scarcely  any  trace  of  its  site,  has  been  restored  to  history,  beyond  a  doubt,  by 
the  researches  and  discoveries  of  \V.  M.  Thomson  {Land  and  Book),  and  tho 
Palestine  Exploration  {Jerusalem  Recovered).  The  ruins  lie  scattered  over  a  hill 
called  Tell  Hum,  which  rises  from  the  water  edge  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  and 
which  is  an  excellent  site  for  a  city,  being  high,  commanding  a  wide  prospect 
across  the  sea  south,  over  the  plains  and  hills  east,  the  plain  of  Gennesaret  and 


736  LIST   OF   ILLTrSTEATIONS. 

the  hills  of  Galilee  west,  and  the  mountains  around  Safed,  while  snow-capped 
Harmon  is  in  view  north-east.  There  is  a  ruin  of  the  synagogue,  which  may  have 
been  built  or  improved  by  the  centurion  mentioned  in  Matthew,  who  was  in 
command  of  Roman  troops  stationed  there.  The  building  was  made  of  lime- 
stone, brought  from  a  distance,  and  there  are  a  few  pieces  of  sculptured  orna- 
ments, columns,  cornices,  lintels  left,  which  indicate  that  the  structure  was  mag- 
nificent in  size  and  workmanship.  One  of  the  lintels  had  sculptured  on  it  a  pot 
of  manna,  as  an  ornament,  among  scrolls  and  other  figures,  which  proves  that 
the  building  was  a  religious  edifice  built  by  Jews. 

There  was  also  a  cemetery,  with  graves  and  regular  tombs  cut  in  the  rock  or 
buUt  above  the  surface.  The  ruins  cover  a  space  nearly  as  large  as  the  town  of 
Tiberias,  and  the  place  may  have  contained,  in  its  greatest  prosperity,  fifty  thou- 
sand inhabitants.  The  materials  may  have  been  carried  away  during  the  last 
thousand  years,  to  reappear  in  other  cities,  or  have  been  burnt  into  lime,  as  has 
been  done  at  other  places. 

The  other  claimants  to  the  site  of  Capernaum  do  not  present  ruins  which 
answer  the  demand  of  the  text,  and  Tell  Hum  does.  The  Evangelists  did  not 
give  topographical  indications  directly,  for  they  were  not  writing  a  geography ; 
while  Josephus,  as  a  soldier  and  engineer,  was  careful  to  notice  localities,  and  his 
description  of  Capernaum  and  other  places  is  very  complete. 

The  miracle  of  the  feeding  five  thousand  persons  with  food  created  for  the 
purpose,  was  considered  by  all  the  Evangelists  of  very  great  importance,  and  aa 
they  have  all  mentioned  Capernaum  and  Bethsaida  in  connection  with  the  ac- 
count, geograiDhers  have  been  so  perplexed  as  to  attempt  to  invent  a  second  Beth- 
saida at  the  head  of  the  lake,  west  of  Capernaum. 

The  preaching  by  the  sea  may  be  located  somewhere  along  the  6oast  between 
Tell  Hum  and  Tabigah,  where  there  are  several  creeks  and  inlets  in  which  the 
boat  (ship  in  the  Gospel)  could  ride  in  safety  only  a  few  feet  from  the  shore,  and 
where  the  multitude  could  be  seated  on  the  dry  shore,  where  there  are  many 
boulders  of  basalt,  smooth  and  convenient  for  seats. 

The  first  four  of  the  Apostles  were  fishermen,  and  there  are  no  more  favorable 
places  for  carrying  on  their  business  than  this  very  shore,  where  their  boats 
could  be  kept  in  safety,  and  their  nets  mended  on  the  hard  shell-paved  beach. 
(See  TeU  Hum.) 

Cana  (p.  120). — There  is  a  division  of  opinion  among  scholars  on  the  question 
of  th^  site  of  the  ancient  Cana,  one  party  holding  that  Kefr  Kenna,  a  \'illage 
three  miles  north-west  of  Nazareth,  is  the  true  site,  and  another  that  what  is 
now  called  Kana-el-Jelil  (Cana  of  Galilee),  is  the  site  of  the  village  in  which 
the  marriage -feast  was  held,  at  which  it  is  said  that  the  wine  was  created  from 
water. 

Kana-el-JelU  was  selected  as  the  more  beautiful  of  the  two  in  a  pictorial 
sense,  and  besides  the  evidence  seems  to  be  greatly  in  its  favor.  It  lies  on  the 
end  of  a  ridge,  at  the  foot  of  Jebel  Kaukab,  just  at  the  border  of  the  plain  of 
Buttauf  (plain  of  Issachar),  eight  miles  north  of  Nazareth.  The  site  is  very 
favorable  for  fine  views,  overlooking  the  plain,  and  including  distant  glimpses  of 


LIST    OF   ILLUSTKATIONS.  737 

Bfcveral  mountains  well  known  in  Bible  narrative,  as  Hermon,  Tabor,  Gilboa, 
Carmel,  and  Lebanon, 

The  ancient  writers  (Antoninus  Martyr,  A.D.  590;  St.  Willibald,  A.D.  780; 
Ssewulf,  A.D.  1103;  Maurice  Sanutus,  a.d.  1321;  Breydenbach.  A.D.  1483; 
Anselm,  A.D.  1507;  Adrichomis,  A.D.  1575)  unite  in  describing  the  site,  as  be- 
lieved to  have  been  correctly  located  in  their  day,  at  the  foot  of  a  high  round 
mountain  on  the  north,  a  plain,  broad  and  fertile  on  the  south,  and  wath  Sep- 
phoris  between  it  and  Nazareth,  all  of  which  particulars  are  found  at  Kana-el- 
Jelil.  These  writers  also  described  six  water-pots  and  a  triclinium  where  the 
feast  was  held,  the  whole  being  in  a  cavern  or  grotto,  underground,  like  that  of 
the  Nativity  at  Bethlehem,  and  also  of  the  Annunciation  at  Nazareth. 

The  water-pots  shown  there  are  not  reliable  as  antiquities,  because  they  are  a 
common  article  of  domestic  use,  and  are  made  when  wanted,  in  every  age,  in 
every  year,  and  a  few  broken  jars  can  always  be  had  to  lend  their  appearance  in 
aid  of  a  popvdar  tradition.  It  is  therefore  not  surprising  that  water-pots  are 
shown  at  both  sites  of  Cana,  and  both  claimed  as  veritable  antiquities. 

The  general  truth  of  the  event,  the  Galilean  village,  the  custom  of  the  peoplo 
keeping  water  and  wine  in  jars  of  pottery,  can  be  proven  beyond  question ;  but 
the  house  in  which  the  feast  was  held,  and  the  jars  that  held  the  water  made 
wine,  have  passed  away  into  their  original  dust. 

John's  Prison,  Mach^ertjs  (p.  148).— Herod  the  Great  built  a  palace  and  s» 
prison,  and  probably  bath-houses  also,  at  the  hot  springs  of  Callirrhoe,  on  the 
liver  Main,  about  eight  miles  from  the  Dead  Sea.  Josephus  describes  it  i.  Wars, 
vi.,  0.  1)  as  "a  veiy  rocky  hUl,  elevated  to  a  great  height,  ditched  about  vdth 
valleys  on  all  sides  to  such  a  depth  that  the  eye  cannot  reach  their  bottoms,  that 
on  the  west  reaching  to  the  Lake  Asphaltitis ;  and  on  that  same  side  the  castle 
had  the  tallest  top  of  its  hill."  The  cliffs  are  200  feet  high,  about  150  apart,  and 
the  stream  from  the  hot  springs  is  six  to  ten  inches  deep,  50  to  100  feet  wide, 
and  runs  four  or  five  mUes  an  hour.  The  ruins  of  the  castle  or  palace,  and  per- 
haps other  houses,  are  scattered  over  several  acres  of  the  ridge,  nearly  half  a 
mile  from  the  ravine.  The  finest  view  is  had  by  moonlight,  when  the  almost 
daylight  of  the  fuU  moon  gives  a  wild  and  strange  character  to  the  scene.  There 
has  as  yet  been  no  exploration  on  the  east  of  the  Dead  Sea,  except  at  a  few 
points,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  richest  results  would  follow  from  the  examina- 
tion of  certain  well-known  ruins,  such  as  these  at  Macha;rus,  and  at  Heshbon, 
Rabbath-Ammon,  by  scientific  men,  properly  provided  with  instruments  and 
assistants. 

Shechem  (p.  149).— The  village  lies  between  two  hills,  Ebal  and  Geriziin, 
which  are  on  the  great  dividing  ridge  between  the  Jordan  and  the  Mediten-auean 
Sea.  It  is  now  called  Nablus,  a  corruption  of  Neapolis,  the  Greek  name  given 
to  it  by  Vespasian.     John  speaks  of  it  as  Sychar,  and  Pliny  called  it  IMabortha. 

The  valley  is  about  1,500  feet  wide,  between  the  two  mountains,  and  its 
general  level  is  1,800  above  the  sea.  The  valley  is  full  of  springs  of  good  wate., 
fche  people  counting  as  many  as  eighty.  Some  of  these  springs  send  the  waters 
47 


738  LIST   OF   ILLTJSTKATIONS. 

into  the  Jordan,  and  others  into  the  Mediterranean.  The  soil  is  rich,  and  -very 
productive  in  orchards,  gardens,  and  fields,  and  is  not  equalled  in  Palestine  for  ita 
glory  of  fruit  and  verdure,  running  brooks,  and  singing  birds. 

Abraham  pitched  his  tent  under  the  oak  of  Moreh,  and  there  first  set  up  the 
worship  of  the  living  God,  near  to  Shechem.  In  this  vicinity  was  also  most 
probably  the  residence  of  Melchizedek,  the  King  of  Salem,  in  or  near  that  little 
modern  village  of  Salim.  The  Samaritans  also  claim  that  the  Moriah  on  which 
Abraham  laid  out  Isaac  ready  for  the  sacrifice  was  Mount  Gerizim. 

Shechem  also  was  the  residence  of  the  grandson  of  Abraham,  Jacob,  who 
bought  a  field  and  dug  a  well.     (See  Jacob's  Well.) 

It  is  probably  on  account  of  these  well-known  facts  in  the  history  of  the  place 
that  Moses  regarded  it  as  the  most  sacred  spot  in  Canaan,  and  the  only  one  con- 
secrated to  the  worship  of  the  living  God,  and  that  accordingly  he  ordered  the 
great  assembly  of  the  people  there. 

The  experiment  has  been  made  of  two  readers  stationed  on  opposite  sides  of 
the  valley,  on  Ebal  and  Gerizim,  who  read  the  blessings  and  the  curses  in  a  loud 
voice,  and  were  distinctly  heard  by  each  other. 

The  bones  of  Joseph  were  also  brought  from  Egypt  by  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  buried,  as  tradition  says,  in  the  level  spot  close  under  the  foot  of  Mount 
Ebal. 

Jacob's  Well  (p.  153). — The  remarkable  work  called  Jacob's  Well  is  ia  the 
plain  of  Mukna,  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  village  of  Nablus  (Shechem). 
Joseph's  Tomb  is  in  plain  view,  nearer  Mount  Ebal. 

There  are  none  who  dispute  the  identity  of  this  well  as  having  been  the  work 
of  Jacob  and  his  servants.  The  most  surprising  thing  about  it  is  that  a  well 
should  have  been  dug  at  all  in  a  place  which  abounds  in  natural  springs  of 
bright,  sweet  water,  and  sufficient  in  quantity  to  supply  several  brooks.  The 
visitor  now  first  descends  into  a  chamber  about  ten  feet,  in  the  floor  of  which  is 
the  mouth  of  the  well,  only  large  enough  to  admit  the  body  of  a  man.  This 
opening  is  broken  through  an  arch  which  has  been  not  very  long  ago  built  over 
the  well.  The  shaft  is  seven  feet  six  inches  in  diameter,  and  seventy-five  feet 
deep  down  to  the  rubbish,  which  is  supposed  to  be  fifty  to  seventy-five  feet 
deeper.     It  is  lined  with  rough  masonry,  having  been  dug  through  alluvial  sod. 

There  are  ruins  of  the  church,  which  once  stood  over  the  well,  scattered 
about,  but  nO  signs  of  any  curb  or  inclosing  wall  of  any  kind  around  the  mouth 
(John  iv.  1). 

This  is  one  of  the  few  places  in  Palestine  that  is  not  "honored"  by  some 
edifice  or  monument  ' '  locating "  the  Bible  narrative ;  but  it  is  said  that  the 
Greeks  (Russians)  have  lately  bought  the  place,  with  the  intention  of  building  a 
church  over  the  well. 

The  valley  of  Mukna,  the  ancient  Moreh,  is  one  of  the  richest  in  the  produc- 
tion of  grain,  fruit,  and  vegetables  in  aU  the  land  ; — vines,  figs,  oranges,  lemons, 
pomegranates,  in  short,  every  fruitful  tree,  and  all  growing  beside  never-failing 
streams  of  pure  water.  The  valley  extends  for  about  seven  miles,  and  is  the 
fairest  expanse  of  cultivated  soil  in  all  the  land. 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTEATIONS.  739 

Samaritan  pkiest  (p.  159).  The  Assyrians  carried  away  to  the  Euphrates 
the  Jews  of  Samaria,  and  sent  their  own  people  to  occupy  the  cities  and  the  land. 
From  these  emigrants  the  modem  Samaritans  are  descended.  They  have  kept  a 
copy  of  the  law  as  it  was  on  their  day,  500  B.  c. ,  and  still  celebrate  the  ancient  form 
of  worship,  although  there  are  only  about  one  hundred  of  them  left.  The  dress  of 
the  priest  may  be,  and  probably  is,  a  correct  following  of  the  ancient  style,  and  its 
description  answers  the  requirements  of  the  text  in  Exodus  very  closely.  The 
enmity  between  the  Jews  and  Samaritans  began  when  they  were  refused  to  have 
a  share  in  rebuilding  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  after  the  return  from  the  captivity 
in  Babylon,  when  they  built  a  temple  for  themselves  on  Mount  Gerizim,  at  She- 
chem,  in  the  time  of  Alexander.  This  was  destroyed  by  John  Hyrcanus,  B.C.  129. 
In  the  fifth  century  A.D.  there  was  a  Christian  Church  on  Gerizim,  butonly  a  few 
stones  of  the  foundation  are  left. 

Tell  Hum  {p.  1G8). — In  determining  the  antiquity  of  a  name  which  ig 
found  attached  to  a  certain  locality,  it  is  sometimes  needful  to  follow  it  through 
several  changes  it  may  have  undergone  in  passing  from  one  language  to  another. 
In  this  archaiological  skill  Dr.  Robinson  was  especially  noted  and  successful,  hav- 
ing recovered  hundreds  of  Bible  names  from  the  modern  Arabic  titles  to  placea 
noted  in  the  Scriptures.  W.  M.  Thomson  was  the  first  to  discover  the  name  of 
Capernaum  in  the  Arabic  Tell  Hum.  He  says  :  "  Hum.  is  the  last  syllable  of 
Kefr-na-hum,  as  it  was  anciently  spelled,  and  it  is  a  very  common  mode  of  cur- 
tailing old  names  to  retain  only  the  final  syllable.  Thus  we  have  Zib  for  Ach- 
zib,  and  Fik  for  Aphcah,  etc.  In  this  instance  Kefr  has  been  changed  to  Tell- 
why  ?  A  deserted  site  is  generally  named  Tell,  but  not  Krfr  (which  is  applied  to 
a  village) ;  and  when  Capernaum  became  a  heap  of  rubbish  it  would  be  quite 
natural  for  the  Arabs  to  drop  the  Kefr,  and  call  it  simply  Tell  Hum."  (See 
Capernaum. ) 

Scribes  and  books  (p.  ISO). 

Cedars  (p.  181).— There  are  few  remains  of  the  ancient  forests  on  the  moun- 
tains of  Syria,  and  the  cedars  are  the  most  noble  specimens  now  standing.  On 
the  slopes  of  the  Lebanon  range  there  are  several  groves  of  the  ancient  cedars, 
one  of  which  is  near  the  Beirut-Damascus  carriage  road,  and  is  quite  easy  of 
access  to  travelers,  who  have  brought  away  thousands  of  the  cones,  which  are 
nearly  three  inches  long  by  two  inches  diameter,  and  one  especially,  Robert  Mor- 
ris, LL.D.,  in  1808,  distributed  several  thousands  among  Sunday-school  scholars 
as  incentives  to  a  study  of  the  natural  history  of  Palestine.  The  largest  cedars 
are  found  near  the  highest  summit  of  Lebanon  (Dhor  el  Khodib),  close  to  the 
limit  of  perpetual  snow. 

Bottles  (p.  194).— There  are  several  kinds  of  bottles  used  in  the  East,  made 
of  skins,  earth,  glass,  and  of  metal.  The  skins  are  of  various  sizes,  as  they  are 
taken  from  rabbits,  kids,  sheep,  cows,  holding  from  one  gallon  to  thirty  or  forty. 
These  are  usually  prepared  with  the  hair  turned  inside,  and  so  are  likely  to  give 
the  water  or  wine  a  peculiar  flavor.  These  skin-bottles  are  the  kind  alluded  to 
in  the  Scriptures,  where  new  bottles  are  recommended  for  strength ;  and  they 
are  also  used  in  Spain  now  as  well  as  in  Palestine  and  other  eastern  countries. 


740  LIST    OF   nXrSTEATIOIfS. 

The  bottles  of  glass  do  not  differ  from  ours,  except  that  they  are  it  very  sin 
gular  forms.  Those  found  in  tombs  and  in  ancient  ruins  are,  ■without  doubt^ 
veritable  antiquities,  and  have  the  well-known  appearance  of  old,  time-worn, 
decayed  glass. 

Earthen  bottles,  or  jars  and  pitchers,  axe  always  finely  formed,  and  often 
elegantly  ornamented  with  figures  and  colors.  They  are  in  constant  use,  as  pails 
are  \\-ith  us,  and  are  seen  in  the  hands  or  on  the  heads  of  the  women,  morning 
and  evening,  at  the  wells,  or  on  the  way  to  and  from. 

Metals,  especially  copper  and  bronze,  were  used  for  bottles  and  cups,  and 
most  of  the  smaller  vessels,  such  as  are  made  of  tin  or  tinned  iron  with  us,  in 
the  East  are  made  of  copper  or  brass.  The  ancients  did  not  make  brass,  but 
bronze.  The  ancient  pieces  of  money  are  bronze,  as  also  many  articles,  such  as 
knives,  swords,  handles,  dishes,  bowls,  etc.,  and  this  compound  was  of  copper 
and  tin,  the  union  of  copper  and  zinc  forming  brass  being  a  modem  invention. 

Ancient  Bottles  (p.  197). 

Pool  of  IlEZEKL^n  (p.  199). — This  pool  is  cut  in  the  solid  rock,  and  is  of 
great  antiquity,  and  is  the  work  of  Hezekiah,  King  of  Judah,  who  "made  a 
pool,  and  a  conduit,  and  brought  water  into  the  city  ;  "  and  also  "  stopped  the 
upper  watercourse  of  Gihon,  and  brought  it  straight  down  to  the  west  side  of  the 
city  of  David." 

Jerusalem  is  chiefly  dependent  on  the  rains  for  its  supply  of  water,  and  every 
house  has  under  it  one  or  more  cisterns. 

The  Hezekiah  pool  is  2~)0  feet  long,  150  wide,  and  capable  of  holding  millions 
of  gallons  of  water,  which  is  used  to  supply  several  bath-houses.  The  pool 
is  inclosed  by  houses  on  every  side,  one  of  which  is  a  large  hotel,  kept  by 
Europeans. 

The  question  of  where  the  pool  of  Bethesda  was,  and  which  ruin  or  present 
pool  is  the  true  site,  if  any  now  remains,  is  one  of  the  unsettled  problems  in  the 
map  of  Jerusalem.  Among  the  sites  offered  is  the  great  pool  or  reservoir  north 
of  the  Temple  site,  and  now  called  the  Pool  of  Bethesda,  ne;ix  the  St  Stephen 
Gate,  and  which  has  been  lined  with  masonry  and  cemented  for  holding  water, 
although  it  is  now  dry ;  360  feet  long,  130  wide,  75  deep. 

Another,  called  by  Eusebius  and  the  Bordeaux  PUgrim  the  twin  pools,  which 
has  been  lately  foimd  at  the  north-west  angle  of  the  Temple  area,  a  large  reser- 
voir. 1G5  feet  long  by  48  wide  (with  a  dividing  wall  running  lengthwise,  and  both 
sides  arched  over,  and  now  bmlt  over).  The  water  is  used  by  the  Convent  of  the 
Sisters  of  Sion.     The  Arch  of  Ecce  Homo  is  near  the  place. 

Mr.  Williams  (TMy  City,  p.  484)  thinks  the  Bethesda  pool  was  near  the  St. 
A"Ti  Church,  and  now  almost  completely  destroyed. 

Chancellor  Crosby  selects  the  A'irgin  Fotmtain,  which  is  now  outside  of  the 
city  walls,  as  the  true  Bethesda. 

Our  text  offers  the  Hezekiah  pool,  which  answers  many,  if  not  all,  of  the 
requirements  of  the  case. 

Sea  op  Galilee  (p.  218).— The  sea  is  pear-shapei.  the  large  end  at  the 
north,  six  and  three-quarters  mile  wide,  and  twelve  and  a  quarter  long.     The, 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTEATIOXS.  741' 

purface  is  between  600  and  700  feet  below  the  ocean  level.  The  shores  are  on 
all  sides  quite  regular  in  outline,  but  the  hills  are  indented  into  many  little  baya 
or  hollows,  some  of  which  are  small  plains,  filled  with  vegetation,  and  very 
beautiful.  The  hills  are  almost  always  gently  sloping,  and  might  be  cultivated 
from  bottom  to  top.  The  soil  is  rich,  being  formed  on  limestone.  Basalt  has 
flowed  over  t"he  tops  of  the  hUls  from  three  sources,  Kurun  Hattin,  El- Jish,  beyond 
Saf  ed,  and  in  the  Jaulan.  The  beach  is  paved  with  minute  white  broken  shells, 
and  skirted  in  many  places  %vith  oleanders  and  other  flowering  shrubs. 

The  hills  have  a  general  tint  of  purpUsh  brown,  broken  in  some  places  by  gray 
rocks,  or  lines  of  foliage.  The  east  shore  is  2,000  feet  high,  quite  uniform  in 
height  along  the  summit  of  the  ridge,  but  cut  down  by  several  deep  ravines,  with 
very  few  scattering  trees,  and  no  forests.  On  the  west  the  banks  ai-e  about  the 
same  height,  but  the  uniform  level  is  relieved  by  the  outlines  of  Tabor  and  Hattin, 
which  rise  into  the  sky  in  the  distance. 

Northward  the  outline  is  still  more  varied  by  the  heights  of  Safed,  the  plain 
of  Gennesaret,  and  the  snow-capped  Hermon. 

Towards  the  south  the  view  is  lost  in  the  dim  hazy  heat  of  the  Ghor,  with 
Mount  GUboa  and  Little  Hermon  on  the  west  side  of  the  Jordan,  and  Gilead  on 
the  east.  The  locality  of  the  Dead  Sea  can  be  made  out  by  the  level  haze  in 
the  distant  horizon,  in  the  morning  or  near  sunset. 

The  Jordan  river  enters  near  the  w-estern  shore  of  the  north  end,  and  colors 
the  water  for  nearly  a  mile  with  its  muddy  current,  and  passes  out  at  the  south 
end,  a  pure  bright  stream. 

The  water  of  the  sea  is  in  some  places  250  feet  deep,  and  is  clear,  bright,  and 
Bweet  to  the  taste,  except  near  salt  springs. 

The  climate  is  almost  troj^ical,  ice  or  frost  never  appearing.  Palms  and  all 
kinds  of  trees  and  vegetables  grow  in  luxuriance,  and  indigo  is  cultivated.  The 
summer  heat  is  high,  but  the  cool  breezes  of  the  morning  and  evening  relieve  its 
oppressiveness. 

The  waters  are  well  stocked  with  many  kinds  of  fish,  some  of  which  are  much 
prized  for  their  flavor. 

Several  wann  springs  pour  their  waters  into  the  sea,  which  were  increased  in 
volume  and  temperature  by  the  earthquake  of  1837.  The  most  noted  of  the 
hot  springs  are  those  near  Tiberias,  where  there  are  bath-houses  of  stone,  quite 
well  built  Josephus  speaks  of  this  place  as  Emmaus,  near  Tiberias.  It  was  an 
ancient  and  fortified  town  of  Naphtali,  as  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Joshua  (xix. 
35). 

In  the  time  of  Jesus  there  were  nine  cities,  or  cities  and  villages,  around  the 
shores  of  this  lake,  only  one  or  two  of  which  now  remain — Tiberias  and  Magdala. 
All  the  others  are  in  ruins,  and  even  so  far  destroyed  as  to  be  almost  entirely 
lost. 

The  sea  has  had  several  names,  as  Galilee,  from  the  district  in  the  Roman 
period ;  Chinnereth,  from  a  city  which  stood  at  or  near  the  present  Tiberias ; 
Tiberias,  from  the  city  which  was  named  in  honor  of  Tiberius,  Emperor  ol 
Rome  ;  and  Gennesaret,  from  the  plain  of  that  name  on  its  north-west  border. 


742  LIST   OF   ILLTJSTEATIONS. 

Lamp-stand  (p.  240). — The  recent  exploration  in  Palestine  has  found  many 
articles  of  domestic  use,  such  as  bottles,  jugs,  lamps  of  pottery,  and  some  articles 
of  copper,  as  ring-s  and  ornaments,  daggers,  heads  of  gods  and  serpents,  and  this 
lamp-stand,  which  was  found  in  a  chamber  south  of  the  Haram  Area.  Some  of 
these  articles  were  finely  wrought,  beautifully  enamelled,  or  deHcately  inlaid. 
There  were  also  a  few  articles  of  shell,  ivory,  and  wood  carvings,  such  as  boxea 
and  cases  for  the  toilet,  and  objects  of  luxury. 

MotTNT  OF  Beatitudes,  Kukun  Hattin  (p.  242). — Almost  unanimous  con- 
sent locates  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  on  this  mountain,  which  rises  high  above 
the  plain  of  Buttauf  (Issachar),  a  little  more  than  half  way  between  Nazareth 
and  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  Its  Arabic  name,  Kurun  Hattin,  Horns  of  Hattin,  de- 
scribes its  appearance  from  a  distance,  for  it  is  marked  by  sharp  peaks  at  each 
end,  especially  as  seen  from  the  south.  The  view  given  in  the  engraving  is  from 
the  opposite  side  of  the  plain,  on  the  north,  where  the  horns,  or  peaks,  are  not 
so  apparent.  The  Hebrew  word  for  horn,  keren,  is  almost  identical.  It  is  the 
most  prominent  height  on  the  west  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  and  the  plain  at  its 
northern  foot  is  very  easily  reached  from  the  coast  towns,  while  from  the  plain 
to  the  summit  it  is  but  a  few  minutes'  walk.  There  is  a  level  place  on  the  top, 
as  described  in  the  text,  and  also  a  higher  standing-place  on  the  horns.  It  is 
distinctly  "the  mountain"  of  the  whole  region,  no  other  being  comparable  to  it 
in  prominence. 

The  last  great  battle  between  the  Crusaders  and  the  Saracens  took  place  on 
and  around  this  mountain.  On  the  5th  July,  1187,  the  noble  army  of  Knights 
Templars,  numbering  2,000,  with  8,000  squires,  men-at-arms,  &c.,  formed  their 
line  of  battle  against  the  army  of  Saladin.  The  contest  was  carried  on  through 
several  days,  until  the  remnant  of  the  Knights  and  their  followers,  then  led  by 
King  Guy  of  Lusignan,  Raynald  of  ChatiUon,  the  Grand  Master,  the  Bishop  of 
Lydda,  bearing  the  relic  of  the  true  cross,  and  Humphrey  of  Turon,  were  either 
killed  or  made  prisoners.  There  has  been  no  Christian  power  or  ruler  in  Pales- 
tine from  that  day  to  this. 

Nain  AST)  Little  Hermon  (p.  310). — The  vUlage  of  Nain  is  poorly  built, 
of  about  twenty  huts,  on  a  rocky  ridge,  a  spur  from  Little  Hermon  (ILll  Moreh), 
and  near  the  water-shed  between  the  Jordan  and  the  ]\Iediterranean.  The  ruins 
of  an  ancient  city  he  around  the  village,  and  there  are  cave  sepulchres  in  the 
steep  side  hill  east  of  the  site,  and  also  on  the  west.  The  expedition  of  Gideon 
and  his  300  men,  with  lamps  in  pitchers,  and  trumpets,  is  associated  with  this 
vicinity,  for  the  plain  in  front  of  Nain  is  that  on  which  the  Midianites  were 
camped. 

Tyre  (p.  316)  was  built  both  on  an  island  and  on  the  mainland  opposite,  the 
island  being  very  strongly  fortified.  Alexander  found  it  necessary  to  build  a 
causeway  out  to  the  island  during  his  siege  of  the  city,  and  the  work  still  re- 
mains, joining  the  island  to  the  shore.     The  population  in  the  time  of  Christ  waa 


LIST   OF   ILLrSTEATIONS.  743 

nearly  equal  to  that  of  Jerusalem.  Cassius,  a  Christian  bishop  of  Tyre,  was  at 
the  Council  of  Caesarea.  "  William  of  Tyre  "  was  archbishop  in  the  time  of  the 
Crusades  (A.D.  1124),  and  wrote,  in  his  history,  an  account  of  the  wealth, 
strength,  and  manufactures  of  the  city,  among  which  glass  and  sugar  are  men- 
tioned as  articles  of  great  value  in  trade.  The  Christian  army  abandoned  the 
place  on  the  eve  of  June  17,  ll'Jl:,  the  Saracens  took  possession  the  next  morn- 
ing, and  have  held  it  ever  since.  The  ancient  strength  and  wealth  have  disap- 
peared, and  its  present  condition  of  silence  and  desolation,  as  comjiared  to  its 
former  activity  and  magnificence,  is  a  most  complete  fulfilment  of  prophecy. 
One  stone  alone  of  its  great  sea  wall  is  left  in  its  original  ijosition,  near  the  north 
end  of  the  island  city.  It  measures  (il  feet  thicli  by  17  feet  long.  The  ruins 
have  been  used  as  a  quarry,  furnishing  columns,  capitals,  panels,  and  wrought 
stones  for  buildings  in  Joppa,  Acre,  and  BeirCit,  besides  many  fine  works  carried 
to  Rome  and  Constantinople.  The  ruins  of  the  Christian  cathedral,  in  the  south- 
eastern quarter  of  the  modem  \'illage,  are  still  imposing,  and  are  visited  by  every 
passing  pilgrim.  It  was  about  250  by  150  feet  in  extent.  Some  of  its  main 
.-^olumns  were  red  syenite,  and  now  lie  where  they  fell. 

The  most  interesting  objects  next  to  the  cathedral  ruin  are  the  immense 
fountain  and  the  remains  of  the  aqueduct  for  supplying  the  city  with  water.  A 
few  days'  work  would  repair  the  fountain  as  good  as  new.  The  water  is  bright 
and  clear,  and  flows  in  a  large  stream,  which  is  only  used  to  turn  some  smaU  mills 
buUt  against  the  ancient  walls.  The  largest  pool  or  cistern  is  80  feet  across, 
octagonal,  and  20  feet  deep.  Another  is  53  by  47,  and  12  deep  ;  and  the  third 
is  52  by  36,  and  16  deep. 

Tell  Hum  (p.  319).— See  TeU  Hum,  p.  168. 

Gkrs.\.  (p.  366). — The  ruins  of  this  place  are  on  the  east  side  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  on  the  left  bank  of  Wady  Semakh,  just  at  the  foot  of  the  hUls,  having 
a  little  plain  half  a  mile  to  three-quarters  of  a  mUe  in  width  between  the  site 
and  the  water.  The  city  was  enclosed  with  a  wall  about  three  feet  thick.  The 
largest  ruin  is  of  a  rectangular  building,  which  was  built  east  and  west,  but 
which  cannot  now  be  identified  either  as  a  temple,  synagogue,  or  church.  Near 
the  water  there  are  a  few  ruined  foundations  and  walls,  which  were  the  port  of 
the  ancient  city. 

There  is  a  hot  spring  in  the  hUls  a  mile  south  of  the  site,  where  the  hills  come 
close  to  the  sea,  leaving  only  a  roadway  and  a  little  beach,  and  forming  a  steep, 
even  slope,  which  raay  have  been  the  "  steep  place"  mentioned  in  Matthew  viii. 
28. 

There  are  no  rock-hewn  tombs  (as  far  as  has  been  examined),  and  the  two 
demoniacs  must  have  lived  in  one  that  was  built  above  ground,  similar  to  those 
described  at  Capernaum. 

Herod's  Mite  (p.  380). — The  farthing  was  the  smallest  coin  of  Herod,  unless 
perhaps  the  mite  or  lepton  was  still  smaller.     There  are  mites  extant  of  Herod 


744 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


(p.  589)  of  brass  or  bronze  or  copper.     There  is  also  a  well-known  mite  of  Tibe 
rius  and  Julius  Caesar. 

The  best  idea  of  the  value  of  the  money  that  was  in  use  in  Palestine  in  the 
time  of  Jesus  wUl  be  had  from  tables  of 


Greek  Coins. 

Lepton  (mite)   2  mills. 

Drachma 16  cts. 

Didrachm 33   " 

Stater 64   " 

Mina  (poimd) 16  dolls. 

Talent 960     " 

Hebrew —  Copper  or  Bronze. 

Weight. 

Gerah  (/„-) ...  20  grains.  2  mills. 

One-sixth....   88       "  3     " 

Zuzah  (i)  . .  .133       "  4     " 

Bekah  (i)...2G4       "  8     " 

Shekel 528       "  1  ct.  6     " 

Talent  (1,500  shekels) 25  dolls. 


Roman  Coins. 

As  (farthing) 15    mUls. 

Quadrans SJ  cts. 

Denarius  (penny) 15      '* 

Aureus  (stater) .' , . .      3    dolla 

Talent 961       " 

Ilebrew — Silver. 

Gerah  (bean) 25  mUls. 

Bekah  (divided) 25  cts. 

Shekel  (weight) 50    " 

Maneh  (talent) 25  dolls. 

Kikkar  (round) 1,500     " 


Talent  (p.  446). — The  Attic  talent  of  Antiochus  III.  was  valued  about  sixty- 
four  cents,  being  equal  to  four  drachms  (tetradrachm). 

Stateu  (p.  437). — Tribute-money.  The  stater  was  equal  to  the  shekel  in  the 
New  Testament  time,  and  therefore  one  stater  was  the  sum  required  for  the 
tribute  for  two  persons.  The  image  on  it  was  of  some  Greek  king  or  emperor, 
and  an  emblematical  figure  with  an  inscription  teUing  whose  money  it  was — as 
money  of  Alexander. 

Judas  Money  (p.  414).— The  shekel  coined  by  Simon  or  Eleazar. 

Map  op  Galilee  (Central  and  South)  (p.  378). — The  numerous  villages  and 
cities,  and  the  many  unnamed  rviins  of  ancient  towns,  give  some  idea  of  the 
dense  population  that  inhabited  Palestine  in  its  prosperous  days. 

Many  of  these  sites  are  without  names,  and  there  are  quite  a  number  of  Scrip- 
tural names  not  yet  identified  with  their  sites.  There  are  not  many  roads  now, 
and  probably  never  were  more  than  a  few  great  lines,  connected  with  the  smaller 
towns  by  bridle-paths,  as  is  the  case  now,  the  traveller  needing  a  guide  for  a  jour- 
ney of  a  few  miles. 

Tyre  (p.  402).— See  page  316. 


SiDON  (p.  406). — The   Great   Zidon  of  Phoenicia  was  built  on  the  northern 
6lo^:e  of  a  promontory  which  iuts  north-west  into  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  is 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTKATIONS.  745 

the  most  ancient  of  the  country.  Homer  says  the  large  silver  bowl  given  as  tha 
prize  to  the  swiftest  runner  by  Achilles  was  made  at  Sidon  {Iliad,  xxiii.  743). 
In  the  Odyssey  (iv.  614)  there  is  also  an  account  of  "  a  divine  work,"  a  bowl  of 
silver  with  a  gold  rim,  the  work  of  Hephaestus,  and  a  gift  from  King  Pheedimus 
of  Sidon.  He  mentions  the  beautifully  embroidered  robes  that  were  brought 
from  there  for  Andromache  ;  and  it  is  also  noticed  in  the  Book  of  Kings  (1  Ki. 
V.  6)  that  skilled  workmen  and  not  traders  were  their  special  pride. 

While  under  the  Persian  rule  the  city  rose  to  great  wealth  and  importance, 
and  to  live  carelessly,  after  the  manner  of  the  Sidonians,  became  a  proverb 
(Judges  xviii.  7).  The  prize  in  a  boat-race,  witnessed  by  Xerxes  at  Abydos,  was 
won  by  Sidonians ;  and  in  reviewing  his  fleet  he  sat  under  a  golden  canopy  in  a 
Sidonian  galley,  and,  at  the  grand  assembly  of  his  officers,  the  King  of  Sidon  sat 
in  the  first  seat.  Strabo  said  there  was  the  best  opportunity  for  acquiring  a 
knowledge  of  the  sciences  of  arithmetic  and  astronomy,  and  of  all  other  branches 
of  philosophy. 

It  is  now  called  Saide.  The  vicinity  is  one  great  garden,  filled  with  every 
kind  of  fruit-bearing  trees,  nourished  by  streams  from  Lebanon.  Its  chief  ex- 
ports are  silk,  cotton,  and  nutgalls.  A  mission  station  of  Americans  are  working 
among  5,000  people. 

There  are  many  sepulchres  in  the  rocks  at  the  base  of  the  mountain  east  of 
Sidon,  and  also  in  the  plain.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  and  interesting  Phceni- 
cian  monuments  in  existence  was  discovered  in  a  cave  in  1855.  It  is  a  sarco- 
phagus of  black  syenite,  with  a  lid  carved  in  human  form,  bandaged  like  a 
mummy,  the  face  being  bare.  There  is  an  inscription  in  the  Phoenician  lan- 
guage on  the  body,  and  another  on  the  head.  In  them  the  king  of  the  Sidonians 
is  mentioned,  and  it  is  said  that  his  mother's  name  was  Ashtoreth.  The  date  of 
the  inscription  is  assigned  to  the  11th  century  B.C. 

Gadaka  (p.  407). — This  was  a  Greek  city,  celebrated  for  the  hot  baths  near 
it,  and  for  its  temples  and  theatres,  the  ruins  of  which  may  still  be  traced.  It 
is  five  miles  south  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  and  nearly  three  from  the  river  Hiero- 
max,  which  some  think  was  called  the  Jabbok.  Some  of  the  ruined  tombs  have 
rooms  ten  to  twenty  feet  square,  and  even  larger,  with  many  small  recesses  in 
their  side  walls  for  receiving  bodies.  The  doors  are  of  stone,  turning  on  stone 
hinges,  and  some  still  in  use  by  the  people,  who  occupy  the  tombs  as  dwellings. 

There  was  a  straight  street  from  end  to  end  of  the  city,  nearly  two  miles  long, 
with  a  colonnade  on  each  side.  Not  a  house  or  a  column  of  the  whole  city  is 
standing  except  the  western  theatre. 

The  hot  springs  are  in  a  natural  basin  near  the  river,  a  beautiful  spot,  and 
average  110'  F.,  smelling  strongly  of  sulphur,  and  they  are  now  used  by  quite  a 
number  of  invalids  who  believe  in  their  curative  properties.  The  ruins  of  baths 
and  houses  are  so  many  and  important  as  to  indicate  that  there  must  have  been 
at  some  time  a  population  of  at  least  a  thousand  invalids  and  attendants  at  the 
baths. 

The  eastern  theatre  is  still  quite  perfect  in  its  c^roimd  plan,  although  the  seata 
are  covered  with  rubbish  and  loose  stones. 


746  LIST   OF   HvLUSTKATIONS. 

The  western  theatre  was  much  larger,  and  was  only  about  a  thousand  feel 
from  the  eastern,  and  is  in  quite  a  good  state  of  preservation,  having  been  verj 
strongly  built.  The  seats  are  of  stone,  well  designed,  finely  finished,  and  scarcely 
show  the  effect  of  so  many  centuries  of  neglect.  The  entrance  was  by  a  grand 
stairway  leading  from  the  main  street,  having  Corinthian  columns  on  each  side. 

The  basalt  pavement  of  the  streets  shows  here  and  there  the  marks  of  wagon 
wheels,  which  had  worn  quite  deep  ruts  in  the  hard  stone. 

The  Jordan  valley.  Sea  of  GalUee,  and  the  mountains  beyond,  are  in  plain 
view  from  the  brow  of  the  hill  near  the  city. 

Bethsaida  (p.  414). — This  interesting  place  was  on  the  Jordan,  just  above  its 
entrance  into  the  Sea  of  GalUee,  and  there  was  no  second  Bethsaida,  as  has  been 
supposed,  west  of  Capernaum.  The  arguments  for  and  against  are  given  with 
much  detail  by  W.  M.  Thomson  {Land  and  Book),  and  by  the  Palestine  Explo- 
ration {Jerusalem  Recovered).  A  misunderstanding  of  the  text  made  it  seem 
necessary  to  find  a  second  place  of  the  name  on  the  shore  of  the  sea.  The  re- 
cent discovery  of  the  Sinaitic  copy  of  the  gospels,  which  gives  a  more  correct 
version  of  the  passage,  has  settled  the  question  in  favor  of  one  city  of  the  name 
located  on  the  Jordan  river  It  may  have  been  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  and 
BO  have  been  one  part  "in  Galilee"  and  the  other  "beyond  Jordan."  The 
ruins,  although  they  are  found  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  do  not  appear  equal  to 
the  requirements  of  the  text  of  Josephus,  in  which  it  is  described  as  an  impor- 
tant city,  raised  to  the  first  rank,  and  named  Julias,  in  honor  of  Julia,  tht- 
daughter  of  the  Emperor  Titus.  Herod  Philip,  the  Tetrarch,  was  buried  there 
in  a  magnificent  tomb,  which  has  not  yet  been  found.  The  place  where  the  five 
thousand  were  fed  has  been  located  in  the  Plain  of  Butiha  by  some,  and  at  Ain  Ba- 
rideh,  near  Tiberias,  by  others.  If  the  coi*rection  *  of  the  reading  derived  from 
the  Sinaitic  MS.  is  the  more  ancient  and  reliable,  then  Ain  Barideh,  or  more  cor- 
rectly, Ain  el  Fuliyeh  (Warm  Springs),  was  the  place. 

CiESAREA  PniLiPPi  (p.  416). — The  ancient  Paneas  (Pan's  city)  was  named  in 
honor  of  Tiberius  Caesar  by  Herod  Philip,  who  added  his  own  name  to  that  of  the 
emperor.  It  was  a  place  of  idolatrous  worship  from  the  most  ancient  times,  and 
there  are  shrines  near  the  Jordan  source  now.  This  fountain  is  one  of  the  largest 
in  Syria.  The  ruins  of  the  town  are  on  a  hill  a  little  east  of  the  fountain.  The 
ruins  of  the  castle  are  on  the  hill  above  the  fountain,  and  among  them  are  some 
bevelled  stones  which  indicate  a  Phcenician  origin. 

"Mount  Hermon"  (p.  428),  said  Dr.  Vandyke,  of  Beirut,  Syria,  "is  a 
beautiful  sight  from  every  side,  wherever  visible,  near  or  afar  off."  Its  summit 
is  crowned  with  perpetual  snow,  and  its  lower  slopes  are  clothed  with  forests. 
The  summer  sun  melts  the  snow  from  the  crests  of  the  ridges,  leaving  it  in  the 

*  The  corrected  text  reads :  "  When  therefore  the  boats  came  from  Tiberias  (which  was),  nigh 
nnto  where  they  did  also  eat  bread."  The  most  ancient  writers  record  tlie  tradition  that  the  locality 
was  at  Aiii  Baridch,    (John  vi.  23. , 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS.  747 

deep  ravines,  where  it  appears  like  long  white  lines  at  a  distance,  and  has  been 
compared  to  the  white  locks  of  an  old  man.  The  name  Jebel-esh-Shekh  means 
the  chief  mountain,  a  title  which  eveiy  traveller  gives  it  spontaneously.  It  may 
be  seen  from  the  hUls  a  few  miles  north  of  Jerusalem,  and  from  any  part  of 
the  country  north  of  that,  and  also  from  the  heights  of  Moab.  Its  height  is  a  little 
less  than  ten  thousand  feet ;  but  as  it  stands  alone  and  separated  by  several  miles 
from  any  other  high  range,  it  appears  even  more  majestic  and  lofty  than  Leb- 
anon itself,  which  is  higher.  Whether  this  mountain  or  its  slope  near  Paneas 
(Caesarea  Philippi)  was  the  scene  of  the  Transfiguration  of  Jesus,  has  not  been 
determined  ;  but  the  common  consent  of  many  writers  on  the  subject  has  con- 
nected its  name  with  that  event,  and  the  only  other  locality  (Mount  Tabor)  which 
at  one  time  was  thought  to  have  been  the  scene  is  now  almost  entirely  rejected, 
partly  because  Josephus  gives  an  account  of  a  Roman  fort  on  its  summit,  the 
foundations  of  which  are  still  traceable. 

JoppA  (p.  444). — This  was  the  only  port  of  Judea,  and  from  the  earliest 
times  has  been  subject  to  danger,  having  been  taken  by  armies,  sacked,  burnt, 
and  rebuilt  many  times.  Nearly  every  ancient  nation  of  Europe  and  Asia  Minor, 
Mesopotamia,  and  Egypt,  has  had  a  hand  in  making  the  history  of  Joppa.  The 
present  city  is  but  little  more  than  12.3  years  old — some  of  the  residents  remem- 
bering the  time  when  there  were  not  more  than  a  dozen  houses  in  the  town — and 
the  present  number  of  people  is  about  1G,000.  Soap  is  the  leading  manufac- 
ture.    Fruit  and  silk  are  exported  in  large  quantities. 

The  lauding  of  shipping  is  made  very  dangerous  by  rocks,  especially  in  windy 
weather,  and  even  steamers  are  often  compelled  to  go  on  to  Haiffa,  nearly  sixty 
miles  away  to  the  north.  The  rocks  which  lie  just  outside  of  the  inner  harbor 
are  famous  in  the  works  of  the  ancient  historians  and  poets  as  the  monster  which 
devoured  Andromeda  and  was  killed  by  Perseus.  They  still  devour  many  boats, 
and  even  large  ships,  with  all  their  cargoes,  and  sometimes  also  their  passen- 
gers. 

The  gardens  around  Joppa  are  famous  for  most  excellent  fruits,  probably  be- 
cause the  whole  plain  is  percolated  by  the  waters  from  the  hills,  which  may  be 
drawn  up  in  every  garden  from  a  few  feet  deep. 

The  followers  of  tradition  show  a  "grave"  of  Dorcas  and  a  "house"  of 
Simon  the  Tanner,  The  tanneries  are  a  little  south  of  the  city,  where  they  pro- 
bably have  been  from  the  earliest,  and  were  in  Peter's  time. 

The  route  for  a  raih-oad  from  Joppa  to  Jerusalem  has  been  surveyed,  following 
very  closely  the  ancient  summer  road  of  Solomon's  time.  It  will  seem  almost  a 
sacrilege  to  ask  for  "tickets  for  Jerusalem,"  and  "through  tickets  for  Bethle- 
hem," after  the  ages  of  weary  cUmbing  of  pilgrims,  mostly  on  foot,  over  the 
Btaep  rocky  hills. 

SlLOAM  (p,  454). — This  pool  is  one  of  the  very  few  locahties  in  and  around 
Jerusalem  that  is  not  disputed,  and  its  Arabic  name,  Silwan,  is  almost  identical 
with  the  Hebrew  SniLOACU,  or  Siloah.    It  is  near  the  junction  of  the  Tyro- 


748  LIST   OF   ILLUSTKATIONS. 

poeon  valley  with  the  Kidron.  The  reservoir  is  fifty-three  feet  long  by  eighteen 
wide,  and  nineteen  deep.  The  water  flows  from  the  Virgin  Fountain  (and  did 
formerly' from  other  city  pools),  underground,  to  Siloam,  w^ith  an  ebb  and  flow  de- 
pendent on  the  supply  of  water,  being  more  freqent  in  the  rainy  season.  There 
is  another  pool  a  short  distance  below  this,  which  is  nearly  five  times  the  size  of 
Siloam,  and  is  called  the  Birket  el  Hamra,  and  may  be  the  Solomon's  Pool  of 
Joscphus,  and  the  King's  Pool  of  Nehemiah  (ii.  14)  Jewish  tradition  makes 
Gihon  and  Siloam  one  and  the  same  pool.  The  village  of  Siloam,  seen  hi  the 
view  of  the  Kidron  valley,  page  G29,  is  apparently  a  number  of  tomb  dwellings. 

Saniiedrin  (p.  455). — The  supreme  council  of  the  Jews,  composed  of  seven- 
ty-one members,  who  represented  the  twelve  tribes,  consisting  of  chief  priests 
(the  heads  of  the  twenty-four  classes  of  priests),  the  elders  (men  of  age,  experi- 
ence, and  honor),  the  scribes,  and  the  doctors  (an  order  of  men  learned  in  the 
sacred  law).  The  president  (Nasi,  chief)  was  generally  the  high-priest,  although 
chosen  by  vote  (lot),  and  sat  in  the  centre  of  the  semicircle  on  an  elevated 
divan,  v^rith  the  vice-president  at  his  right  hand.  Two  scribes  acted  as  secre- 
taries. The  room  in  which  they  met  was  called  Gazzith,  and  was  at  one  time  in 
the  south-east  comer  of  the  group  of  buildings  around  the  Temple.  It  also  met, 
according  to  Matthew  (x.xvi.  3),  in  the  residence  of  the  high-priest.  They  sat 
every  day,  from  the  morning  sacrifice  to  the  evening  sacrifice,  except  Sabbath, 
when  they  instructed  the  people  by  lectures.  The  Sanhedrin,  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  (a.d.  G8  to  SO),  met  at  Jabne  (Jamneel),  under  the  rabbi  Zak- 
kai ;  and  after  being  transferred  back  and  forth  two  or  three  times  between 
Jabne  and  Usha,  was  finally  located  at  Tiberias  (A.D.  193),  where  it  retained  its 
name  until  about  the  year  A.D.  300,  when  it  lost  its  peculiar  hold  on  the  Jewish 
mind  and  became  a  consistory  only,  and  in  a.d.  425  finally  closed  its  sittings. 
The  SEVENTY  appointed  by  Jesus  took  the  place  in  the  new  church  of  the  San- 
hedrin in  the  old  economy,  as  the  twelve  apostles  answered  to  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel  (Matt.  xix.  28;   Luke  xxii.  30). 

If  Closes  w^as  the  real  founder  of  the  Sanhedrin,  it  had  a  continuous  history 
for  nineteen  centuries. 

The  only  legal  modes  of  punishing  by  death  allowed  to  the  Sanhedrin  by  the 
law  of  Moses  were  by  stoning,  burning,  beheading,  and  strangling.  The  Romans 
took  away  this  privilege,  and  no  one  could  be  put  to  death  without  their  sanc- 
tion. 

The  Small  Sanhedrin  was  a  judicial  court  appointed  by  the  Great  Sanhe- 
drin, and  had  twenty-three  members  and  a  president  (excellency).  Their  time 
of  meeting  was  on  Monday  and  Thursday,  which  were  stated  market-days. 

A  smaUet  court  of  three  judges  tried  petty  offences  against  the  person  or 
property. 

Den.\rius  (p.  464). — The  value  of  the  denarius  (penny)  was  fifteen  cents, 
which,  being  the  price  of  a  day's  labor,  and  also  of  a  Roman  soldier,  would  vary 
\n  value  from  time  to  time.  When  first  coined  in  Rome,  B.C.  209,  it  was  wortlj 
fifteen  cents,  but  it  was  reduced  by  Nero  to  twelve  cents. 


T.IST   OF   ILLDSTKAllOXS.  749 

Wat  to  Jertcho  (p.  466). — About  eight  miles  from  Bethany,  on  the  road  tc 
Jericho,  which  passes  through  what  was  probably  the  ancient  valley  of  the  brook 
Cherith,  now  Wady  Kelt,  there  are  ruins  of  a  monastery  or  inn,  on  the  right-hand 
side  of  the  road,  now  called  the  Khan  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  and  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  brook,  or  Wady,  there  are  other  ruins  not  named. 

From  the  road,  a  few  rods  east  of  the  ruins,  there  is  a  glimpse  of  the  Jordan 
valley,  the  course  of  the  river,  the  Dead  Sea,  and  the  Moab  mountains.  The 
place  has  alwaj's  been  noted  as  very  unsafe  to  travellers,  and  is  so  now,  and  it  ia 
likely  that  on  this  account  it  was  selected  as  the  locality  of  the  parable  of  the 
Good  Samaritan.  The  region  is  called  desert  or  wilderness,  and  is  without 
dwellings,  except  the  huts  or  tents  of  the  shepherds  who  watch  the  flocks  and 
herds,  which  find  excellent  pasture  on  the  rocky  hills  and  in  the  winding  ravines 
a  great  part  of  the  year.  There  are  very  few  trees,  many  small  shrubs,  and  in 
the  winter  an  abundance  of  flowers. 

The  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho  is  very  steep,  descending  nearly  4,000 
feet  in  fifteen  miles,  and  abounds  in  smooth  rock  and  loose  stones,  both  unsafe 
to  the  foot  both  of  man  and  beast.  Sometimes,  as  in  the  way  below  the  ruin, 
the  gorge  is  narrow,  and  walled  in  on  both  sides  by  almost  perpendicular  rocks 
500  feet  high,  in  the  bottom  of  which  the  stream  flows,  or  rather  rushes  in  a 
continuous  cascade  or  foaming  rapids  for  miles  together. 

The  holes  or  caves  of  the  hermits  of  the  Middle  Ages  begin  a  few  miles  above 
Jericho,  and  are  now  occupied  by  birds  only.  Some  of  them  have  been  examined 
and  found  to  contain  dust  and  bones  ankle  deep.  No  books  or  inscriptions  of  any 
kind,  except  a  few  names  and  extracts  from  the  Scriptures,  have  been  noticed. 
Here  and  there,  as  the  way  approaches  the  plain  of  Jericho,  there  are  ruins  of 
chapels  on  the  heights,  where  the  monks  met  for  public  services. 

The  plain  of  Jericho  appears  from  the  road  very  level,  and  dotted  in  many 
places  by  green  clumps  of  vegetation  marking  springs,  and  lines  of  trees  also 
following  the  brooks,  the  broadest  being  along  the  course  of  the  Jordan. 

Bethany  (p.  4GG)  is  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Jerusalem 
east,  and  is  now  called  El  Lazariyeh  (Lazaiais'  village).  It  is  in  a  hollow,  and 
the  few  tumble-down  hii,ts  are  on  a  slope,  around  and  below  an  old  tower,  which 
is  called  after  Lazarus,  of  course.  There  is  also  a  tomb  of  Lazarus,  into  which 
you  descend  by  twentj'-six  steps.  The  orchards  near  the  village  grow  olives, 
almonds,  pomegranates,  figs,  and  carobs,  while  there  are  a  few  oaks.  The 
people  who  live  there  are  busy  -with  their  orchards  or  flocks,  and  also  in  the 
manufacture  of  articles  of  curiosity  and  slight  u.se,  including  a  number  of  anti- 
quities which  they  sell  to  travellers. 

FotTNTAlN  IN  PERiEA  (p.  480).  — The  east  side  of  Jordan  is  almost  unknown, 
scarcely  one  place  in  ten  that  were  known  in  Bible  times  being  now  identified. 
There  are  few  inhabited  villages,  but  many  tribes  of  Bedawins,  living  in  black 
tents,  whose  numbers  must  be  very  great,  yet  far  below  the  multitudes  who  filled 
the  cities  in  the  time  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans.    The  book  on  the  '  'Giant  Cities 


750  LIST   or    nXUSTRATIONS. 

of  Bashan"  gives  a  glimpse  of  the  many  wonderful  ruins  which  are  found  in 
every  part  of  the  land,  from  the  Jordan  to  the  desert.  Captain  Burton  (of  the 
Mecca  pilgrimage  fame)  lately  visited  the  Leja,  the  Trachon  of  the  Romans, 
where  he  found  many  ruined  cities,  in  which  were  many  fine  houses  cut  in  the 
solid  rock,  and  he  gives  a  description  of  an  extensive  cave,  one  of  those  men- 
tioned by  Josephus.     The  fountain  drawn  here  is  near  the  ancient  Heshbon. 

DuACHMA  (p.  487). — The  value  of  the  drachm  varied  from  fourteen  to  seven- 
teen cents,  with  the  kind  of  talent  of  which  it  was  a  division,  and  there  were 
three  varieties  of  talent :  Attic,  Phoenician,  Ptolemaic. 

Hion-PRIEST  (p.  507). — The  dress  of  the  Jewish  high-priest,  and  the  breast- 
plate, have  been  the  subject  of  much  inquiry,  critical  examination  of  the  Hebrew 
text,  and  investigation  into  the  manners,  customs,  and  costume  of  the  ancients, 
but  without  as  yet  determining  beyond  a  doubt  any  one  particular.  The  breast- 
plate was  symbolical  of  the  twelve  tribes,  and  the  ijlacing  of  the  twelve  engraved 
gems  in  their  several  positions  was  a  sign  of  the  presence  of  the  twelve  tribes  before 
Jehovah.  Josephus  gives  a  detailed  description  of  the  garments  and  their  sym- 
bolical meanings  in  Ant.  iii.  7,  §  7.  The  "  holy  garments  "  were  peculiar  to  and 
worn  only  by  the  high-priest,  and  certain  pieces  were  put  on  only  on  the  great 
day  of  atonement,  when  he  went  into  the  Holy  of  Holies  to  appear  before  the 
presence  of  Jehovah  for  the  people. 

Epitraim  (p.  508),  now  called  Et  Taiyibeh.  The  village  is  built  on  a  conical 
hill,  and  completely  walled  in,  about  twelve  miles  north-east  of  Jerusalem. 
There  are  some  ruins  of  antiquity,  and  the  site  is  very  favorable  for  fine  pros- 
pects, and  it  is  mentioned  in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  (Joshua  xviii. 
23;  Judges  vi.  11 ;  Micah  i.  10;  John  xi.  54). 

Arch  of  Wilson,  at  Jerusalem  (p.  538).— This  is  an  arch  on  the  west  of  the 
temple  area  wall,  opposite  the  Double  Gate  of  the  Chain.  It  is  an  arched  room 
which  has  been  lined  with  cement  or  plaster,  and  used  as  a  cistern,  in  some  age 
later  than  that  of  its  first  construction.  Exjiloration  shows  that  the  stones  of  the 
walls  of  this  room,  which  were  traced  to  a  depth  of  forty-four  feet  below  the 
spring  of  the  arch,  are  of  stones  similar  to  those  in  the  upper  part  of  the  wall  of 
the  Harem  at  the  "Jews'  wailing-place."  The  chamber  is  now  filled  up  with 
stones  and  rubbish  nearly  forty  feet,  on  the  top  of  which  the  cement  is  laid. 
There  are  seyeral  other  smaller  arched  chambers  in  the  same  vicinity,  which  were 
used  in  their  day  for  stores  or  for  water. 

jERicno  (p.  530). — There  are  three  distinct  localities  at  Jericho  which  claim 
our  attention  as  the  sites  referred  to  in  ancient  history.  The  village  of  Er  Riha 
is  of  least  interest  among  the  three,  and  can  scarcely  date  before  the  Crusades, 
unless  it  may  be  one  of  the  places  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Joshua,  perhaps  Gil- 
gal.     Jericho  of  Joshua's  time  would  then  have  been  at  the  Elisha  Fountain, 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS.  751 

now  called  Ain  es  Sultan  ;  and  the  Jericlio  of  the  New  Testament  lime  at  the 
foot  of  the  hills  where  the  brook  Cherith,  now  Wady  Kelt,  enters  the  plain.  The 
name  in  the  Hebrew  means  a  fragrant  place,  and  the  abundance  of  flowering 
shrubs  in  the  rainy  season  even  now  gives  some  color  to  the  title.  Josephus  de- 
scribes it  as  surrounded  by  gardens,  orchards,  and  palm-groves  in  his  day,  and 
says  that  it  is  not  easy  to  light  on  any  climate  equal  to  it.  The  Romans  held  it 
as  an  important  town,  and  Herod  fortified  it,  naming  the  fort  Cyprus,  after  his 
mother,  and  a  town  after  his  brother  Phascelus.  He  is  also  said  to  have  buUt  a 
new  town  a  little  north,  in  the  same  plain,  which  was  also  named  Phasajlis. 
Vespasian  made  it  the  head  of  a  toparchy.  It  was  destroyed  during  the  siege  of 
Jenisalem.  The  ruins  are  mostly  foundations  and  heaps  of  rubbish,  which 
have  been  quite  extensively  examined  lately  without  yielding  any  valuable 
antiquity. 

Six  miles  across  the  plain,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Jordan,  are  the  ruins  of 
what  is  now  called  "  The  Jews'  Castle,"  an  old  monastery  of  the  time  of  the  Cru- 
sades. It  was  once  a  grand  pile  of  well-built  cloisters  and  chapel,  and  is  now 
quite  an  interesting  ruin.  The  vaults  are  large  and  roomy,  and  would  make  ex- 
cellent store-houses,  if  there  was  anything  there  to  store.  A\Tiat  little  grain  that 
is  raised  in  the  plain  is  carried  away  by  the  farmers,  who  live  among  the  hills, 
where  the  climate  is  cooler,  as  soon  as  it  is  harvested. 

Jekusai-em  (p.  544). — The  view  of  the  city  from  Olivet  looking  over  the 
"  Garden  of  Gethsemane"  is  the  finest,  showing  the  city  to  its  best  advantage. 
At  that  distance  it  is  a  beautiful  sight,  with  its  domes,  towers,  walls,  well- 
built  convents,  and  English  church.  A  nearer  inspection  reveals  the  utter 
neglect  of  streets  and  of  the  walls  of  houses  fronting  on  the  streets.  The  only 
pleasant  places  in  the  city  are  in  the  court-yards  of  houses,  or  in  the  square  be- 
fore the  English  consulate  and  church,  and  in  the  Temple  area.  The  streets  are 
all  narrow,  and  in  many  places  arched  over  or  shaded  with  awnings  or  mats,  and 
are  very  badly  paved  or  not  paved  at  aU.  The  rain  makes  a  torrent  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  way,  and  no  one  takes  the  trouble  to  clean  the  street,  street-sweeping 
being  unheard  of. 

The  city  is  small,  measuAng  a  mUe  and  a  half  by  three-quarters,  but  there  is 
scarcely  a  pface  in  the  world  which  has  given  scholars  and  investigators  so  much 
severe  labor  with  so  little  result.  It  is  almost  completely  an  enigma,  after  so 
many  years  of  the  most  careful  exploration.  The  descriptions  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment writers  were  not  very  minute,  but  those  of  Josephus  were  very  exact  and 
particular,  while  of  many  points  there  are  accounts  by  other  writers  of  anti(iuity, 
so  that  it  seems  almost  marvellous  that  there  should  have  been  anj'  difficulty, 
until  we  are  reminded  that  during  the  Crusades,  as  well  as  in  the  earlier  agea 
succeeding  the  destruction  of  the  city  by  Titus,  Jenisalem  was  regarded  as  a 
peculiarly  sacred  city,  and  the  Christian  residents  desired  to  have  every  event 
that  is  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  as  having  happened  in  or  near  it.  located  and  hon- 
ored with  some  appropriate  memorial  of  tomb,  chapel,  or  church,  and  therefore, 
when  the  exact  location  had  been  lost  another  was  adopted  and  consecrated,  and 


752  LIST   OF   rLLUSTEATIONS. 

among  the  miiltitude  of  "sacred  localities"  it  is  just  a  little  surprising'  to  find 
not  only  every  trifling  as  well  as  important  event  preserved,  but  also  the  Inci- 
dents and  personages  of  parables  embodied,  and  provided  with  a  habitation  and 
history,  such  as  the  rich  man  and  his  house. 
Stater  (p.  553). 

Augustus  Com  (p.  571). — The  imperial  coin  of  the  first  Roman  emperoi 
(Caisar)  who  assumed  the  title  of  Augustus,  which  means  tJie  venerable.  This 
title  was  adopted  by  all  the  Cfesars  untQ  near  the  downfall  of  Rome. 

Jerusalem  (p.  582).  See  page  544. — The  beautiful  location  of  the  city  is 
given  in  this  view,  which  shows  the  depression  of  the  valley  of  Kidron  (Jehosha- 
phat)  and  the  height  of  Zion,  with  the  very  conspicuous  site  of  the  temple,  so 
placed  as  to  be  visible  from  every  direction.  The  dome  of  the  work  now  standing 
over  the  famous  Rock  (said  to  have  been  Araunah's  threshing-floor)  can  be  seen 
from  Kerak,  beyond  the  Dead  Sea,  by  good  eyes  without  a  glass,  a  distance  of 
forty  miles  in  a  straight  line.  It  is  also  visible  from  the  summit  of  Gibeah,  north- 
east of  the  city.  Beautiful  for  situation  the  temple  on  Zion  certainly  was,  as 
sung  by  the  ' '  sweet  singer  of  Israel. " 

Farthing  (p.  589.) — See  Herod's  Mite,  page  380. 

Robinson's  Arch  (p.  59G). — Edward  Robinson,  D.D. ,  of  New  York,  has  done 
more  to  revive  a  study  of  the  Bible  in  our  day  than  any  other  man.  His  researches 
in  Palestine  are  the  most  important  work  during  the  last  century,  if  not  since  the 
Crusades,  since  they  have  been  the  direct  means  of  restoring  to  our  knowledge 
several  hundred  sites  of  cities  named  in  the  Bible,  which  had  been  lost  for  centu- 
ries. He  also  minutely  examined  many  ruins,  and  rarely  failed  to  bring  out  some 
point  of  historical  interest.  This  "Arch  "  is  the  one  destroyed  by  Titus  in  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  only  remains  visible  above  ground  are  the  few 
jutting  fragments  in  the  wall  to  the  right,  as  shown  in  the  picture.  The  stones 
which  formed  the  arch  are  lying  on  the  rock  or  soU,  more  than  forty  feet  below 
the  present  surface,  the  valley  having  been  filled  up,  in  some  age  since  a.d.  70,  to 
its  present  level. 

Half  Shekel. — The  shekel  (p.  603)  was  first  coined  by  Simon  the  Macca 
bee,  under  the  authority  of  Antiochus  VII. ,  139  b.  c. ,  and  the  inscription  recorded 
this  and  other  privileges  that  the  Jews  had  received  from  their  rulers,  dating 
from  the  first  year  of  Simon's  rule  :  "In  the  first  year  of  Simon  the  Benefactor 
of  the  Jews,  High-Priest."  The  shekel  was  struck  in  silver  and  in  bronze. 
There  are  a  number  of  specimens  still  existing  in  the  museums  or  in  private 
collections  of  the  coins  of  the  Jews  in  nearly  every  age,  from  the  first  of  Simon 
fc-k  the  last  of  Barkokab,  A.D.  130.  The  half  shekel  (p.  612)  was  the  regular 
yearly  Temple  dues  from  each  adult  Jew.  Those  who  lived  in  foreign  lands, 
Greece,  Egypt,  etc.,  changed  their  money  into  Jewish  coin  before  paying,  because 
sacred  money  only  could  be  received  into  the  treasury. 

The  devices  on  Hebrew  coins  had  reference  to  the  productions  of  the  country. 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTKATIONS.  753 

and  also  to  tlicix  religious  history.  The  bunch  of  grapes,  palm-tree,  palm 
branch,  with  leaves  braided  and  called  lulab,  ears  of  wheat,  cup  of  manna  vase 
or  jar  of  oU,  baskets  of  fruit,  horns  of  plenty,  the  throne  or  chair  of  State  the 
State  umbrella,  anchor,  wreath  of  oKve  leaves,  Temple  portico,  are  all  well  klo^w 
on  coins  now  in  existence. 

Table  (p.  G15).-The  oriental  table  is  what  we  should  call  a  tea-trav  is 
generally  circular,  five  or  six  feet  across,  and  is  used  on  stool  about  sixteen  inches 
high.  The  party  sits  on  the  divan  on  one  side,  and  on  cushions  laid  on  the  floor 
on  the  other  sides,  all  around  it.  The  servants  (or  the  host's  ^Wfe  or  daughter) 
8ex-ve  the  dishes,  usually  one  at  a  time.  There  is  a  large  copper  table  (or^ray) 
at  Salahiyeh,  near  Damascus,  which  has  on  it  the  revenue  stamp  of  several  Roman 
emperors,  and  ha.s  been  an  heir-loom  in  the  same  tribe,  or  it  may  be  the  same 
family,  for  nearly  two  thousand  years.  xXearly  every  traveller  who  goes  there 
pays  an  extra  price  for  a  dinner  served  on  this  antique  table. 

GExnsEMAKE  (p.  G28).-The  so-called  Garden  of  Gethsemane  is  a  "locality  " 
of  the  Christian  monks  of  Jerusalem,  which  is  placed  more  for  convenience  near 
the  city  than  for  any  desire  to  meet  the  demands  of  the   text  and   of    his- 
toric accuracy.     The  old  olive-trees  are  its  chief  attraction,  and  are  certamly 
great  curiosities,  being,  without   doubt,  many  centuries   old,  and,  it  may  be 
the    descendants   of   some   planted   in  the   time  of  the   Crusades      Titus  de- 
stroyed all  trees  around  Jerusalem  during  his  siege,  so  that  not  one  that  was 
then  gi-o^ving,   even  if  it   could   have   lived   so   long,  is   now  standing.     The 
'garden,"  or  "  olive-press,"  as  some  read  the  original,  was  probably  in  some 
more  retired  part  of  OHvet,  away  from  the  public  road,  and,  it  may  be  nearer 
Bethany.     The  most  ancient  Christian  writers  (Eusebius,  Adamnanus)  mention 
some  such  locality  as  "a  place  of  prayer  for  the  faithful"  (Jerome)   havin<.  a 
church  built  in  it.     The  Empress  Helena  may  have  selected  this  spot,  as  she 
did  many  others,  as  convenient  and  appropriate  for  her  special  honors    and 
named  it  Gethsemane  in  memory  of  the  place  mentioned  in  the  Gospel  nar- 


rative 


The  eight  old  trees  inside  of  the  stone  wall  are  supposed  to  have  an  addi- 
tional proof  of  antiquity  in  the  fact  that  the  Turkish  government  have  alwaya 
levied  upon  them,  as  they  did  on  aU  fmit-trees  which  were  standing  at  the  time 
of  their  conquest,  a  tax  of  one  medina  ;  those  planted  after  that  time  being 
rated  differently.  This  would  date  them  before  a.d.  G34,  when  Omar  took  the 
city,  or,  if  the  Turkish  conquest  is  meant,  before  a.d.  1087.  The  "  garden  "  is 
filled  with  flowers  of  many  kinds,  which  are  carefuUy  tended  by  the  monks  and 
are  pressed  on  Uttle  pieces  of  paper  and  sold  to  pilgrims.  The  walls  of  the  city 
near  the  Stephen  Gate  are  in  plain  view,  only  850  feet  distant. 

A  little  farther  up  the  Kidron  valley  there  are  some  "gardens"  or  shady 
places  under  olive-trees,  where  many  resort  for  cool  shade  and  quiet,  away  from 
the  bustle  of  the  city  and  distant  from  the  public  roads. 

Kidron  Valley,  from  Akeldama  (p.  629).-The  vaUey  of  the  brook  Kid- 
ron below  Jemsalem  is  fuU  of  gardens,  which  are  suppUed  with  water  from  Si. 


754:  IJST    OF    IIJXSTRATIONS. 

loam,  and  in  the  rainy  season  it  is  really  a  beantiful  spot ;  but  in  tlie  hot,  djy, 
and  dusty  summer  it  is  almost  a  desert.  In  the  view  the  Mount  of  Olives  rises 
to  the  right,  and  the  village  of  Siloam  is  at  its  foot,  bordering  the  edge  of  the 
Kidron.  Scopus  is  seen  in  the  distance,  and  the  comer  of  the  Temple  wall  rises 
high  over  Ophel,  which  falls  steep  down  on  the  west  side  of  the  Kidron.  Both 
of  these  slopes  are  covered  with  tombstones,  every  one  of  which  indicates  a 
dozen  graves  below,  or  it  may  be  a  hundred  bodies  to  each,  for  this  has  been  a 
vast  cemetery  for  aU  devout  persons,  both  Christian  and  Mohammedan,  and 
especially  Jew,  for  many  ages,  and  never  in  greater  request  than  now. 

It  is  thought  by  some  that  Solomon's  idol  shrines  were  built  on  the  site  of 
Siloam,  or  on  the  summit  behind  it  to  tht  .  ^  t,  while  others  think  the  pagan 
high  place  was  more  probably  on  the  summit  of  Olivet.  There  were  also  shrines 
to  Moloch  in  the  valley  of  Tophet  or  Hinnom,  where  children  were  offered  to  the 
god  in  burnt  sacrifice.  This  valley,  with  its  horrid  associations,  has  become  the 
poetic  type  of  hell. 

The  Alisa  mosque  Coriginally  the  chapel  built  by  the  Knights  Templars)  is  in 
plain  view  on  the  Temple  site,  and  Zion  rises  high  to  the  east,  with  its  long  slope 
terraced,  dotted  with  orchards  and  scattering  trees,  and  crowned  with  the  ancient 
church  and  mosque  called  the  Tomb  of  David.  Everywhere  the  surface  is  carpeted 
with  a  bright  green  in  the  rainy  season.  The  Tyropoeon  Valley  joins  the  Kidron 
at  Siloam  Pool,  and  the  Hinnom  valley  at  En  Rogcl,  when  the  three  become  the 
Wady  en  Nar  (Valley  of  Fire),  and  llow  by  the  old  convent  of  Santa  Saba  to  the 
Dead  Sea.     (See  page  G02.) 

Map  of  Jerusalem  fp.  G30).— The  various  sites  named,  except  Golgotha, 
are  located  accordijig  to  tradition,  or  the  selection  of  the  monks  at  Jerusalem. 

ECCE  Homo  Ancn  (p.  G.j7),  over  the  Via  Dolorosa,  Jerusalem.  This  is 
called  the  Ecce  Homo  Arch  because  of  the  legend  that  Pilate  exposed  Jesus  to 
the  multitude  at  the  middle  window  in  the  wall  over  the  arch,  and  said,  "  Be- 
hold the  man."  Pilate's  palace  may  have  been  near,  but  there  is  no  proof,  either 
of  ruin  or  record,  as  to  where  it  actually  was.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  believe 
that  the  street  called  Via  Dolorosa,  "Way  of  Grief,"  is  even  on  the  line  of  the 
street  through  which  Jesus  was  led  "out"  to  Golgotha,  and  it  certainly  ia 
not,  if  the  true  site  of  Golgotha  hiis  been  found  at  the  Jeremiah  Grotto,  north- 
west of  the  Damascus  gate.  The  streets  o'f  the  holy  city  are  almost  always  fre- 
quented by  pilgrims  from  every  Christian  country,  habited  in  an  endless  variety 
of  costume.  The  narrow  way  is  often  jjerilous  from  the  rush  of  eager,  hurry- 
ing, loaded  men  and  animals,  and  is  very  unsafe  after  dark  from  the  loose  jjave- 
ment,  steep,  crooked  ways,  and  the  numbers  of  half  wild  dogs,  whose  ' '  tooth  " 
is  against  every  eatable  thing.  Very  few  of  the  streete  are  named,  although  the 
Christians  are  beginning  to  apply  names  to  some  of  the  principal  ways,  for  their 
own  convenience  of  description.     (See  Jerusalem.) 

Calvauy  (p.  Of).")). — The  question  as  to  the  true  site  of  the  crucifixion  haa 
very  much  depended  on  the  theories  respecting  the  location  of  the  two  more 


LIST  OF   II.LrSTPwVTtOXS.  7o5 

ancient  wall-;  oS  Jcrusaloni.  Xo  one  can  l>e  iiuite  sure  as  to  the  precise  location  of 
those  walls,  and  no  recent  discovery  of  what  are  su}>i>osed  to  be  those  remains  can 
he  used  to  strengthen  the  claim  of  the  Chiireli  of  tlie  Holy  Sepuldne  to  he  located 
on  the  site  of  Calvary.  It  may  argue  tinit  the  Mary  ciunch  built  by  Helena  was 
on  the  same  site,  i)ut  cannot  determine  that  the  site  seieoted  by  Helena  was  not 
adopted  for  convenience  rather  than  fixed  by  actual  knowledge  of  the  ground. 

It  would  seem  to  be  a  very  strange  thing  that  the  site  of  the  crucifixion  of  tlieir 
Master  and  His  burial  place  should  not  have  been  carefully  kept  known  to  man- 
kind by  his  followers.  We  can  scarcely  imagine  Americans  of  any  generation  losing 
knowledge  of  the  grave  of  Washington.  Rut  we  must  recollect  that  the  followers 
of  Jesus  were  not  superstitious,  and  that  the  departure  of  Jesus  from  the  world  was 
followed  by  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  that  the  Christians  as  well  as  the  Jews 
were  dispersed,  and  that  succeeding  centuries  so  changed  the  ajiiu-arance  of  Jerusa- 
lem tiiat  now  not  a  spot  there  is  visible  which  was  visible  to  the  eyes  of  Jesus  and 
his  followers.  If  we  take  the  Evangelists  as  guides,  we  must  be  sure  that  it  was 
not  the  Church  of  Sepulchre,  but  probab/;/  was  the  hill  of  the  Grotto  of  Jeremiah. 

The  points  in  favor  of  our  site  as  the  true  (.iolgotha  (Hebrew  for  skull,  as 
Kraniou  is  Greek  for  skull,  and  Calvaiy  is  from  tlie  Latin  for  skull),  are — 

1.  The  place  was  out  of  the  city,  as  this  must  have  been  then,  and  is  now. 

3.  It  was  also  "  nigh  unto  the  city,"  as  this  is  about  five  hundred  feet  from 
the  nearest  part  of  the  city  wall. 

3.  The  hill  is  shaped  like  the  upper  part  of  a  skull. 

4.  The  place  was  near  a  main  road  to  and  from  the  city,  as  this  is. 

5.  The  spot  was  very  conspicuous,  and  this  is  also. 

6.  There  were  gardens  and  sepulchres  near,  and  now-  (and  proV>ably  also  there 
were  anciently)  there  are  rock  tombs  of  great  extent  and  magnificence  of  design 
Mid  finish,  which  give  an  idea  of  the  wealth  and  splendor  of  the  ancient  Jews. 

7.  ^\nd,  finally,  there  is  no  other  spot  that  claims  equal  attention  or  respect. 

CAPERNAmi  (p.  703).  See  page  1G8.— The  nxin  at  Toll  Hum,  which  stands 
near  the  water  edge,  is  evidently  a  building  of  a  later  age  than  the  synagogue, 
whose  ruins  are  on  the  hill  higher  up.  The  view  from  near  this  spot  is  very  fine. 
There  are  a  great  many  thorns  and  thistles  here,  which  make  it  almost  impossible 
to  move  about,  where  once  there  were  streets  full  of  a  busy,  proud  population. 

Restored  view  op  Jerus.vi-em  (p.  704). 

UitFA  Coin  (p.  709). — This  bronze  coin,  or  medal,  was  found  at  Urfa,  Syria, 
and  may  possibly  date  as  early  as  the  fourth  or  fifth  century  A.D.  The  inscrip- 
tion indicates  a  Christian  origin,  "  Jesus  Christ,  king  of  kings."  The  spccinuMi 
here  engraved  was  loaned  to  the  designer  by  Rev.  G.  B.  Nutting,  missionaiy  of 
the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  at  Urfa. 

Olivet  (p.  710). — The  moxintain  on  the  east  of  Jerusalem  is  between  two  and 
three  hundred  feet  higher  than  the  city,  is  more  than  a  mile  long  from  north  to 
Bouth,  and  is  divided  into  four  summits,  which  are  named,  beginning  at  tha 


750  LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

norLh,  1.  Mount  of  the  Men  of  Galilee  (Viri  Galilei);  2.  Ascension  3Iount;  3. 
Mount  of  the  Prophets ;  4.  Mount  of  Offence. 

During  the  middle  ages  the  mount  was  dotted  all  over  with  chapels  or  monu- 
ments of  some  kind,  marking  the  localities  selected  as  the  sites  of  interesting 
events  recorded  in  Scripture,  and  these  are  now  still  in  use,  or  their  fonner  lo- 
cation is  known  and  pointed  out.  The  "ascension"  is  commemorated  by  a 
chapel  on  the  summit,  nearly  opposite  to  the  Temple  site  ;  but  this  is  merely  a 
monkish  tradition,  and  the  true  site  of  the  ascension  cannot  be  detennined 
beyond  the  one  imjiortant  allusion  iu  the  text,  which  says  that  it  was  ' '  as  far  as 
to  Bethany"  (Luke  xxiv.  50),  and  therefore  must  have  been  somewhere  on  the 
eastern  slope  of  Olivet.  The  view  includes  all  that  can  be  seen  of  the  mountain 
from  a  point  near  the  road  to  Mar  Saba,  north-east  of  the  Arab  village  Beit  Sa- 
hur.  The  south-east  corner  of  the  Temjjle  site  just  appears  in  the  left  side  of 
the  picture,  to  mark  the  position  of  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  site  of  Beth- 
any is  but  a  short  distance  to  the  right  of  the  large  tree,  hidden  behind  a  ridge. 


